Porgy and Bess Program [pdf] - American Repertory Theater
Porgy and Bess Program [pdf] - American Repertory Theater
Porgy and Bess Program [pdf] - American Repertory Theater
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
BACKSTAGE<br />
Behind the scenes in local<br />
<strong>and</strong> national theater<br />
The Colonial Theatre Goes Dark<br />
The high-profile, Broadway-bound musical adaptation<br />
of The Gershwins’ <strong>Porgy</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Bess</strong> is basking in the<br />
glory of its triumphant return to the Greater Boston<br />
area, but in a bittersweet turn of events, <strong>Porgy</strong>’s original<br />
birthplace, the Colonial Theatre on Boylston<br />
Street, went dark earlier this summer for what could<br />
be an extended period of time.<br />
<strong>Porgy</strong> premiered at the historic Colonial Theatre<br />
in 1935 (September 30, to be exact) prior to its engagement<br />
on Broadway. The new revival is testing<br />
its wings at the <strong>American</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>Theater</strong> in<br />
Cambridge. Meanwhile, the 1,700-seat Colonial, famous<br />
for pre-Broadway tryouts, including the premieres<br />
of such l<strong>and</strong>mark musicals as Oklahoma! <strong>and</strong><br />
La Cage aux Folles, was shut down in early July following<br />
a four-week engagement of a revival of West<br />
Side Story, <strong>and</strong> its future is uncertain. Boston’s oldest<br />
continuously operating theater, the Colonial is<br />
known for its spectacular murals, extensive ornate<br />
gold leafing throughout the interior <strong>and</strong> unbeatable<br />
sight lines for a venue of its size. The Colonial’s shuttering<br />
comes on the heels of a breakdown in negotiations<br />
between Emerson College, which<br />
purchased the theater in 2006, <strong>and</strong> Broadway<br />
Across America-Boston, which has been the theater’s<br />
longtime presenter of Broadway touring musicals,<br />
having leased it for more than a decade.<br />
According to a report in The Boston Globe,<br />
Emerson told Broadway Across America-Boston in<br />
early 2010 that it first wanted to explore the option<br />
of leasing the theater to other potential producers. A<br />
lease renewal was finally offered by Emerson last<br />
November, but Broadway Across America-Boston declined,<br />
saying it had waited as long as it could <strong>and</strong><br />
went ahead with other plans for its 2011–12 season.<br />
Instead, the organization will present two touring<br />
shows next season at Boston’s Shubert Theatre,<br />
as well as The Opera House, which it owns. The<br />
Shubert Theatre, which is operated by the Citi<br />
Performing Arts Center, has been used mostly by<br />
the Boston Lyric Opera, although the Boston premiere<br />
of Jersey Boys played there three summers ago.<br />
BERNSTEIN IN BOSTON: The Huntington<br />
Theatre Company mounts Mary Zimmerman's<br />
new adaptation of Leonard Bernstein's classic<br />
musical C<strong>and</strong>ide, based on Voltaire's famous<br />
satire, at the Boston University Theatre beginning<br />
September 10.<br />
Next year, Broadway Across America-Boston will<br />
present a tours of La Cage aux Folles <strong>and</strong> The<br />
Addams Family at the Shubert.<br />
Andrew Tiedemann, Emerson’s vice president for<br />
communications, told Playbill.com in July, “Emerson<br />
is actively seeking a new tenant. We have enjoyed<br />
having Broadway Across America as our tenant…we<br />
hope in the future they would consider a lease.”<br />
While Emerson hopes that Broadway Across<br />
America will return the following season, it is seeking<br />
out other presenters <strong>and</strong> producers in the meantime.<br />
According to the Globe <strong>and</strong> other sources, last<br />
year Emerson was in negotiations with longtime<br />
Boston theater stalwart Jon B. Platt, who ran the<br />
Colonial for more than a decade before selling his<br />
company, <strong>American</strong> Artists/Broadway in Boston, in<br />
1998 to SFX Theatricals (which, after various owners<br />
<strong>and</strong> entities, has morphed into Broadway Across<br />
America). But discussions between Platt <strong>and</strong><br />
Emerson reportedly stalled. Platt, a veteran<br />
Broadway producer of shows like the current blockbuster<br />
The Book of Mormon, helped to raise the<br />
money for a $2 million renovation to the Colonial<br />
in the early ’90s. In a statement to the Globe, Platt<br />
said, “For Boston to lose The Colonial Theatre as a<br />
home for Broadway shows would indeed be a tragic<br />
day in the cultural life of our beloved city.”<br />
Liz Lauren<br />
4 AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER