There's a Boat that's Leavin' Soon for New York

Review: The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
American Repertory Theater, Cambridge
August 23, 2011

Porgy and Bess is one of the few operas first performed on Broadway. Even in 1935, George and Ira Gershwin and Dubose Heyward tinkered, paring down the music and adding dialogue. Now A.R.T. has given us a revival of Porgy and Bess as a musical, echoing its roots on the Broadway stage. With (mostly) careful scenework by Suzan Lori-Parks and respect from director Diane Paulus for what's come before, Porgy and Bess still succeeds in a more intimate setting.

Some of the intimacy comes from lowered keys and hushed orchestrations, fitting for the openings of Porgy and Bess's duets. The approach only suffers when the actors are made to riff the ends of songs, and in the dramatic "My Man's Gone Now," which doesn't quite capture the mourning widow's despair. But with those caveats, the production moves and breathes like it always has. Porgy and Bess has always been both beautiful and tragic. Without the operatic trappings, the show feels more tender, perhaps even more hopeful.

Norm Lewis finds joy and strength in Porgy, a crippled resident of Catfish Row who takes in the wayward Bess out of compassion. Audra McDonald is a natural as Bess, using the various colors of her soprano to portray Bess's shifting identities: a loose woman and drug addict terrorized by the abusive Crown (the excellent, operatic Philip Boykin), then reborn and accepted into the community. Their duet "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" was a highlight of the evening.

The ensemble benefits from Paulus's focus on the community: how they give and take to protect each other. The preview I attended had a revised ending, though, in which everyone turns their back on Bess. Only after she leaves for New York alone does Porgy choose to leave Catfish Row and pursue her. This sounds better in principle than in execution, but they might still be working on it. Overall, the modern look at Porgy and Bess, including racial relations and stereotypes, didn't seem so modern after all. The show has always been a fable, and with all its controversy, there's been that revolutionary spark. 

Update: It ain't necessarily so. The show now ends with something much closer to the original ending. Sometimes when things aren't broken, they don't need fixing.