It was a box office flop : Porgy and Bess debuted on Broadway in after its world premiere in Boston. Its original run included performances which by opera standards is a huge success.
Its performance resulted in an integrated audience : After the Broadway run, the opera went on tour to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and, finally, Washington DC. In Washington, the cast, led by lead actor Todd Duncan, staged a protest of segregation at the National Theater.
Management gave into their demands and the result was the first integrated audience for a performance of any show at that venue. It has faced racial controversy over the years : Duke Ellington was said to have objected to its depiction of African Americans, although he later said the opposite. Harry Belafonte turned down the role of Porgy in the film version and the role when to Sidney Poitier.
The love and spirit of our culture. It really says a lot about George Gershwin to be so impassioned to create a piece for this community. He has a declaration that no other race can play these roles, and that says a lot. What should someone who knows the original opera expect when they sit down to watch this jazz production? KF: The attempt to reinvent this opera is pretty monumental. When you approach a piece like this, there are a lot of people who feel a lot of ownership.
Come to see the piece with fresh ears. Did you enjoy this piece? We are member-supported, so your donation is critical to KCRW's music programming, news reporting, and cultural coverage. Help support the DJs, journalists, and staff of the station you love. Porgy and Bess began its journey to the Broadway stage in , when George Gershwin wrote a letter late one night to the author of a book he was reading proposing that the two of them collaborate on an operatic adaptation.
In the meantime, singer Al Jolson attempted to mount a musical version of Porgy starring himself in blackface , but that effort foundered in , leaving the way open for the Gershwin-Heyward collaboration that would feature an all-African American cast of classically trained singers—revolutionary casting in s America. The critics of the day were decidedly mixed in their reception of Porgy and Bess , however. Many of the songs had been cut from show between its trial run in Boston and its Broadway debut, however—a fact that may well have hurt Porgy and Bess with critics.
In fact, the full George Gershwin score of Porgy and Bess would not be performed again until a triumphant revival by the Houston Grand Opera helped establish its current place in the standard operatic repertoire.
George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward died in and , respectively, not knowing that the poorly-received Porgy and Bess , which premiered on this day in and closed some four months later, would later gain recognition as one of the most important American musical works of the 20th century.
But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! On October 10, , Romani children, including more than a hundred boys between 9 and 14 years old, are systematically murdered. It was at Auschwitz II, at In the conclusion to an extremely embarrassing situation, President Dwight D.
0コメント