Porgy and Bess Program [pdf] - American Repertory Theater

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BACKSTAGE Behind the scenes in local and national theater The Colonial Theatre Goes Dark The high-profile, Broadway-bound musical adaptation of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess is basking in the glory of its triumphant return to the Greater Boston area, but in a bittersweet turn of events, Porgy’s original birthplace, the Colonial Theatre on Boylston Street, went dark earlier this summer for what could be an extended period of time. Porgy premiered at the historic Colonial Theatre in 1935 (September 30, to be exact) prior to its engagement on Broadway. The new revival is testing its wings at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge. Meanwhile, the 1,700-seat Colonial, famous for pre-Broadway tryouts, including the premieres of such landmark musicals as Oklahoma! and La Cage aux Folles, was shut down in early July following a four-week engagement of a revival of West Side Story, and its future is uncertain. Boston’s oldest continuously operating theater, the Colonial is known for its spectacular murals, extensive ornate gold leafing throughout the interior and unbeatable sight lines for a venue of its size. The Colonial’s shuttering comes on the heels of a breakdown in negotiations between Emerson College, which purchased the theater in 2006, and Broadway Across America-Boston, which has been the theater’s longtime presenter of Broadway touring musicals, having leased it for more than a decade. According to a report in The Boston Globe, Emerson told Broadway Across America-Boston in early 2010 that it first wanted to explore the option of leasing the theater to other potential producers. A lease renewal was finally offered by Emerson last November, but Broadway Across America-Boston declined, saying it had waited as long as it could and went ahead with other plans for its 2011–12 season. Instead, the organization will present two touring shows next season at Boston’s Shubert Theatre, as well as The Opera House, which it owns. The Shubert Theatre, which is operated by the Citi Performing Arts Center, has been used mostly by the Boston Lyric Opera, although the Boston premiere of Jersey Boys played there three summers ago. BERNSTEIN IN BOSTON: The Huntington Theatre Company mounts Mary Zimmerman's new adaptation of Leonard Bernstein's classic musical Candide, based on Voltaire's famous satire, at the Boston University Theatre beginning September 10. Next year, Broadway Across America-Boston will present a tours of La Cage aux Folles and The Addams Family at the Shubert. Andrew Tiedemann, Emerson’s vice president for communications, told Playbill.com in July, “Emerson is actively seeking a new tenant. We have enjoyed having Broadway Across America as our tenant…we hope in the future they would consider a lease.” While Emerson hopes that Broadway Across America will return the following season, it is seeking out other presenters and producers in the meantime. According to the Globe and other sources, last year Emerson was in negotiations with longtime Boston theater stalwart Jon B. Platt, who ran the Colonial for more than a decade before selling his company, American Artists/Broadway in Boston, in 1998 to SFX Theatricals (which, after various owners and entities, has morphed into Broadway Across America). But discussions between Platt and Emerson reportedly stalled. Platt, a veteran Broadway producer of shows like the current blockbuster The Book of Mormon, helped to raise the money for a $2 million renovation to the Colonial in the early ’90s. In a statement to the Globe, Platt said, “For Boston to lose The Colonial Theatre as a home for Broadway shows would indeed be a tragic day in the cultural life of our beloved city.” Liz Lauren 4 AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
ackstage (continued) Zimmerman’s new Candide at the Huntington While Porgy and Bess has been generating a lot of buzz in the theater scene of late, there’s another high-profile adaptation of a classic opera-musical hybrid playing on the other side of the Charles River this month. Beginning September 10, Boston’s Huntington Theatre Company kicks off its 30th anniversary season with Mary Zimmerman’s new version of the Leonard Bernstein classic Candide, playing the Boston University Theatre through October 16. ATony Award winner and MacArthur “Genius” grand recipient, Zimmerman has newly adapted the book for Candide from the classic French satire by Voltaire, using her signature style of close collaboration with her company and creative team. (Zimmerman most famously directed her play, Metamorphoses, on Broadway in 2002.) Her new version of Candide played to packed houses in Chicago and Washington, D.C., last year, and was greeted by mixed to enthusiastic reviews in both cities. While Zimmerman has newly adapted the libretto (originally written by Lillian Hellman, yet rewritten in 1974 