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jhgiles
Reviews
American Playhouse: The Gershwins', Porgy & Bess (1993)
Exceptional Production of an Exceptional Work
This production is a collector's item. Stage or other productions of Porgy and Bess are rare.
I concur in the reviews above except the first, which I find a bit too demanding. The production, due to the curious solution regarding the casting, really can't be considered as "perfect," but it is truly remarkable. It is otherwise as good as a television adaptation of an opera can get. Will anyone ever attempt Scott Joplin's Treemonisha?
To answer one concern, that it is overly romantic? Well, yes, the story is indeed romantic --- the essence of the story is a romance. One could remark that the setting is "romanticized," not truly representative of the Low Country Gullah culture, but this interpretation seems too limiting and unappreciative of the contributions of Gullah culture which Heyward and the Gershwins sought to reflect. The wonderful stories of The Song of the South (which are based on Gullah stories) have been basically lost due to the virtual "blacklisting" of that production. It does thankfully seem that Porgy and Bess has avoided this obstacle.