What do you think?
Rate this book
The Life and Times of Porgy and Bess: The Story of an American Classic
Traces the creation and history of Gershwin's classic opera, from the writing of DuBose Heyward's book to Gershwin's adaptation of the story into musical form and the opera's success on stage, in film, and around the world
354 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 24, 2022
An immensely entertaining and very comprehensive book. If you love the opera, or if you're just curious about the creation of it, and it's gradual establishment as a serious work, then this is very much worth reading.
The book's main emphases are three-fold: 1) the story of how first DuBose Heyward wrote the novel Porgy and it's subsequent dramatization into a wildly successful play by his wife Dorothy, 2) the background and story of the opera's premiere in 1935, and 3) the 1950's production of Porgy and Bess that toured the world, and set the stage for the opera's acceptance as a serious work of musical theater.
DuBose Heyward and his wife Dorothy are largely forgotten figures, but it was first the success of Heyward's novel and then the success of the stage adaptation by Dubose's wife Dorothy that set the stage for the opera. The same company, the Theatre Guild of NY, that staged the very successful stage adaptation, directed by a then unknown Rouben Mamoulian, also chose to stage the opera a few years later. At the time, though successful in an artistic sense, the opera was not as big of a hit as the play and most of the investment in the opera was lost. Most people who come to Porgy and Bess now, think almost exclusively of Gershwin, but he was the last of the creators to arrive on the scene. The Heywards, Mamoulian, and the Theatre Guild had all worked on previous versions of the novel and play.
Although some of the songs from the opera became very popular (Summertime, I Got Plenty of Nothing, etc.), after the premiere the opera itself was too large to revive, except for a pared down version a few years later. Almost all of the original creators hated this version, especially George's brother Ira, who maintained the legacy of his brother, after he died tragically of brain cancer only a year and a half after the opera's premiere. Though this book covers some biographical information on Gershwin, it gives far more background on the neglected Heywards.
After a few isolated revivals, Porgy and Bess was then eventually taken up in 1952 by director Robert Breen. It was his immensely theatrical production of the opera that toured first the U.S. and then the world, that truly established the opera's reputation. The production traveled to Europe, became the toast of the town in numerous cities, was the first American production seen at La Scala, and became the highlight of the Berlin Arts festival of 1952. Finally, it became the premier U.S. cultural import as the production became the first American production to travel to the Soviet Union, playing both in Moscow and St. Petersburg, followed by several other cities in the Soviet block.
The irony that a group of exceptionally talented African-American performers became the cultural ambassadors for America was not lost on them. And yes, the book doesn't shy away too much from the racially problematic side of Porgy and Bess. If seen in isolation as representing African Americans it can seem simple-minded and implicitly racist. And yes, this story of 'black life' was told by a group of white people. (Note that the author tends to use terms were considered respectful by the African American community contemporaneous to the history in the book.)
Though black artists, especially musicians, decried the implicit stereotypes, after the Breen production they also began to embrace the music itself. And ultimately, the author clearly comes down on the side that the work itself is a serious work, that gave exposure to an immense amount of talented African-American singers in a work that, in terms of its difficulty, is comparable to the typical opera repertoire.
Though he doesn't say it, the implicit statement is that Porgy and Bess says, itself, as much about black people, as say Tosca says about Italians -- that is to say, very little. Tons of names of talented singers course through these pages -- William Warfield, Leontyne Price, Simon Estes, Grace Bumbry, Clamma Dale, Cab Calloway, and many others, including a small part for a very young Maya Angelou. It's that legacy of talent that fills the pages of this book, especially of the multi-year Breen production.
Note--to hear the theatricality of the Breen production, there is a tape from German Radio of the Berlin performances with William Warfield, Leontyne Price and Cab Calloway that was recently released on the Audite label -- it's on Spotify, and you can hear the bustle of activity of the entire cast throughout it.
This book came out before that performance tape was released, and indeed the story of this book largely ends with the Breen production and it's misshapen step-child--the terrible 1959 film version by Sam Goldwyn and Otto Preminger. There is some discussion of the Houston Grand Opera production, the Metropolitan Opera premiere in 1985, and the 1986 Glyndbourne production, but these are an epilogue to the main story.
Also of note is the immense amount of pictures in the book, of the premiere production, the Breen production and subsequent productions. It's one of the best illustrated theater/music history books I've seen.
