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FORT WORTH – Not much has changed for the denizens of Catfish Row since the opera Porgy and Bess was introduced in 1935. The tight-knit community of African Americans still lives in ramshackle row houses; it still works hard, drinks hard and prays hard.
A touring production celebrating the opera’s 75th anniversary stopped at Bass Hall Wednesday night and will return today. The stereotypes of African-American life that have dogged the opera were never glossed over, but the constants of community and the resolutely positive character of Porgy – and fantastic music - made the evening always uplifting.
Porgy and Bess is the first great American opera. Music by George Gershwin infuses jazz, blues, gospel and a bit of Broadway; the opera features a parade of familiar Gershwin songs, including Summertime. Lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward recreate the vernacular of the African-American South – and produced the greatest drawback of the performance. Words were often lost within the lilt of the orchestra or boisterous gospel choruses. Though the story was easy to follow, the poetry of the songs was often unintelligible.
It may seem contradictory, but the cast of Porgy and Bess was marvelous. Leonard Rowe was humble yet self-assured as Porgy. His physical portrayal of Porgy’s lame legs never diminished the man. His voice was deep and melodious in I Got Plenty of Nuttin’ and Bess, You Is My Woman Now.
Donita Volkwijn’s Bess gained sympathy as the first act progressed, and her voice was rich by the time the duet I Loves You Porgy came around. Honors for the stand-out performances of the evening, though, went to Phillip Boykin as the thug Crown – a masculine, menacing presence throughout A Red-Headed Woman as the town huddles to wait out the hurricane - and to Reggie Whitehead as Sportin’ Life.
Whitehead was sassy and always compelling, wonderfully light on his feet, communicating more with his slinky dances than with his bold but unadorned singing during the bluesy call-and-response It Ain’t Necessarily So.
Supporting singers stood out, too. Stephanie Beadle was Maria, whose bouncy confrontation of Sportin’ Life in Struttin’ Style showed strength and down-home humor. Sequina DuBose’s Clara sang a touching Summertime; and Reyna Carguill was moving as Serena, especially during her searing My Man’s Gone Now.
Director Charles Randolph-Wright kept the large cast poised within the picturesque set by John Farrell, two sections of worn out louver-doors and weathered porches and stairs that pivoted to change perspective and scene. Costumes by Ildiko Marta Debreczeni were elegant, and helped visually raise Catfish Row above poverty. The touring orchestra was conducted jauntily by Samuel Bill.
Despite a story that includes a catalogue of tragedies still relevant today – poverty, racism, violence, addiction - Porgy and Bess is a happy opera. Porgy’s unflagging optimism and a community’s enduring spirit win out in the end.
Porgy and Bess
8 p.m. Thursday at Bass Performance Hall
$30-$65; students $10
www.bass.hall.com; 817-212-4280
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