Porgy and Bess

Composed by George Gershwin Libretto by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin Musical Score Adapted by Diedre L. Murray Music Direction, Additional Arrangements and Orchestrations by Kevin Toney

Directed by Jonathan Fox

About the Play

The season continues with a bold jazz interpretation of the great American musical Porgy and Bess, composed by George Gershwin, with a libretto by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin. Adapted for the Broadway stage by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog, Father Comes Home from the Wars), Porgy and Bess tells the tragic story of the love between a crippled beggar and a beautiful yet broken former cocaine addict and prostitute. Working with a live jazz ensemble, the musical features beloved songs, including “Summertime” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So.”

A bold jazz reorchestration, set in 1960s South Carolina. 

“Be prepared for a powerful theatrical experience with the George and Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward opera Porgy and Bess on stage at the New Vic. The 1935 pageant of the life and times of impoverished black people on Charleston’s Catfish Row has been praised, criticized, and reworked over the years. But, I feel sure, never sung more movingly.” Santa Barbara Independent

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Sponsors

• Sponsored by Sara Miller McCune and Lee Luria

• With Support from Elaine and Mike Gray • Elaine and Herbert Kendall • Debby and Peter Stalker • Dana White

• Additional Support provided by Eve Bernstein • The Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival

• 2016-17 Season sponsored by The Stephen and Carla Hahn Foundation.