![]() The folk opera tells the love story and redemption of the “crippled beggar” Porgy, and Bess, a drug-addicted prostitute. The opera Porgy and Bess was first staged on Broadway in 1935 with an all-black cast. Gershwin, whose diverse musical works - from Porgy’s “Summertime” to the classic “Rhapsody in Blue” to Broadway tunes like “Fascinatin’ Rhythm” are legendary among composers - was not able to begin collaborating with Heyward until 1933. Heyward was enthusiastic at the possibility. Soon after the book was published, George Gershwin expressed interest in writing a folk opera adaptation of Porgy. In fact, black poet Langston Hughes said of Heyward that he saw “with his white eyes, wonderful, poetic qualities in the inhabitants of Catfish Row that makes them come alive.” Porgy was hailed as the first portrayal of blacks that avoided the caricatures, both negative and positive, that had been common at the time. Heyward used his knowledge of Charleston’s black community to write what is considered to be one of the earliest accurate accounts of black Americans. Through an insider’s understanding of what is truly important for someone with a disability, Heyward wrote about the tools and attitudes used to cope every day. While devoting less than a sentence to the origin of Porgy’s disability, Heyward writes a full chapter describing how Porgy invented his goat cart from the barest scraps of materials, followed by his exultant tour of the sights and sounds of Charleston, S.C. The novel Porgyis irrefutably written from a disability insider’s perspective. The Mayfield Miraclewas a drama set in a rehabilitation facility with a disabled man as the hero. He wrote the unproduced plays Be a Man, A Man’s Job and Making a Man of Raburn. Heyward returned to one theme again and again - the exploration of disability and manliness. Although a poor student when in school, he discovered how much he liked writing during his recuperation. A few years later he became bedridden from typhoid and then pleurisy. Heyward contracted polio in his late teens and it permanently affected his right arm and hand. The Porgy in the novel is such an accurate portrait of a disabled man it is no surprise that the author, DuBose Heyward, had a significant disability. In the community where he lives, Catfish Row - a falling down mansion converted to tenements - he is tolerated. Most importantly he can be loving and a steadfast father and partner when given the opportunity. He is proud, hates to be seen as needy, and is inventive when the need arises. Present day disabled people would likely recognize and relate to the Porgy of the novel. It gave him immense freedom that anyone with a mobility impairment would instantly recognize. The novel explains how, out of necessity, Porgy fashions the goat cart out of junk and a smelly old goat. Those mobility devices seem almost ridiculous in the world of titanium wheelchairs and iBots, but for a poor beggar in the ’20s, the push board was as good as it got. In the novel and every production of the play and opera from 1927 to 1975, Porgy uses a push board around Catfish Row and a goat cart when he goes out into the world. The book inspired a play and the folk opera Porgy and Bess. Just when the theater world started to face the reality that their lead character actually had a disability, they went and changed him. But in the new, shortened musical, called The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, both push board and goat cart are gone, ultimately replaced by a leg brace and cane. To license GIRL CRAZY, please contact Concord Theatricals.The story of Porgy and Bess is back on Broadway, and Porgy’s disability is almost lost in the revisions.Īs fans know, Porgy is a beggar who most likely has paraplegia and so, given the era in which the original 1925 novel, Porgy, is set, uses either a push board or goat cart for mobility. The 1992 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, CRAZY FOR YOU, was suggested by GIRL CRAZY. Many of the songs were utilized on film for a third time in 1966 in WHEN THE BOYS MEET THE GIRLS featuring Connie Francis and Herman’s Hermits. Filmed for the first time in 1932, the show made a memorable vehicle for Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in MGM’s classic from 1943. There was star power below the footlights as well, as the orchestra included Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Red Nichols, Jimmy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, and Gene Krupa among others. The show focuses on a young New York playboy banished by his family to a dude ranch in Arizona to keep him out of trouble. Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman introduced many of the hits from this quintessential Gershwin score. Cast included Ginger Rogers, Allen Kearns, Ethel Merman, William Kent, and Willie Howard. Opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York on October 14, 1930.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |