Gershwins' "Porgy & Bess" at SFO June 9 - 27; Once controversial; Laquita Mitchell debuts

Porgy & Bess once controversial became an award winner with an all-Black cast, Laquita Mitchell making her debut

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA PRESENTS THE GERSHWINS®

PORGY AND BESS STARRING ERIC OWENS AND LAQUITA MITCHELL

JUNE 9-27 AT THE WAR MEMORIAL OPERA HOUSE

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT 415.864.3330 OR SFOPERA.COM

SAN FRANCISCO (May 21, 2009) – San Francisco Opera presents George and Ira Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, based on the play by Dubose and Dorothy Heyward, June 9-27 at the War Memorial Opera House. Bass-baritone Eric Owens and soprano Laquita Mitchell headline the cast as Porgy and Bess, an unlikely couple who manage to find love amidst the squalor of Catfish Row. San Francisco Opera Artistic Adviser Francesca Zambello’s acclaimed production, previously presented by Washington National Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Chicago Lyric Opera, is conducted by John DeMain.

Chorister Siggy Siegel says his favorite director is Francesca Zambello because she really cares about the performers and so they try to do their best for her.  Siggy is actually on the board of directors at Berkeley's wonderfully quirky opera.

Leontyne Price, Cab Calloway and Sammy Davis Jr. have performed in Porgy & Bess while Harry Belafonte declined the film version and Sydney Poitier declined. 

Here are some clips with Price, Calloway and Davis Jr.

It's a new era though.  David Gockley's production in Houston became an award winner.  Meanwhile San Francisco chorister Fred Matthews has sung Porgy 756 times.  Fred sang the role of the fisherman Jake.

Have you seen the 1993 DVD with Willard White as Porgy and the breathtaking Gregg Baker as the womanizer Crown?  Jay Stebley of SFO's opera shop is going with the Willard White version.  He emailed back in March, My pick for Porgy is Lorin Maazel's early recording with Willard White. 

Laquita Mitchell pictured above as Bess

A turbulent story of love found and lost, Porgy and Bess is a quintessentially American masterpiece highlighted by almost a dozen of Gershwin’s most recognizable melodies, including “Summertime,” “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’,” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So.”

Zambello’s production brings to life the hardships, hopes and resiliency of a troubled community through the story of Porgy, a crippled beggar, and Bess, the beautiful and headstrong woman he loves. General Director David Gockley, whose long association with Porgy and Bess has made it a mainstay of the operatic repertoire, brings Gershwin’s beloved opera to San Francisco for the first time in more than a decade.

American bass-baritone Eric Owens and 2002 Merola Opera Program alumna Laquita Mitchell both make their role debuts as Porgy and Bess.

Owens’ previous appearances at San Francisco Opera include Lodovico in Otello, Don Fernando in Fidelio, and most recently as the King of Scotland in Ariodante. He also created the role of General Leslie Groves in the world premiere of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic, a role he subsequently sang at Netherlands Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Metropolitan Opera. Soprano Laquita Mitchell makes her San Francisco Opera mainstage debut with this production. This season, she also made her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Clara in Porgy and Bess, a role she has also sung at Los Angeles Opera and Washington National Opera and will reprise this summer on the Opéra Comique European tour.

Laquita has performed in Porgy & Bess with Lester Lynch before but he played Porgy then. 

Baritone Lester Lynch sings the role of Bess’ womanizing, gambling boyfriend Crown, a role he has also performed to great acclaim at Lyric Opera Chicago, Los Angeles Opera and Washington National Opera. Former Adler Fellow Karen Slack, who has recently appeared with the Metropolitan Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia and Lyric Opera of Kansas, returns to San Francisco Opera in her role debut as Serena, a widow mourning the loss of her late husband.

The colorful drug-dealing pimp Sportin’ Life is sung by tenor Chauncey Parker, who has garnered rave reviews for his portrayal of the role in performances with Atlanta Opera, Opera Pacific, Tulsa Opera, and the Nashville Symphony.

Baritone Eric Greene is a fisherman named Jake, a role he also performed this season at Lyric Opera Chicago, Baltimore Opera and the Grand Théâtre Luxembourg; soprano Angel Blue makes her role debut as his cautious wife Clara, who attempts to soothe their baby with the memorable lullaby “Summertime.” Mezzo-soprano Alteouise deVaughn sings the role of Bess’s spunky friend Maria.

George Gershwin originally conceived Porgy and Bess as an “American folk opera” and hoped it would have its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera, a suggestion that was refused because the of the controversial nature of the subject matter. Porgy and Bess was consequently reworked as a musical theater piece and opened on Broadway in 1935 with a cast of all African-American artists–an extremely bold move given the segregationist views of the era. The work enjoyed more than 40 years in the musical theater repertoire, with several significant revivals and a film version starring Sydney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge in the title roles. Houston Grand Opera (HGO), under the leadership of David Gockley and conducted by John DeMain, presented Gershwin’s original operatic version for the very first time in 1976. The production established Porgy and Bess as one of the greatest American operas and earned HGO a Tony Award, a Grammy Award and the Grand Prix du Disque. San Francisco Opera presented the HGO production in 1977, with subsequent performances in 1987 and 1995.

San Francisco Opera Guild presents an Insight Panel Discussion featuring members of the cast and production team on Wednesday, June 3 at 6 p.m. in the Herbst Theatre. Insight panels are free for Opera members and $5 for the general public; tickets can be purchased at the door 30 minutes prior to the discussion.

Free Porgy & Bess lecture at SF Main Library

The SFO opera guild offers free pre-performance lectures at the Main Library in San Francisco.  Tosca is May 27 at noon; Porgy & Bess is June 3 at noon.  For information call (415) 565-3204 or email sfoguild@sfopera.com

Sung in English with English supertitles, the seven performances of Porgy and Bess are scheduled for June 9 (8 p.m.), June 12 (8 p.m.), June 14 (7:30 p.m.), June 18 (7:30 p.m.), June 21 (2 p.m.), June 24 (7:30 p.m.) and June 27 (8 p.m.), 2009. San Francisco Opera’s Summer 2009 Season will also include Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca (June 2-26) and Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata (June 13-July 5).

Tickets and Information

Tickets for Porgy and Bess range from $15 to $290 each and may be purchased online at www.sfopera.com or from the San Francisco Opera Box Office either in person or by phone at (415) 864-3330. Standing Room tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on the day of each performance; tickets are $10 each, cash only.

All performances will feature an informative Opera Talk by educator and education consultant Dr. Marcia Green. Talks begin fifty-five minutes before each performance in the orchestra section of the War Memorial Opera House and are presented free of charge to patrons with tickets for the corresponding performance.

The War Memorial Opera House is located at 301 Van Ness Avenue at Grove Street. Patrons are encouraged to use public transportation to attend San Francisco Opera performances. The War Memorial Opera House is within walking distance of the Civic Center BART station and near numerous bus lines, including 5, 21, 47, 49 and the F Market Street. For more public transportation information, visit www.bart.gov and www.sfmuni.com.

For further information about Porgy and Bess and San Francisco Opera’s 2008-2009 Season, please visit www.sfopera.com.

Photos:  Courtesy of SFO

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