by Hugh Wheeler), the immortal Leonard Bernstein score, with lyrics by Richard Wilbur, remains as luscious as ever. The nearly 30 songs include the classics “The Best of All Possible Worlds,” “Oh Happy We,” “Glitter and Be Gay” and “Make Our Garden Grow.” The show recounts the tale of Candide, a sheltered and sunny optimist subscribing to the crackpot philosophy of Dr. Pangloss, who teaches that everything happens for the best in this “best of all possible worlds.” Living on his uncle’s Eden-like estate, Candide falls in love with Cunegonde, the couple’s illicit affair is discovered, and they are thrown out into an often cruel world where increasingly awful misfortune tests their unbounded optimism. Questioning Our Values and Malkovich Come to Town ArtsEmerson’s ambitious slate of performers and artists for its second season at the Paramount Center downtown kicks off with the world premiere of The Foundry Theatre’s How Much Is Enough: Our Values in Question, which grapples with the concept of “value” in people’s lives and how we determine what matters to us. The show runs from September 13–25 at the Center’s Jackie Liebergott Black Box theater. Based in New York, the Foundry touts that it has developed the first “audience performance company” in which the audience shapes the show’s narrative through an interactive question and answer session. The play itself will be built out of questions posed by performers to audience members about the ways they’ve lived their lives, their plans for the future, how they balance priorities and any advice they have for helping create lives of value. The questions are asked as the audience is seated around tables. The answers make up the evening’s performance, which explores how notions of “value” change throughout life. “The experience will change with every performance because the ‘dialogue’ isn’t scripted. Rather, it comes from the hearts and minds of the audience,” said ArtsEmerson executive director Rob Orchard in a press statement. “The atmosphere is relaxed and communal. People will be asked to participate only at a level that suits them. On September 29 and 30, ArtsEmerson presents internationally acclaimed film and theater actor John Malkovich performing in The Infernal Comedy: Confessions of a Serial Killer at the Cutler Majestic Theatre for two performances only. The award-winning Malkovich is famed for his roles in films like Places in the Heart, The Killing Fields, Dangerous Liaisons, In the Line of Fire and for playing a cinematic version of himself in Charlie Kaufman’s Being John Malkovich. Written and directed by Michael Sturminger, The Infernal Comedy is the perfect vehicle for Malkovich’s patented brand of creepy, self-possessed intensity. The play is based on the true story of serial killer Jack Unterweger, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1976 for murdering a young girl and later became a literary celebrity after the publication of his autobiography. Considered a model of prisoner rehabilitation, Unterweger was paroled in 1990—only to end up murdering 11 more women. Sturminger’s play imagines Unterweger back from the grave for an autobiographical book tour as he narrates his sordid story. Each section concludes with a different aria—yes, an aria—from the likes of Mozart, Haydn and Vivaldi, sung by two sopranos and accompanied by the Musica Angelica Orchestra. THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS 5
Page 3: Contents SEPTEMBER 2011 12 Artistic
Page 7 and 8: atrical history and bring them forw
Page 9 and 10: identify with Porgy. I’m rooting
Page 11 and 12: Miles Davis and Nina Simone, popula
Page 13: Charlie Haydock, CFA Chief Investme
Page 17 and 18: Cast (in order of appearance) Clara
Page 19 and 20: ADDITIONAL STAFF Dialect Coach.....
Page 21 and 22: Courtesy of Ira and Leonore Gershwi
Page 23 and 24: ALLISON BLACKWELL Woman of Catfish
Page 25 and 26: cast (continued) pearances include
Page 27 and 28: cast (continued) BRYONHA MARIE PARH
Page 29 and 30: orchestra (continued) LEO EGUCHI Ce
Page 31 and 32: orchestra (continued) GREG NEWTON T
Page 33 and 34: creative team (continued) Venus (19
Page 35 and 36: creative team (continued) and Misal
Page 37 and 38: creative team (continued) JULIE BAL
Page 39 and 40: A.R.T./MXAT Institute For Advanced
Page 41 and 42: annual fund donors (continued) $1,0
Page 43 and 44: A.R.T. EDUCATION EXPERIENCE & COMMU
Page 45 and 46: Staff AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER ST
Page 47 and 48: guide to local theater (continued)
Page 49 and 50: guide to local theater (continued)
Page 51 and 52: SLASHER, Apollinaire Theatre Compan
Page 53 and 54: Direct from its sold-out run at the
Page 55 and 56:
guide to cambridge dining (continue
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guide to cambridge dining (continue
Page 59 and 60:
ELL RADCLIFFE YARD CAMBRIDGE ST GAR
Page 62 and 63:
Dining Out NUBAR If you were famili
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