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.