Porgy and Bess August 20, 2011

In 1935, Porgy and Bess premiered at the Colonial Theater in Boston. Now, 76 years later, the A.R.T. brings back Porgy and Bess in a new production featuring internationally renowned stars Audra McDonald as Bess, Norm Lewis as Porgy, and David Alan Grier as Sporting Life. A.R.T. Artistic Director and Tony Award nominee Diane Paulus directs this revival adapted by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and OBIE-winning composer Diedre Murray. This classic American tale is set in the 1930s in Catfish Row, a neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina. Bess, beautiful and troubled, turns to Porgy, the crippled beggar, in search of safety after her possessive lover Crown commits murder. As Porgy and Bess's love grows, their future is threatened by Crown and the conniving Sporting Life. This heartbreaking love story boasts some of the most famous and beloved works from the Great American Songbook, including: "Summertime," 'Bess, You Is My Woman,' 'It Ain't Necessarily So' and 'I Loves You, Porgy.'