Trevor Nunn's Porgy and Bess Coming to Broadway

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 11:11am

From Playbill (by way of Variety):

"The new version of the Gershwins’ opera Porgy and Bess, to be staged at London’s Savoy Theatre later this year, will come to Broadway.

Adapted and directed by Trevor Nunn, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess will open Nov. 9 following previews that begin Oct. 25. After the London run, it will travel to Broadway, Variety reported.

"In a way, the Broadway run will be like going back home," said producer Howard Panter. "That's where it was first produced in 1935."

No details concerning a Broadway theatre or dates have been mentioned.

Porgy and Bess was last on Broadway in 1976, when it played 122 performances. It was only Jack O'Brien's second Broadway assignment as a director. O'Brien directed it again at Radio City Music Hall in 1983.

The £3 million (about $5.5 million) production will feature a 40-strong cast (to be confirmed) and a 20-piece orchestra. Rehearsals begin Sept 4."


http://www.playbill.com/news/article/101051.html

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 11:16am

This is very exciting! Porgy and Bess is such a great show.

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 11:20am

I hope this show succeeds; the material certainly warrants it.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 11:20am

While I'll miss seeing the show done on a truly epic scale -- I've seen several productions, including the 1983 Radio City mounting and the Metropolitan Opera premiere, both of which had casts over 100 and orchestras with more than 50 players -- any professional version of this, arguably the greatest work ever written for the musical theatre (Sondheim is one of the many who have given that opinion) will be worth seeing. I look forward to it getting here.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 11:29am

WOW!!! So glad this is coming to Broadway. I hope it's good, I love the soundtrack. It's probably my all time favorite.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 11:36am

I so don't understand how the Gershwin estate can approve of this. (Well, I guess I do.) After the 1942 revival, which helped popularize the opera, the whole movement has been away from cutting the work and dropping the recitatives and toward performing it the way Gerswin envisioned. This is a case where we can be pretty damn sure Gershwin wouldn't have approved. He worked very hard to write it as an opera and not a musical.

And isn't one reason why the estate has suppressed the film because of the way it chops up the piece musically?

I've been told Trevor Nunn is very persuasive with the people from R&H when he wants to rewrite one of those shows. Now he's doing his thing with the Gershwin people. And he's persuaded a whole lot of people he's a great director. I don't get it.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 11:43am

Money talks, nobody.

Let the casting speculation begin. Assuming he will have to use some American actors, the obvious choice would be Audra.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 11:47am

And it could work very well as an introduction for those who might want to explore the entire epic piece afterwards.

I mean, I enjoyed Baz Luhrman's opera-lite production of 'La Boheme.'

Which made me appreciate (so far) City Opera's production even more.

[James885]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 11:55am

This is great news! I love the music from Porgy and Bess and have never seen it live, so I'll definatly have to get up to New York for this one. I hope it does very well, both in London and on Broadway.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 12:04pm

Luhrmann's Broadway Boheme was complete, wasn't it?

I don't think we'll see McDonald in this, but I could be wrong.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 12:12pm

I doubt they could a afford a "name" like McDonald. Even stripped down, this is going to be an expensive show to mount and run. One would assume that they'll be double or triple-casting the principals (Bess is a legendary "voice eater" of a role and Porgy, Crown and Serena are hardly walks in the park either).

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 12:58pm

I'm so excited! (Gosh, so many revivals next year!) I wonder which house will be open...

[ChrisLovesShows]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 1:58pm

The national tour from a couple of years ago was a dreary, plodding bore. I don't think trimming the work is necessarily a bad thing. It will be interesting to see, though. I'm sure I will get a ticket.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 2:04pm

Perhaps it will be four shows per week for the principals?

Hopefully, if the London cast is good, Equity will allow them to come over here.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 2:05pm

Could they really bring this in for only 5.5 Mil?
That seems low for a company and orchestra of that size.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 2:08pm

The Woman in White, if I recall correctly, was $5 million. But if I'm wrong, it was $10 million.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 2:10pm

It's less expensive to mount shows in the West End (certain built-in union costs are less there than here). Add $2-3 million for a Broadway production of the same size.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 2:11pm

Yes, CamMac said that on Broadway: The American Musical. He said, "To do a show on Broadway would cost me twice as much as doing it in London." So, when the show is already created, it's cheaper to transfer than to create the first production in NY.

Am I right in saying this?

Updated On: 7/25/06 at 02:11 PM

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 2:14pm

Wow, this is so exciting! I love the music from this, and have always wanted to see it come back to Broadway, but I never imagined it happening.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 2:37pm

That's exactly right Thanks to Phantom. That's one of the main reasons London-to-Broadway transfers continue to be popular with producers. Also, Brantley typically reviews major London openings, so producers can get a sense of what kind of review to expect from the Times when the show gets here (though he occasionally is a bit less enthusiastic about shows when their American productions show up here -- Festen, Democracy to a lesser extent).

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 2:45pm

This sounds exciting. What's the time frame they're looking at? This season or next fall? It will need a pretty large sized house.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 3:17pm

Interesting post about it from ATC:

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat/d.php?id=288920

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 3:22pm

DANG IT! It finally arrives in the U.S. again, fully staged and there is no way for me to see it. God hates me!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 3:25pm

Audra would be the obvious choice (and the right one, also) but I'm not 100% sure that money would be such a major factor. There are, after all, a few stage actors left who fight for certain roles and would do them for less than they might normally make in order to put their mark on a show like this.

Let's just hope her and Stokes find their way to this production....

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 3:28pm

. . . and they release a cast album