Gershwin masterpiece belatedly comes to Lyric
Is it the "great American opera?" Beginning Tuesday, Lyric Opera of Chicago will finally state its case for George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess," with 13 performances through Friday, Dec. 19.
Filled with memorable tunes such as "Summertime" and "It Ain't Necessarily So," Gershwin's masterpiece, which had its world premiere at New York's Alvin Theatre on Oct. 10, 1935, is one of the most misunderstood music-theater works of the 20th century. The Lyric's production, created for Washington National Opera and subsequently shown at the Los Angeles Opera, should help clear up any misperceptions.
The Lyric is presenting 13 performances in a month's time, which has necessitated the use of dual casts for the major roles (opera singers usually need several days to rejuvenate themselves vocally between performances). Sharing the role of Porgy will be bass-baritones Gordon Hawkins and Lester Lynch, while the two sopranos portraying Bess will be Morenike Fadayomi and Lisa Daltrius, with Lynch moving over to play Crown opposite Hawkins and Terry Cook playing Crown against Lynch's Porgy.
The stage director will be Francesca Zambello, who made her Lyric Opera debut two seasons ago in soprano Deborah Voigt's critically acclaimed debut in the title role of "Salome."
The Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra will be under the baton of John DeMain (Lyric Opera debut), whose long association with "Porgy and Bess" includes the landmark 1976 Houston Grand Opera production starring Donnie Ray Albert and Clamma Dale, which RCA released as an award-winning recording the following year.
Why did it take so long for such an important work to reach the Lyric?
One reason, as already mentioned, was perception. Is "Porgy and Bess" an opera or a Broadway show? After all, it opened on Broadway and ran for 124 performances through early 1936. New York's Metropolitan Opera didn't mount it until 1985, 50 years after the premiere, after an attempt to do it as part of the American Bicentennial celebrations in 1976 did not materialize.
Today such distinctions between Broadway and the opera house are less rigidly defined. For example, the Lyric has in recent years produced Leonard Bernstein's "Candide" and Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd," both of which originated on Broadway.
There is no doubt George Gershwin, in collaboration with his lyricist brother Ira Gershwin, conceived the sprawling work as an opera. It was with that intention that they secured the music rights to DuBose Heyward's dramatic novel "Porgy." George was a close friend of the Metropolitan Opera's board chairman, Otto Kahn, and discussions were held. But the Met guaranteed only two performances, and Gershwin felt it was not worth spending up to two years on a complex project for just two performances. So he turned to his Broadway pals and "Porgy and Bess" was born there following a tryout in Boston.
By Broadway standards, a run of 124 performances is considered disappointing. But Gershwin felt differently; that's far more than would take place at any opera house in the world. Even though he died in mid-1937 at age 38 and never saw the opera accepted as an American classic, Gershwin never lost faith in "Porgy and Bess." He and Ira continually worked on the score, tweaking it right until the Broadway opening, taking out several numbers to tighten it. As we'll see in the Lyric's production, an adaptation of the Gershwins' longer original score is usually used these days, including the restoration of one of Porgy's most potent arias, "Buzzard Keep on Flyin' Over," from Act 2.
It seems likely racism had something to do with the opera's initial cool reception from the public and the media. The civil rights movement had yet to reach its culmination in the mid-1960s, and an all-African American show using native dialect was a tough sell in the late 1930s to white America. In fact, when a film of "Porgy and Bess" was produced by Samuel Goldwyn in the late 1950s, Sydney Poitier, signed to play Porgy, quit the project because he felt the screenplay was racist before he was persuaded to return and star opposite Dorothy Dandridge's Bess. A 1950s stage revival, with William Warfield as Porgy and the young Leontyne Price in her career-making role as Bess, also helped return the opera to the American consciousness. That production was even seen at Milan's famed La Scala opera.
Another reason the Metropolitan Opera waited 50 years to produce "Porgy and Bess" (and now, by the Lyric) is cost. This is a very expensive opera to produce. An all-black cast of operatic solo voices is difficult to assemble, and you must have a large chorus, another added expense. The physical production, depicting Charleston, South Carolina's "Catfish Row" waterfront district, is also costly. Thankfully, today's practice of renting of productions from other opera companies, or creating co-productions from the start, can greatly reduce costs.
Whatever the reason for its belated debut, over the next 31 days "Porgy and Bess" is here.
Curtain time for evening performances is 7:30 p.m., with the matinees (Nov. 23, 26 and Dec. 18) at 2 p.m. Tickets are reportedly selling very fast, with most performances likely to wind up being sold out. For information call the Civic Opera House box office at (312) 332-2244, Ext. 5600, or visit lyricopera.org for information.