Black History Month: Controversial 'Porgy and Bess' Has Some Detractors but Endures

Culture

Todd Duncan, Anne Brown, original cast members, make a stand for desegregation

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By Mark R. Gould

"Porgy and Bess," which recently opened on Broadway, has been steeped in controversy because some changes were being considered for the script, authorized by the Gershwin Estate. Stephen Sondheim, the great composer, was upset when he learned of this revisionist plan for the folk opera, and sent a letter to the editor of the New York Times that caused quite a stir.

He wrote, "…. In the interest of truth in advertising, let it not be called 'The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess,' nor even 'The Gershwin-Heyward Porgy and Bess.' Advertise it honestly as (director) 'Diane Paulus’s Porgy and Bess.' And the hell with the real one." Read the entire letter from Stephen Sondheim.

A few months later, the New York Times reported, “After many months of working on the show and having previews, the team in charge of the new 'Porgy and Bess' decided to go back to the original version. There will be no revisionist happy ending in the coming Broadway production of 'The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.' A new scene, in which the title characters have a final emotional encounter meant to deepen their love story, has been dropped. But some hard feelings remain, at least on the part of the show’s director and its lead producer."

Although some changes were made, many reviews were pretty good. Other pointed out that is seemed like it was 'Porgy and Bess Light.'

Joe Nocera, a contributing columnist for the New York Times, wrote, “I can’t say I like the current Broadway production; to my mind, “Porgy and Bess” loses much of its emotional power when it is turned into a musical and stripped of its operatic qualities. The chorus is bare-bones, and the efforts by the current producers to make this version as racially inoffensive as possible seem misguided, given its history.

“Still, at the matinee performance I saw recently, I sat near several African-American women who were enjoying it immensely. At the intermission, we got to talking and I asked them if they remembered when “Porgy and Bess” was viewed as Uncle Tomism.

"Oh, yes," said the woman sitting in front of me. "That was my era. I was part of that."

What’s different now? I asked.

"Everything," she said.

Ben Brantley, theater critic of the New York Times, wrote: "No matter what they're calling it these days - a musical, I believe - "Porgy and Bess" has suddenly risen to its natural heights as an towering, emotion-saturated opera.”

Joe Dziemianowicz, of the New York Daily News, wrote: "What makes this production special are its two leads and those enduring, joyous, jewel-toned numbers, like "Summertime" and "Leaving for the Promised Land." Audra McDonald has a thrilling singing voice, but her scarred Bess also showcases her powerful acting."

Elisabeth Vincentelli, of the New York Post, said: "Aside from NaTasha Yvette Williams' bossy-but-motherly Mariah, (Phillip Boykin) and Sporting Life (David Alan Grier) are the most compellingly fleshed-out characters in Paulus' surprisingly timid staging. Grier has a slightly menacing vaudevillian energy, while Boykin is a hulking threat and a gorgeous singer. His electric duet with McDonald, "What You Want With Bess?" is the only time the show grabs you by the throat..."

Nocera of the New York Times also wrote about the history of the folk opera, “When George Gershwin’s 'Porgy and Bess' — arguably the most important piece of American music written in the 20th century — first opened on Broadway in 1935, the opera’s libretto was littered with a word now shunned as an anti-black slur. The African-American residents of Catfish Row, the only slightly imaginary block in Charleston, S.C., where the opera is set, used it liberally, and so of course did the white characters during their occasional menacing visits.

“None of the opera’s early critics seemed to notice; whether black reviewer or white, they primarily critiqued 'Porgy and Bess' as a theatrical experience, focusing in particular on the highly original way Gershwin fused blues tonalities, spirituals and other elements of African-American music into a full-length opera. It had never been done before. Some would say it’s never been done since.

In the early 1940s, however, during a 'Porgy and Bess' revival — which turned the opera into a more commercially viable musical, not unlike the current Broadway revival starring Audra McDonald — a singer named Etta Moten, hired to play Bess, refused to utter the word. Ira Gershwin, George’s brother, who co-wrote the lyrics with DuBose Heyward, revised the line. By 1951, according to Howard Pollack, the author of George Gershwin: His Life and Work, Ira Gershwin had “totally eliminated the word from the text, replacing it with such terms as tin horns, dummy, low-life, suckers, buzzard, and baby.” That year, the producer Goddard Lieberson, who had just recorded “Porgy and Bess” for Columbia Records, said, “Sometimes, happily, times change, and with the times, ethical values. It seemed proper to eliminate certain words in the lyrics which, in racial terms, had proven offensive.”

“Porgy and Bess” has always struck me as something of a miracle. A powerful, empathetic portrayal of poor black city dwellers in the South, it was written by three white men, two of whom had spent little time in the South. The one Southerner, Heyward, was a Charleston insurance salesman turned poet who had written a novel, “Porgy,” the inspiration for which had come from a news story about a crippled beggar he used to see around town. Heyward spent years pushing Gershwin to collaborate on an opera; once Gershwin agreed, Heyward mailed him lyrics — the only ones he ever wrote in his life — that are some of the most sublime ever written.

In our earlier article about Porgy and Bess, we discussed the complicated reaction to it over the years. Todd Duncan, (1903-98), the first Porgy, played a key role in its history.

When baritone Todd Duncan looked out into the audience of the New York City Opera in 1945, he saw hundreds of people standing and applauding. Duncan felt a deep satisfaction that few in the audience could appreciate.

That night he had made his debut at the New York City Opera, playing the featured role of Tonio in a production of Leoncavallo’s "Pagliacci." Duncan had many stage credits, but this role was one for the ages. As the curtain dropped, Duncan became the first African-American to appear on an opera stage with an otherwise white cast, breaking the long-standing color barrier. The applause he enjoyed would follow him throughout his long and distinguished career, and would help open the doors to many other gifted performers including Leontyne Price, Simon Estes, William Warfield, Grace Bumbry, Clamma Dale, Donnie Ray Albert and many more.

"Porgy and Bess" was a major stepping stone on Duncan’s pathway to the New York City Opera. Born in 1903 in Danville, Kentucky, Duncan displayed talent for singing and playing piano early, and his mother Nettie found a school that would provide him with the musical challenges he need to grow. Duncan graduated from Butler University in Indiana in 1925 earned a master’s degree at Columbia University Teachers College in New York in 1930. His professors recognized his vocal gifts and knew they had a special talent enrolled at the school.

Duncan’s powerful voice was suited to classical European music and he soon mastered a wide repertoire. He would later share his enthusiasm for classical music with his students as a music professor at Howard University. During that time, he sang in several operas with all-black casts, including a production of "Cavalleria Rusticana" at the Mecca Temple in New York City in 1934, and was a concert giver on the East Coast.

In the mid 1930s his quiet life of teaching and singing classical music would change dramatically. George Gershwin, the celebrated composer of “Rhapsody in Blue,” “They Can’t Take that Away from Me,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” and many other enduring classics, wanted to compose an American folk opera that would integrate classical music and jazz.

In 1930 he received a commission from the Metropolitan Opera to write that American opera. He had found his inspiration in DuBose Heyward’s book Porgy. Set in Charleston, South Carolina, at the turn of the century in a small black community called Catfish Row, Porgy focuses on its title character, a disabled beggar, who falls in love with Bess, a woman of uncertain background. Porgy’s love and passion for Bess is the emotional centerpiece of the story. Gerswhin wanted to adapt the book to fulfill the Met’s commission, but there was one problem. He wanted the opera to be performed by an all-black cast, but the Met did not allow black artists to perform, so he delayed his decision.

After the publication of the book and a play that was produced on Broadway based on his book, DuBose Heyward was feeling some pressure of his own. Actor-singer Al Jolson, a popular figure of the time, wanted to turn the book, Porgy, into a musical comedy using an all white cast in black face. That caused Gershwin to announce he would proceed with his folk opera, but that instead of premiering at the Met, it would be produced on Broadway with an African-American cast.

Gershwin spent nearly two years composing and orchestrating the music. DuBose Heyward would provide much of the plot, dialogue and some lyrics to the songs. George’s brother, Ira, would also contribute lyrics. And then Gershwin, already a legend on Broadway, started to cast the folk opera.

Gershwin auditioned nearly 100 baritones, but was not satisfied. The music critic of the New York Times told him about Todd Duncan, although others later would claim credit for the suggestion.

Gershwin telephoned, but Duncan was not very enthusiastic. “I didn’t have sense enough to know that here was the most successful man on Broadway who had never had a failure. I thought he was Tin Pan Alley—and I always sang Schubert and Schumann and Brahms,” Duncan told the New York Times in 1978.

“When I arrived at his apartment, I asked him if he could play while I sang,” Duncan said. Gershwin did not respond so Duncan offered to accompany himself. Then Gershwin said, “I’ll try to play for you. I will try.”

Duncan took out the music he had brought along. He had selected an Italian composer’s work, “Lungi dal caro bene” by Secchi. Duncan explained that it was a classic and translated the Italian for him.” I was just naïve enough to do all the right things and not know that I was doing them,” Duncan would later say.

After he sang a few bars, Gershwin asked if Duncan knew the song well enough to sing without the notes. Duncan sang again, and was astonished that Gershwin had already memorized the music. Gershwin stopped him after another eight bars and said, “Will you be my Porgy?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Duncan said. “I’ll have to hear your music.” Gershwin, said Duncan, chuckled and invited him to return to his apartment the following Sunday with Duncan’s wife to hear the score of "Porgy and Bess."

The next Sunday, Duncan and his wife, Gladys, returned. To their surprise, many of Gershwin’s friends and colleagues who were planning to produce the opera were crammed into his apartment. That afternoon, Gershwin asked Duncan to sing thirty songs, from opera to spirituals and German lieder. Later, Gershwin, accompanied by his brother, Ira, played most of the folk opera’s score for Duncan. Despite the “awful voices” of Ira and George Gershwin, the music was so beautiful, Duncan remembered that, "I was in heaven. Those beautiful melodies in this new idiom—it was something I had never heard."

During the session, Gershwin turned to Duncan and said, “This is your great aria. This is going to make you famous,” It was the song, “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’.” Duncan said it sounded like a banjo song, but it began to grow on him. Duncan would go on to sing it throughout the world for four decades. By the time the session was concluded, and Duncan heard the finale, “I’m on My Way,” he wept.

Listen to an NPR interview with Todd Duncan

Duncan appeared in 124 performances during the premiere run at the Alvin Theater in New York City in 1935. The New York Times praised Duncan, whose stage credits later include the Lord’s General in Vernon Duke’s Cabin in the Sky and Stephen Kumalo in the first production of Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars, for his “elegant phrasing and burnished tone as well as his dramatic persuasiveness.”

“No one ever performed a livelier, better sung or better acted Porgy than Todd Duncan,” wrote Hollis Alpert in his book, The Life and Times of Porgy and Bess.

"Porgy and Bess" revivals in 1937 and 1942 also featured Duncan. He later recorded the role on an album, which is still available on CD. You can listen to Todd Duncan and his Bess, Anne Brown, at Amazon.com.

After the 1935 Broadway version, the show went on the road for three months. The last stop was Washington, D.C. Anne Brown (1912-2009), who was the original Bess would later recall another challenge that was on the horizon.

“As expected we were told that the National Theater would be a segregated house. Todd and I refused to perform and were threatened by the Theater Guild, which said we had to sing or there would be reprisals. We cared less. We were adamant.”

Facing threats of suspension and fines, Duncan and Brown had much to lose. But Duncan sought support for his position by sending letters to such important people as Eleanor Roosevelt and Ralph Bunche. The National’s manager called Duncan and offered to allow African-Americans to attend Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Duncan refused. The National’s manager then said African-Americans could sit in the second balcony at every performance. Duncan would have none of it. Duncan was informed that he would be fined $10,000 and suspended for a year if he did not perform, but Duncan did not waver. Finally, the theater’s management capitulated and the policy was changed. Hundreds of blacks attended the show. It was an important stand for equality in its day.

A 1938 tour visited California with the original cast. “Then, I came back home to Washington and taught again at Howard University,” Duncan said, although he performed in a 1942 revival.

The following year The Danish Royal Opera premiered "Porgy and Bess" in Copenhagen in Danish with an all-white cast. Duncan recalled: “I’d been doing concerts before that in Europe and heard about the production of 'Porgy and Bess' during the war. The Gestapo closed a lot of theaters, but they wanted more music and allocated money for that. The Danish staged four new operas. They chose 'Porgy and Bess' to show they hated the Nazis. After all, it was performed by Negroes and written by a Jew. They thought the Nazis would veto it… At the premiere, 200 Nazis were in the audience. They enjoyed the first act, but during intermission they got up and walked out. They allowed the Danish to do the next two performances because they were sold out.

“But the Danes gave forty more performances underground during the war. The Germans would always find out that it was done the night before, but they never knew when it was going to be done. The Royal Opera was dark on the outside. And that was the Danish performers’ fight. They performed it at the cost of not knowing if they’d be blown up or killed by the Nazis. The Danes used ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’ to jam Gestapo radio lines. That became a symbol of resistance.”

After the war, Duncan returned. “I was proud to relearn the role and do it for them. . For most of the rehearsals, though, I’d sing in English while they all sang in Danish. They gave me one more dress rehearsal with all these blondes in the cast. And that night, when I went out on stage and saw all their noses broader, they were lovely dark shades from light brown to black…all kinds of hair textures. Not only that but they had the Negro flavor. They were just so wonderful…I cried.

“I stopped the show with Plenty o’ Nutin’. They wouldn’t let me go on. I had to encore the song. That opera house was 300 years old, and that was only the third time that this happened.”

After "Porgy and Bess," Duncan earned renown as a teacher and performer, giving 2,000 recitals in 56 countries with his wife, Gladys, by his side. Although many cruel barriers were placed in his path, his talent and spirit endure. He died at age 95 in March 1998, in his Washington, D.C. home.

The reputation of "Porgy and Bess" would be challenged by some. Some critics thought it a one dimensional and stereotypical portrait of black life. Others predicted that over time, its power and passion would endure—which it did. In 1985, "Porgy and Bess" was finally staged by the Metropolitan Opera in New York City to sell-out crowds. James Levine, the Met’s music director and conductor of its orchestra, called it a great opera. “It has everything great opera has: great music, great drama and a psychological and social milieu that is as involving as the milieu of Don Giovanni or Boris Godunov.”

Your local library will have many books about "Porgy and Bess," as well as CDs and DVDs to help you explore the life and times of this historic opera. See the bibliography below.

Porgy and Bess Bibliography prepared by Robbie Green:

Operatic Versions

Selections from George Gershwin's folk opera Porgy and Bess (Decca 1940 & 1942), members of original cast and the 1942 Broadway revival cast including Anne Brown, Todd Duncan and Avon Long

Porgy and Bess (Decca/London 1976), Leona Mitchell and the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Lorin Maazel

Porgy and Bess (RCA 1977), original cast from the Houston Opera Revival

Porgy and Bess (EMI 1989), studio recording of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera production under the direction of Simon Rattle

Porgy and Bess (Decca 2006), Alvy Powell, Marquita Lister, Nicole Cabell and Robert Mack, with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Mauceri

Porgy and Bess (1952), a live recording, released in 2008, of a 1952 Hamburg Germany performance by the famous Davis/Breen touring company, starring Leontyne Price, William Warfield, and Cab Calloway

Jazz Versions

The Complete Porgy and Bess (Bethlehem 1956), Mel Tormé and Frances Faye

Porgy and Bess (Verve 1957), a collaboration between Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald

Porgy and Bess (Columbia/Legacy 1958), Miles Davis and Gil Evans

Porgy and Bess (Decca 1959), Sammy Davis Jr. and Carmen McRae

Oscar Peterson Plays Porgy & Bess (Verve 1959), Oscar Peterson

Porgy and Bess (RCA 1959), Harry Belafonte and Lena Horne

The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (Atlantic 1965), The Modern Jazz Quartet

Porgy and Bess (Pablo 1976), Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass

Porgy and Bess (RCA 1976), Ray Charles and Cleo Laine

Porgy and Bess (Verve 1997), Joe Henderson

Films and Television