I’ve always maintained that members of an audience should not be expected to come into the theater with more than general knowledge regarding the play they’re about to experience. If you read in the program that what you’re witnessing takes place in the 1930’s, in and around Charleston, South Carolina, you have a pretty good idea that the economy is bad. When you see that the characters are composed of African Americans who are obviously living in poverty, you know that for them the ugly oppression of discrimination is pervasive.
And yet, who hasn’t heard the hauntingly beautiful “Summertime,” which opens the show? Who doesn’t know at least a little bit about this groundbreaking folk opera that premiered in Boston in 1936? And even if we think we know the show, we also are aware of the fact that this is a reworking. Part of the puzzle is the name of the production, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. Not based on, not adapted from, the original.
More than once, I found myself thinking, “I don’t remember a lot, but this isn’t what I remember.” Was cocaine really a drug of choice among poor black people in the 1930’s? Seems pretty anachronistic. Would a poor black man in an insular community really declare the reason that he must work hard is because he needs to send his child to college? And whether or not it was in the original, it seems pretty far-fetched that white authorities of that time would much care about crime committed by blacks on other blacks. Not to mention that anyone murdered in the middle of a violent storm would undoubtedly have his death chalked up to the malevolent weather.
So here we are, with the story of Porgy, a poor crippled man (Norm Lewis), who finds himself in love with a bad girl, Bess (Audra McDonald). They live together in Catfish Row, a poor black urban community in the South. This has happened because Crown (the impressive Phillip Boykin) the bad-ass Bess was with, has fled from a murder he committed. When Mariah (the wonderful Natasha Yvette Williams), the de facto head of the group, refuses Bess sanctuary, Porgy kindly takes her in. Bess does her best to assimilate, even attending a picnic on a neighboring island. But when Bess and Crown meet again, and a hurricane strikes, all hell breaks loose. Bess, enticed by “happy dust,” ends up heading for New York with Sporting Life, a smooth talking drug dealer and con man. Porgy is determined to get her back as the curtain falls.
There are so many things that don’t make sense in this production. For the first number, “Summertime,” all the townspeople react to the heat, fanning themselves and moving slowly. Very soon thereafter, no one gives any indication that it’s hot. As I remember with hurricane weather, it gets warmer, not cooler, as the storm approaches.
Why are the women wearing high heels to a picnic? Why, in this neighborhood, are there no children? Have they all been left with nannies, except for the one baby who gets passed around from person to person? It can be argued that the lack of any scenery, save a greenish swirled backdrop, works fine to indicate the picnic Island. I don’t agree; I think it just makes the production look cheaply done.
Audra McDonald has an extraordinary voice, and she’s an excellent actress. She’s particularly effective singing “I Loves You, Porgy,” and in her duet with Lewis, “Bess, You Is My Woman Now.” But she’s also much too elegant for this role. Even as she enters in a scarlet dress, her hair is demurely fastened with barrettes, and her posture is regal. There’s a reason Bess would have been called a “loose woman” back in the day; it has to do with the way the limbs move, and a body language that oozes sexual availability. We need more Shug Avery; what we get is a troubled soul fighting her demons. Otherwise, there’s just not enough contrast between Bess on the arm of Crown, and Bess trying her best to be good. And whose idea was it to have her drop to her knees and turn into an egg when trying to hide? This injects a very wrong-headed note of comedy; it’s a move not worthy of the actress. McDonald’s many fans are thrilled to have her back on Broadway where she belongs.
Norm Lewis brings a welcome strength and manliness to Porgy. I worry for him having to keep his left leg turned in; this looks not just crippled, but very painful. His “I Got Plenty of Nothing” is jaunty, his duets with McDonald are powerful. Unfortunately, they have little onstage chemistry.
David Alan Grier has nailed Sporting Life, to the degree that I found myself wondering if he were in the same show as the others. He looks impressively dapper in his bowler hat, spats, striped vested suit, and flashing gold watch chain and cufflinks. But it’s the walk that kills, half saunter, half victory dance. I miss the real menace of the character; and pimps usually entice their prey by focusing on them with laser intensity. Make a woman feel she’s the only one in the room, and you’re halfway home. Shouldn’t Sporting Life have an eye on Bess at all times? But Grier selling “It Ain’t Necessarily So” is one of the delights of the evening; his joy in performing is irresistible.
For me, the real revelation of the evening came in the magic of the duo of Nikki Renee Daniels as Clara, and Joshua Henry as her husband, Jake. They’re both appealing, talented, and have the Velcro that keeps you watching them on stage. Daniels is a beauty, and Henry—yes, it must be said— looks like a young Sidney Poitier. These are definitely two stars in the making.
The whole ensemble is masterful and hard-working, and a real sense of family comes through. A delightful moment occurred during the curtain call; when Boykin was soundly booed for his dastardly villain, Crown, he threw a dainty curtsey to the house. Perfection!
And the end of the day, the show, including the music, just isn’t black enough for me. The choreography is awkward, as is the scene as the community gathers money for the funeral of one of their own. “Gone, Gone, Gone” left me squirming, and I wanted to hear gospel singing instead of cacophony from the cast. Too much was left unexplained; why, exactly, did Bess return sick and in hysterics? Why does Crown risk his life to try to save Clara?
This rendition of Porgy and Bess is part brassy Broadway, part Negro Dialect, part cakewalk, part folk opera. In other words, a mish-mosh. But the music is so good, and the performers are often brilliant. And a real American classic cannot simply be dismissed because of annoying faults.
This is the conundrum of the current production. So see the show, and forgive it the glaring flaws, for the sake of the magnificent cast, and for the rich history of the American musical theater which it personifies.
The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Richard Rodgers Theatre
226 West 46th Street
Through June 24, 2012
Michall Jeffers is an accomplished Cultural Journalist. She writes extensively, both in print and online. Her eponymous cable TV show is syndicated throughout the tri-state area, and features celebrity interviews, reviews, and commentary. She is a voting member of Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, American Theatre Critics Association, and International Association of Theatre Critics.
