The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess Regional Premiere at National Theatre
THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS, winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, will premiere at the National Theatre for one week only, December 25 - 29, 2013. Tickets will go on sale on Monday, September 30, the 78th anniversary of the world premiere of the original production of Porgy and Bess in Boston.
Ticket prices start at $48 plus applicable service charges, and will be available at the National Theatre box office, online at thenationaldc.com, or by calling (800) 514-3849. Group orders of 10 or more may be placed by calling (855) 486-2516. For more information, call (202) 628-6161.
Porgy and Bess shares a rich history with Washington, D.C., and with the National Theatre. The first tour ended here in March 1936, after playing to the theater's first fully integrated audience. Todd Duncan, the original Porgy and a Howard University music professor, along with Anne Brown, the original Bess and a Baltimore native, led the cast in a strike until theater management agreed to set aside its segregation policy.
Based on DuBose Heyward's novel "Porgy" and the play of the same name, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward, the Broadway revival of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS is a stunning and stirring new staging accompanied by a lush 23-piece orchestra and includes such legendary songs as "Summertime," "It Ain't Necessarily So," and "I Got Plenty of Nothing." The classic story is set in Charleston's fabled Catfish Row, where the beautiful Bess struggles to break free from her scandalous past, and the only one who can rescue her is the courageous Porgy. Threatened by her formidable former lover Crown, and the seductive enticements of the colorful troublemaker Sporting Life, Porgy and Bess' relationship evolves into a deep romance that triumphs as one of theater's most exhilarating love stories.
THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS by GEORGE GERSHWIN, DUBOSE and DOROTHY HEYWARD, and IRA GERSHWIN, features one of Broadway's most accomplished creative teams, led by Tony-winning director DIANE PAULUS (Pippin, Hair), Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright SUZAN-LORI PARKS (Topdog/Underdog), and two-time Obie Award-winning composer DIEDRE L. MURRAY (Running Man). The creative team also includes choreographer RONALD K. BROWN, set designer RICCARDO HERNANDEZ, costume designer ESOSA, lighting designer CHRISTOPHER AKERLIND, sound designer ACME SOUND PARTNERS, music supervisor CONSTANTINE KITSOPOULOUS, and music director/conductor DALE RIELING.
Before presenting the world premiere production of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS during its 2011/12 season, the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University first produced the groundbreaking immersive theater event Sleep No More in an empty school in Brookline, Mass., and developed the musical Once in its club theater venue OBERON. This past season, the A.R.T. went on to mount the world premiere engagements of the 2013 Tony Award-winning revival of Pippin and the critically acclaimed upcoming Broadway revival of The Glass Menagerie starring Cherry Jones, Zachary Quinto, Celia Keenan-Bolger, and Brian J. Smith. Following its sold-out engagement at the A.R.T., THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS moved to the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway for a limited engagement with an official opening on January 12, 2012. After extending the show twice, THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS closed on September 23, 2012, after 322 performances, making it the longest running production of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS to ever play Broadway. The 2012 Broadway Cast Recording of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS is now available on PS Classics.