The book's main emphases are three-fold: 1) the story of how first DuBose Heyward wrote the novel Porgy and it's subsequent dramatization into a wildly successful play by his wife Dorothy, 2) the background and story of the opera's premiere in 1935, and 3) the 1950's production of Porgy and Bess that toured the world, and set the stage for the opera's acceptance as a serious work of musical theater.
DuBose Heyward and his wife Dorothy are largely forgotten figures, but it was first the success of Heyward's novel and then the success of the stage adaptation by Dubose's wife Dorothy that set the stage for the opera. The same company, the Theatre Guild of NY, that staged the very successful stage adaptation, directed by a then unknown Rouben Mamoulian, also chose to stage the opera a few years later. At the time, though successful in an artistic sense, the opera was not as big of a hit as the play and most of the investment in the opera was lost. Most people who come to Porgy and Bess now, think almost exclusively of Gershwin, but he was the last of the creators to arrive on the scene. The Heywards, Mamoulian, and the Theatre Guild had all worked on previous versions of the novel and play.
Although some of the songs from the opera became very popular (Summertime, I Got Plenty of Nothing, etc.), after the premiere the opera itself was too large to revive, except for a pared down version a few years later. Almost all of the original creators hated this version, especially George's brother Ira, who maintained the legacy of his brother, after he died tragically of brain cancer only a year and a half after the opera's premiere. Though this book covers some biographical information on Gershwin, it gives far more background on the neglected Heywards.
After a few isolated revivals, Porgy and Bess was then eventually taken up in 1952 by director Robert Breen. It was his immensely theatrical production of the opera that toured first the U.S. and then the world, that truly established the opera's reputation. The production traveled to Europe, became the toast of the town in numerous cities, was the first American production seen at La Scala, and became the highlight of the Berlin Arts festival of 1952. Finally, it became the premier U.S. cultural import as the production became the first American production to travel to the Soviet Union, playing both in Moscow and St. Petersburg, followed by several other cities in the Soviet block.
The irony that a group of exceptionally talented African-American performers became the cultural ambassadors for America was not lost on them. And yes, the book doesn't shy away too much from the racially problematic side of Porgy and Bess. If seen in isolation as representing African Americans it can seem simple-minded and implicitly racist. And yes, this story of 'black life' was told by a group of white people. (Note that the author tends to use terms were considered respectful by the African American community contemporaneous to the history in the book.)
Though black artists, especially musicians, decried the implicit stereotypes, after the Breen production they also began to embrace the music itself. And ultimately, the author clearly comes down on the side that the work itself is a serious work, that gave exposure to an immense amount of talented African-American singers in a work that, in terms of its difficulty, is comparable to the typical opera repertoire.
Though he doesn't say it, the implicit statement is that Porgy and Bess says, itself, as much about black people, as say Tosca says about Italians -- that is to say, very little. Tons of names of talented singers course through these pages -- William Warfield, Leontyne Price, Simon Estes, Grace Bumbry, Clamma Dale, Cab Calloway, and many others, including a small part for a very young Maya Angelou. It's that legacy of talent that fills the pages of this book, especially of the multi-year Breen production.
Note--to hear the theatricality of the Breen production, there is a tape from German Radio of the Berlin performances with William Warfield, Leontyne Price and Cab Calloway that was recently released on the Audite label -- it's on Spotify, and you can hear the bustle of activity of the entire cast throughout it.
This book came out before that performance tape was released, and indeed the story of this book largely ends with the Breen production and it's misshapen step-child--the terrible 1959 film version by Sam Goldwyn and Otto Preminger. There is some discussion of the Houston Grand Opera production, the Metropolitan Opera premiere in 1985, and the 1986 Glyndbourne production, but these are an epilogue to the main story.
Also of note is the immense amount of pictures in the book, of the premiere production, the Breen production and subsequent productions. It's one of the best illustrated theater/music history books I've seen.
April 27, 2025
This was a fun book to read. It starts with George Gershwin's inspiration for writing Porgy and Bess and goes through the late 1980s. With its huge black cast, this is not an easy opera to stage and many impresarios learned the hard way that it was virtually impossible to do in smaller opera houses. But the international good will the opera created made it more than simply worthwhile.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews