Skylight Music Theatre will mount a new production of the Gershwin masterpiece Porgy and Bess May 17 through June 9 in the Cabot Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center (158 N. Broadway, Milwaukee WI).
The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess has been a groundbreaking work ever since its premiere in 1935. With the largest all-black cast ever seen on an American stage up until that point, Porgy and Bess ignited social and racial change as the national tour of 1936 made its way across the country.
Most notably when the tour stopped at the still segregated National Theatre in Washington D.C., in which non-white patrons were refused entry.
Title role cast members, Todd Duncan and Anne Brown, refused to perform until the theatre relented and allowed whites and blacks to sit side-by-side for the first time in the theatre’s history.
“Porgy & Bess is an iconic opera that many people consider to be George Gershwin’s masterpiece, and I am certainly one of those people.
“But the exciting thing about Skylight’s production of this classic American folk opera is the fact that we are able to attempt something rarely seen in other opera house revivals.
In the intimacy of the Cabot Theatre, we will create a chamber opera that will allow these characters, the denizens of Catfish Row, to rediscover their journey, which in turn will put them in charge of their own story.
In this process, deeper truths will emerge to shine a new light on away and empower these characters, while at the same time embracing this extraordinarily gorgeous score,” says Artistic Director Bill Theisen.
Performances of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess will take place May 17 through June 9, 2013 in the Cabot Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway in the Historic Third Ward of Milwaukee.
Tickets are generally $22.50 – $65.50 (plus tax) and can be purchased in person at the Broadway Theatre Center Box Office or by calling (414) 291-7800 Monday – Sunday from noon – 6:00 p.m. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.skylightmusictheatre. org. Group, student, senior and other discounts may also be available.
