Musicals Blog

Porgy and Bess - Gershwin Brothers

by Claire J Rottenberg


Although George and Ira Gershwin wrote many wonderful songs, their masterpiece was the score for the modern opera, "Porgy and Bess." It opened on Broadway in 1935 and ran for 124 performances. The music was composed by George Gershwin and the the lyrics were by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. The opera was based on DuBose's novel and play, "Porgy."

The story is about African-Americans living in the slums of South Carolina in the 1920s. Porgy, a disabled man, falls in love with Bess and tries to save her from her cruel and violent lover, Crown. There is also a subplot involving the local drug dealer, Sportin' Life.

Originally, "Porgy and Bess" was not viewed as an opera, but in 1976, it was performed in its entirety by the Houston Grand Opera Company and it was finally accepted as a great masterpiece of modern opera. The best-known song from "Porgy and Bess" is the beautiful "Summertime." Other memorable songs include "It Ain't Necessarily So" and "I Got Plenty o' Nothin'."

A film version of "Porgy and Bess" was made in 1959, starring Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Diahann Carroll, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Pearl Bailey. The film radically changed "Porgy and Bess" from an opera to a film musical, with more speaking roles than singing. The Gershwin estate was unhappy with the film and the way it represented the work and the film was shelved in 1974.

In 1993, a new version that was faithful to the original "Porgy and Bess" was staged by the Glyndebourne Festival. This version is now available on DVD and I'll review it in a future post.