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A "Beautiful" and "Striking" Porgy and Bess returns to Spoleto Festival USA

Jun. 01, 2016

A "Beautiful" and "Striking" <em>Porgy and Bess</em> returns to Spoleto Festival USA

The Spoleto Festival USA opened its newly renovated Charleston Gaillard Center with a triumphant new production of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess on May 27, conducted by Stefan Asbury and directed by David Herskovits with stage design by Jonathan Green. James R. Oestreich hailed the production in The New York Times as “beautiful,” with “an excellent cast and striking visual design.” Performances continue through June 12.

The production stars Lester Lynch as Porgy, Alyson Cambridge as a “warm-voiced” Bess, Courtney Johnson as Clara (lauded for her “ethereal Summertime”), Victor Ryan Robertson as Sportin’ Life, and Eric Greene in “a menacing portrayal” as Crown.

Spoleto’s production is something of a homecoming for Porgy and Bess: DuBose Heyward, who penned the original 1925 novel, was born in Charleston, SC and drew heavily on the city’s cultural history for the work. Green’s production is rooted in this history, making for a marvelous celebration of Charleston and its people, past and present.

Visit spoletousa.org for details on the production.

For more information on George Gershwin, visit schott-music.com.

George Gershwin
Porgy and Bess (1935)
an opera in three acts
libretto (Eng) by DuBose Heyward
lyrics by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin
founded on the play “Porgy” by Dorothy and DuBose Heyward
for 4 sopranos, 2 mezzo-soprano, alto, boy soprano, 6 tenors, 5 baritones, bass-baritone, speaking roles and chorus
2(2.pic).2(2.ca).3(3.,3.asax).bcl(tsax).1-3.3.2.1-timp.perc-pno.banjo-str (on stage: pno)
180’

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