Porgy and Bess

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 7:07pm

Do you think it would be successful if they revived it now? I love it to death and I think it has some of the most beautiful music ever to reach the musical theatre. "Summertime" is still one of my favorite songs EVER. Anywho, do you think it would do well if revived?

[Chloe]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 7:44pm

That's a really interesting question. I love the music too. It seems to have headed into opera houses lately, which is understandable given the large cast and the kind of voices it requires. But it would be great for it to be some place where it could have a longer run than you get at the opera.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 7:49pm

It is THE great American opera and is performed by opera companies around the country and the world very frequently (though it's not quite made it into the standard canon).

I saw the last Broadway revival at Radio City back in '83 (as well as the Met production and a few others over the years). I wonder if it's too expensive to mount on Broadway under the present economics and do justice to it. Similar to the Luhrman La Boheme, the leads have to be triple cast if you're doing eight shows a week and the ensemble and orchestra demands are enormous. While it's possible to do a reduction, I worry at how much you lose in the process. The Radio City production featured a cast of 90+ (impossible for Broadway) and it only ran a little over a month (though it was a limited engagement as I recall).

Perhaps Lincoln Center or other not-for profit could attempt it (possibly as a co-production with another large theatre, or theatres, around the country) to make it more economically viable. Otherwise, the Met production that comes up every few seasons is quite good.

Of today's Broadway singers, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Chuck Cooper and Audra MacDonald would be obvious choices -- with ample amplification, they should be able to handle the score's demands (I doubt any of them could do it unamplified in a real opera house with a 60 piece orchestra, though). I'd also love to track down Michel Bell who was such a great Joe in the last revivial of Showboat. As Sportin Life, I'd be curious to see what Cleavant Derricks or Andre De Shields would do with the role.

Porgy and Bess was a money-loser in its original Broadway incarnation and has never really set the box office on fire in any of its many revivals since then. Nevertheless, I'd love to see a limited engagement of it sometime. It's arguably the greatest musical composition ever created by an American composer.

Updated On: 10/26/04 at 07:49 PM

[ChrisLovesShows]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 7:50pm

Great question, Spidey. Remeber that the most successful Broadway run was the one that truncated the score and transformed the work into less of an opera and more of a traditional book musical. Even so, I think either approach today might run like La Boheme did. Initial excitement and good box office as those who love the work attend, followed by a fatal downturn in attendance. Just my guess.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 7:58pm

Until that time arises, which recording do you think is the best? I have the recording with this cover on it and I think it is great. Great performances, and it is the most complete (I believe).

[ChrisLovesShows]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 8:03pm

Spidey, you do have one of the best. That's the Houston Grand Opera recording and it is terrific as well as one of the most complete.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 8:05pm

Spider, i'm lovin da picture...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 8:12pm

The Houston Grand Opera was the first complete recording of the score and is excellent.

I would also, though, HIGHLY recommend the highlights album that the great Leontyne Price recorded back in 1960 with William Warfield and John Bubbles (the three had starred in an acclaimed touring production of the opera back in the early 50s). No one has ever sung Bess' music better than Price and as an extra bonus, she sings all of the big female arias in the show -- Clara's "Summertime" and an extraordinary rendition of Serena's dramatic "My Man's Gone Now." She was one of the great sopranos of the century and this recoring finds her in prime form (on the eve of her legendary Met debut). It's just one disc and shouldn't be very expensive at all (probably around $10.99 in most stores), so get that and the complete Houston recording and you'll be in Porgy and Bess heaven.

Updated On: 10/26/04 at 08:12 PM

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 8:16pm

Thanks, Margo. I am ordering it from Amazon.com when I get payed Friday. YAY!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 8:37pm

One quick correction -- it was recorded in 1963. Price, at that point, was one of the biggest opera stars in world (I also forgot to mention her dynamic "What You Want Wit' Bess?" -- which is just dripping with sensuality and sexiness) . Bubbles created the role of Sportin Life in the original 1935 production and his raspy bluesiness here is irresistable. All that and Skitch Henderson conducts the hell out of the orchestra -- an incredible recording.

Once you wear those CDs out, you might at some point later want to track down the Decca CD from 1942 (?) that has much of the original cast, including Todd Duncan and Ann Brown, the original Porgy and Bess. While the sound quality isn't perfect (though good for the era) it's worth having just for Duncan's Porgy. IMO, in 70 years and dozens of recordings, no one has ever sung Porgy better than Duncan. A rich creamy light baritone sound, radiant tone, and vibrant attack, he still gives me goosebumps. Other Porgys generally have a much heavier, darker, self-consciously operatic sound, but Duncan's is filled with so much vigor and vitality that he captures the character's unquenchable optimism better than any other Porgy on record (and I listened to every single one of them once upon a time when I was an undergraduate music student).

Updated On: 10/26/04 at 08:37 PM

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 8:48pm

And this is why I love you.

[Mamie]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 9:37pm

The Price recording is the one I have and it's simply incredible. Sadly my copy is on an LP that is definitely showing its years. Time to upgrade.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 10/27/04 at 8:47pm

YAY HOUSTON! I knew we'd do something sooner or later!

[shlamdiddly]

Posted: 10/27/04 at 9:11pm

We played selections from the show last year in orchestra

[BWayBoy88]

Posted: 10/27/04 at 9:38pm

I dont know the show that well but I would love to see MSM and Audra reunited.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 10/27/04 at 10:19pm

Sorry for the threadjack, but can anyone tell me the context of "Summertime"? I've seen it performed a few times as an isolated piece, and it's beautiful, but I'm not familiar with P&B so I don't know how it fits into the show.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 10/27/04 at 10:49pm

I've only been seeing it in the opera houses as well, with the last major production being done by NYC Opera about 4-5 years back, I think. But I would love to see this revived. Given the economics of it all, though, I'm seeing it done more along the lines of the one night only concert event at Carnegie Hall, a la the South Pacific concert they have coming up in June...

[mallardo]

Posted: 10/27/04 at 11:03pm

Summertime opens the show, after a brief bluesy intro. It is sung by one of the lesser characters, Clara, alone with her baby, singing to the night sky. It sets the tone for the introduction of Catfish Row and its diverse denizens.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 10/27/04 at 11:06pm

Can someone please tell me how Summertime fits into the story??

[Jon]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 8:08am

As stated above, SUMMERTIME is a mood piece. After Clara sings it, the baby's father sings the follow-up, A WOMAN IS A SOMETIME THING. These two opening songs set the mood - a sad lullaby followed by an upbeat, somewhat comic number. Together, they give the audience a feeling for the general mood of life in Catfish Row.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/30/04 at 9:38pm

PORGY AND BESS

Has to be the epitome of American musical theatre.

I just finished listening to Act One of the 1976 Houston Opera Production. It was a glorious, spectacular production, even in the cavernous Uris (now Gershwin) Theatre. After owning the LP since the original pressing, and hunting for the CD for months, I finally found a copy at Tower today. I went to buy the Leontyne Price recording, based on some comments on this thread, and they had one sole copy of the Houston Opera, so I grabbed it.

The Gershwin's score, the arrangements and orchestrations, have never been equalled on the American stage, in my opinion. Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD, is the closest any composer has come. After that there is a huge gap.

The recording of the Houston Opera production, pictured by Spider above, is the complete score.

If you buy one recording this is the one to truly expose yourself to this glorious piece of musical art. Updated On: 10/30/04 at 09:38 PM