Tony Award-nominated director Diane Paulus (Hair) helms the latest incarnation of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, which premiered last summer at the American Repertory Theater. As previously reported by Playbill.com, the complete A.R.T. cast will reprise their performances in the production that officially opens on Broadway Jan. 12, 2012.
The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess is led by Tony Award winner Audra McDonald (Ragtime, Marie Christine, Master Class) as Bess, Norm Lewis (Sondheim on Sondheim, Side Show, Les Miserables) as Porgy and Tony Award nominee David Alan Grier (The First, Race, Dreamgirls) as Sportin' Life.
The cast also features Tony nominee Joshua Henry (The Scottsboro Boys, American Idiot) as Jake, 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.
The ensemble includes Allison Blackwell, Roosevelt Andre Credit, Trevon Davis, Joseph Dellger, Wilkie Ferguson, Alicia Hall Moran, Andrea Jones-Sojola, Lisa Nicole Wilkerson and Christopher Innvar.
New to the production are Carmen Ruby Floyd, David Hughey and Julius Thomas III. The revised staging of the four-hour folk opera has been contoured into a two-and-a-half-hour production. It is now billed as a musical. It is produced by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel and Rebecca Gold.
The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess has adaptation and additional scenes by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog, Book of Grace) and musical adaptation by Pulitzer Prize nominee Diedre Murray (Running Man).
Porgy and Bess has music by George Gershwin, lyrics by his brother Ira and a book and additional lyrics by DuBose Heyward. It is based on the play Porgy, by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward.
The creative team includes choreographer Ronald K. Brown, set designer Riccardo Hernandez, costume designer Emilio Sosa and Tony Award-winning lighting designer Christopher Akerlind. Acme Sound Partners design sound. Orchestrations are by William David Brohn and Christopher Jahnke, with music supervision by David Loud.
For tickets, visit Ticketmaster.com. The Richard Rodgers Theatre is located at 226 West 46th Street.
