PHOTO CALL: "I'm On My Way!" The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess Bids Broadway Farewell

By Krissie Fullerton
23 Sep 2012

The Tony Award-winning revival of Porgy and Bess, a streamlined two-and-a-half-hour adaptation of the classic American folk opera starring five-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald and Tony nominee Norm Lewis, ended its Broadway run Sept. 23 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.

Tony nominee Lewis (Sondheim on Sondheim, Side Show, Les Miserables) starred as the crippled beggar Porgy opposite five-time Tony Award winner McDonald (Ragtime, Marie Christine, Master Class) as Bess. They were joined by three-time Tony nominee David Alan Grier (The First, Race, Dreamgirls) as Sportin' Life and Tony nominee Joshua Henry (The Scottsboro Boys, American Idiot) as Jake.

The cast also featured Nikki Renee Daniels as Clara, Phillip Boykin as Crown, Bryonha Marie Parham as Serena, NaTasha Yvette Williams as Maria, Cedric Neal as Frazier, J.D. Webster as Mingo, Heather Hill as Lily, Phumzile Sojola as Peter and Nathaniel Stampley as Robbins.

According to the producers, Porgy and Bess "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 crippled but 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."

Here's a look at the closing curtain call:

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Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN