David Alan Grier returns to Broadway in the adaptation of The Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess"

In 1935, Porgy and Bess premiered at the Colonial Theatre in Boston. Now, 76 years later, the A.R.T. brings back Porgy and Bess in a new production. This classic American tale is set in the 1930s in Catfish Row, a neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina. Bess, beautiful and troubled, turns to Porgy, the crippled beggar, in search of safety after her possessive lover Crown commits murder. As Porgy and Bess's love grows, their future is threatened by Crown and the conniving Sporting Life. This heartbreaking love story boasts some of the most famous and beloved works from the Great American Songbook, including: "Summertime," "Bess, You Is My Woman," "It Ain't Necessarily So" and "I Loves You, Porgy."

The American Repertory Theater brings back Porgy and Bess in a new production featuring internationally renowned stars Audra McDonald as Bess, Norm Lewis as Porgy, and David Alan Grier as Sporting Life. A.R.T. Artistic Director and Tony Award nominee Diane Paulus directs this revival adapted by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog, The America Play, Venus) and OBIE-winning composer Diedre Murray (Running Man, Best of Both Worlds).

Performing in Cambridge through October 2nd, the production is scheduled to come to Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre starting on December 17, with an official opening Jan. 12, 2012.

Coming to Broadway with previews beginning December 17 at The Richard Rodgers Theatre, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess will star Audra McDonald as Bess, Norm Lewis as Porgy and David Alan Grier as Sporting Life, reprising their A.R.T. roles.

A peek inside The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess from the sold-out run at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA.


Tickets for performances at The Richard Rodgers Theatre are on sale now.

Click here to buy tickets online!



Below is an interview DAG did with Best Broadway Shows

by Andy S. Drachenberg

Broadway's Best Shows - Let's start at the beginning - What about Porgy and Bess as a work captivated you as something you wanted to work on?

David Alan Grier - Well, Diane was directing it, Suzan-Lori Parks was doing the adaptation with the approval of The Gerswhin Foundation, Porgy and Bess had not been done on the musical stage in years and years, it's Gershwin's 100th anniversary of his birthday, Audra McDonald was rumored to be playing Bess who I think the world of... All those elements - I thought it would be really exciting. Immediately, I contacted Diane and Jeffrey Richards, anyone I knew.

BBS - Were you very familiar with the story growing up?

DAG - I've never seen Porgy and Bess. I've never seen the opera. I remember snippets of the film, but I haven't seen the film since I started working on it. I've listened to it, though. Everyone has recorded Porgy and Bess, so I've listened to staged versions to get an idea about how certain sections go. I knew most of the songs from pop arrangements, but the way that they are done in the musical and the opera are different so those are revelations.

BBS - Tell me a little bit about your character - Sporting Life. What was your first impression of him?

DAG - It's real simple. He is a drug dealer and he's a pimp. As an actor, I just try and use the information that the play gives me. The difference is, I come to this piece and, in particular, this role, with a pure and open mind. I remember Sammy Davis Jr.'s portrayal when I was a kid. I thought "Is he a magician? Is he like a magical fairy? What's magic powder dust? Does it make you fly?" I didn't really know. I didn't come to it with an adult mind. Since, I've read about how the character is usually played, and what intrigued me more was the reimagining of the piece.

BBS - Who is he in the world of Catfish Row, what are his relationships with the other characters, etc.?

DAG - He's from Catfish Row, he probably grew up there - everybody knows him and everybody knows of him. Just like we all do - if I ask you in your neighborhood who's the good kid and who's the bad kid, you would tell me. There's always a spooky house.. a crabby old lady... a guy we think is not right. That's just a part of a community. On varying degrees, that's my relationship to this community. There are some people who know of me from afar, a lot more of who know of me up-close. I sell bootleg liquor and drugs to a lot of people. I gamble. I socialize with all these people. Sporting Life entails the life of the party. You have to be to bring people in and seduce them into buying. He's a salesman: 'Sell your product.'

BBS - Did you do any special sort research and/or undercover work to get to the heart of Sporting Life?

DAG - I researched a lot of audio and some documentaries about pimps and that way of life, what it entails. In the play, Sporting Life is a charismatic figure. You have to be because it's about seduction. It's the same with drug dealers. I knew people who were rumored to be drug dealers, as a kid I didn't come from that environment, but I remember thinking about it. These were guys who had really flashy cars, beautiful flashy colorful clothes, their hair was always done. They were like rock stars. That's one element, but the lifestyle is much more brutal. These are criminals. They have to live that way or else there's no respect and they won't make any money. That is simply the information that was given to me. And I am trying to play that real person.

BBS - Tell me about working with the whole team on the show.

DAG - It's a big undertaking. It should be communal, and that's the way we are working. This is an exciting time right now, because this is where all the departments come together and we take all the things we've been working on separately - sets, lights, costumes, our characters, the space, Diane, the movement, the music - and it's now all being thrown together. It's our first time on stage. It's our second day, seeing what works what doesn't work, learning the design of the stage and our environment. Learning where we can walk, where we can't.

BBS - What are you hoping audiences experience with Porgy and Bess?

DAG - When you do a revival of what is now an American classic, it's like going into the American songbook as a singer. There's nothing more enjoyable and revelatory to me, as an audience member, to hear a song I know that I've heard a million times and all of a sudden a singer comes and reintroduces you to the song. It's as if you've never heard the song before. That really would be the ultimate experience: to have the audience rediscover Porgy And Bess on a new, fresh level, as if they'd never seen it before. To reintroduce this wonderful and amazing American musical to the public would be awesome.