The newest generation of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (to give the show its full legal title) opened with a celestial light show Monday night. The opening was delayed by rain about 35 minutes, and when the orchestra, part of this touring show, struck up the national anthem, the lightning to the south came darn close to being choreographed to the music. The lightning persisted in the distance for about three hours, and when Porgy stepped to the edge of the stage in Act Two and said, not ad-libbing, "I think there's gonna be a storm," it got a fair laugh.
There's been a lot of controversy over this version of the Gershwin/Heyward show. Stephen Sondheim wrote a blistering New York Times piece on the temerity of changing it, although the current version, of which he wrote, wasn't the first revision. Hilton Als, in the New Yorker, said criticisms were racist. Maybe this is like the question of the Latin mass – and I make that comparison as a non-Catholic. The fact is, what we see at the Muny in this version is exciting. My memories of the movie are faint, and what I recall from the Houston Opera Company's version several decades ago are the voices, not the book or the staging, and that it seemed to drag.
Not this edition, no way, no how. Gershwin music. Excellent choreography. A great cast. What's not to like? The themes are relevant and contemporary, and the whole feeling is fresh.
Porgy, liberated from the oft-seen goat cart and played by Nathaniel Stampley, makes us understand why Bess begins to lean into him, disability be damned. Alicia Hall Moran, as Bess, is less brittle and more human, even though she succumbs to temptation. Their duet "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" practically melts the stage from emotion. St. Louis native Kingsley Leggs gives us Sporting Life, the bad guy who's often charming, especially when he can make a profit, and who dances like the devil he is.
Porgy and Bess is an American classic, and especially for those who haven't seen it, this is a fine introduction. For the rest of us, it's a refresher. I'm glad The Muny booked it.
The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
through July 13
The Muny
314-361-1900