Michigan Opera Theatre
to open 36th Opera Season with

Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess

Detroit, September 27, 2006…Obsessed with Opera? Come get your fix with the Great American Opera, Porgy and Bess. Michigan Opera Theatre opens its 2006 Fall Opera Season Saturday, October 21, with the Gershwins’ masterpiece.

Michigan Opera Theatre returns Porgy and Bess to the stage for the fifth time in the company’s history, with Houston Grand Opera’s lavish staging and a stellar cast. The company has scheduled an expanded run of 10 shows to meet the expected demand for tickets. In 1998, when it was last presented, the opera was bound over for additional performances.

“This is a dynamic production, and we’ve assembled a group of exceptionally talented artists,” said Dr. David DiChiera, Founder and General Director of Michigan Opera Theatre. “Porgy and Bess is always a very popular production, and we’ve pulled out all the stops to make this our most exciting 'Porgy' to date.”

With some 22 principal roles, the company’s 2006 production will feature a number of gifted local artists, alongside internationally-acclaimed performers. In the role of Porgy, Gordon Hawkins revisits a role which he performed in the company’s last production of the opera, in 1998. Alternating with him will be Alvy Powell. Bess will be sung by Lisa Daltirus, who recently starred in the company’s production of Aida, last April. Debuting with the company, and alternating as Bess, will be Janinah Burnett. Jubilant Sykes will perform Sporting Life. Other notable appearances include debuts by Alyson Cambridge, Leonard Rowe, Sabrina Elayne Carten, Demarcus Weathersby, John Fulton, Leah Dexter, Ivan Griffin, Bernard Holcomb, Alfrelynn Roberts, and David Vaughn. Artists returning to the Detroit Opera House stage include Timothy Blevins, Angela Simpson, Marlin Monroe Williford, Lonel Woods, Alaina Brown, John Biedenbach and Fred Buchalter.

Roman Terleckyj returns to direct his first Michigan Opera Theatre production since The Flying Dutchman, in 1997. On the heels of his latest recording, Many Voices, acclaimed conductor Steven Mercurio returns to lead the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra.

Porgy and Bess, based on DuBose and Dorothy Heyward’s play “Porgy,” uses a libretto by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin and music by George Gershwin. Set on Catfish Row, Charleston, South Carolina, in the 1920s, the opera centers around Porgy, a well-liked cripple, and Bess, the object of his affections.

The music of Porgy and Bess, unmistakably that of George Gershwin, is some of the most tuneful and memorable in all of opera. The production includes “Summertime,” “My Man’s Gone Now,” “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin” and “Bess, You Is My Woman Now,” among other audience favorites.

The opera opens to find the men of Catfish Row gathered for a game of craps. A fight breaks out, and in the heat of the disagreement, the local bully Crown kills one of the men. Fearing arrest, Crown runs, leaving his woman, the lovely young Bess behind. Without Crown, she has nowhere to turn. She rebuffs a local drug dealer, Sporting Life, who woos her favor with tales of New York, and eventually finds her way to Porgy. He has loved Bess from a far, and now, as she has no one else to turn to, he takes her into his home.

A month later, we find the pair deeply in love. The town is set to gather on Kittiwah Island for a picnic, and though she would rather stay with Porgy, Bess goes to the island at his urging. There, Crown appears and manages to get Bess alone. Though she loves Porgy, she is unable to resist Crown.

A week later, Porgy and several others gather to pray over Bess. She has been unconscious since encountering Crown. Bess is revived by “Dr. Jesus,” and Porgy tells her that he knows about her indiscretion, but he forgives her. She has promised to return to Crown, though she wants to stay with Porgy. He tells her that she need not worry, as he will protect her.

A storm rages and Jake, a local fisherman, is feared lost at sea. Crown returns, and he and Jake’s wife Serena rush out to save the fisherman. Later, the crowd gathers, mourning all three souls. Crown, however, has survived. As he returns to Catfish Row for Bess, he is spotted by Porgy. Looking to protect his love, Porgy strangles Crown, killing him.

The police come to investigate Crown’s death, and Porgy is taken away to identify the body. Again left alone, Bess succumbs to Sporting Life’s advances, and leaves Catfish Row for New York. The police are unable to charge Porgy with the murder, and he returns to find that Bess is gone. Learning that she’s gone to New York, Porgy calls for his goat cart, and heads for New York to reclaim his love.

TICKETS for Michigan Opera Theatre’s 2006 production of Porgy and Bess range from $28-$120, and are available at the Detroit Opera House ticket office (1526 Broadway, Detroit, 48226), by phone at (313) 237-SING (7464) or online at www.MichiganOpera.org. Tickets are also available at all TicketMaster outlets, by phone at (248) 645-6666 or online at www.Ticketmaster.com.

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Contact

Rebekah Johnson
Communications Coordinator
(313) 237-3403
rjohnson@motopera.org

Laura Wyss
Director of Communications
(313) 237-3416
laura@motopera.org