In my very early childhood my family owned the Broadway Cast Album of the Gershwin’s opera Porgy And Bess – in a beautiful collection of 78s – that would be played around the house periodically for a decade.  When record players no longer came with the ability to play 78s, the collection was probably thrown out (along with my baseball cards) by my mom.

I rue the day.

But I grew up with all those great songs coursing through my head.  I’m not sure I ever really knew the story, but I certainly knew the songs.

Since then I’ve had the opportunity to see 5 different productions of the opera, all on Broadway.  My favorite, until yesterday, was the first I saw back in the mid 70s presented by the Houston Opera Company starring Kathleen Battle.  She was simply magnificent in the role – one of the best performances by a vocalist of anyone I’ve ever seen or heard.

Until yesterday, it had been about a decade since I had seen a production and had the tickets not been a gift, I probably would not have gone.  But the gift enabled both the Missus and me to attend a Wednesday matinee starring Audra McDonald and Norman Lewis.  Another friend who had seen it had warned me away from this production because it’s a musical adaptation of the opera – meaning that it has dialogue between the songs and is not sung through as an opera.

So I went thinking that if I didn’t like it, I could always leave at intermission and not be out the $85 ticket price since the tix were free.

At intermission you couldn’t have dragged me out of the theater.  It was, for my money, by far the best production of the Gershwin’s work I’ve ever seen.

As much as I’ve always loved the music, I always found the play hard to follow.  Operatic singing is not a particularly good medium for the communication of the details and intricacies of plot.  Simply put, I find it very difficult to understand the lyrics of the operatic voice.  Most of the time the words are in a foreign language anyway and the plots are pretty basic, but even when the operas are sung in English, I still need the subtitles to understand the words.  The past productions of Porgy And Bess that I’ve seen were no different – especially with the African-American southern accents added.

So I always found it difficult hanging in there on the story-telling part of the experience and often didn’t care because I sort of knew the plot and loved the music anyway.

But yesterday was a whole different ballgame.

The music soared, the cast was spectacular, the added dialogue clarified, the direction was smart and impeccable, and the play itself soared.  Our two leads were triumphant bringing both deeply felt solid acting to their roles and the best of powerful professional voices as well.  I applaud Audra McDonald for her courageous choices as an actress – going for a realistic Bess that was a portrayal of modern day tragic proportions – a lost crack addicted street whore trying to reconnect with her spiritual self.

As to Norm Lewis’s Porgy – well, we were in the presence of a star portraying the role of a lifetime and having all the talent to fill the shoes of the character with grace and power.  He was unforgettable.

It’s great to go to a Broadway show even when the work itself is not that good because the triple-threat supporting cast is always of the highest quality.  Broadway, for all its faults, does offer the cream of the crop in theatrical talent and this Porgy And Bess went even beyond that.  The dancing, singing, and personal commitment to character and nuance was impeccably demonstrated by every single cast member. It was absolutely great ensemble work supporting two great stars.  Broadway at its best!

Besides the fact that the new added dialogue both clarified and illuminated the development of the play and its intricacies, it also provided humor and great power.  It was well written and stayed in the flow and style of the previous language of the opera.  I tip my hat to Suzan-Lori Parks for her superb additions to the original work of DuBose & Dorothy Heyward who created the libretto and some of the lyrics.

As good as the stars and ensemble were, however, I have to swing the larger credit to the director, Diane Paulus, who has to be the creative force behind this production.  Her deft hand in clarifying the play and further enhancing this great work of art was deeply appreciated.  Also her bold and graceful decision to bring the harsh realities of the story to light made the entire experience of the musical a powerful statement never before felt by me in the time spent in the presence of these two lost souls – Porgy and Bess.

I wept.  I gasped.  I flinched.  I moaned and sighed right along with them all as they sang their way through their troubled lives.  When the 3 hours was over, I was exhausted and Julia and I walked across NYC for the next hour or so and talked and shared insights and revelations about the experience we had just had.  Its effect on both of us was complete and dramatic.  We had witnessed a great work of art work even greater — a privilege and an unexpected gift to both of us.

But for all that said, I could not end this missive without a word or two about the greatest element of Porgy … — the music.  George Gershwin, along with his dear brother and brilliant lyricist, Ira, who has all too often stood in George’s shadow, has simply created an American masterpiece.  Listening to Norman Lewis sing Bess, You Is My Woman Now and then having Audra McDonald chime in on this wondrously written duet was the musical pinnacle of my year.  It is a moment in the theater that I will always cherish and never forget, and it made an emotional wreck of me.

They sang it beautifully, but they had a great work of art to sing.  Master meets master.  The pinnacle moment for me in a pinnacle production.

Sometimes blessings come unexpectedly.

Thanks, Paul, for the free tickets!  Deeply appreciated …