The modernized version of Porgy and Bess was much maligned by some theater folk (especially Stephen Sondheim) when it opened back East in 2011. However, the production not only rode out the critical storm but eventually won a Tony for Best Musical Revival.
Now the road company of the deconstructed Gershwin classic has touched down at the Ahmanson Theater for a six-week run, albeit without Audra McDonald in the lead. Replacing her is Alicia Hall Moran (understudy in the Broadway production). Moran might not have McDonald’s star power, but she still excels as Bess, particularly when it comes time to sing. Her versions of “It Takes a Long Pull,” “What You Want with Bess?” and “I Loves You, Porgy” are delivered with a fiery intensity and beauty. The same can be said for some of the other featured performers in the show, especially Nathaniel Stampley as Porgy, Alvin Crawford as Crown, and Sumayya Ali as Clara (her “Summertime” aria plucks heartstrings).
Musically, this production of Porgy and Bess can’t be faulted. The songs haven’t been tampered with, only the book and the look and feel of the show. Dialogue has been trimmed and made more politically correct (less stereotypical dialect), and behavior has been modified (less melodramatic, except for Crawford’s portrait of the bad-guy, Crown). As for Catfish Row itself, it has been given a makeover: the 1930s fishing village, having been deprived of its seedy charm and atmosphere, now resembles the courtyard of an inner-city housing project.
Diane Paulus’s direction is highly stylized and self-conscious, with actors striking poses much of the time, but when it comes time for them to sing and dance, talent and spirit burst through, and the show really comes to life – the kind of life first envisioned by the Gershwins and the Heywards.
