Review - Pirating Porgy and Bess

Back in June of 2007, I reviewed a very enjoyable production at the Paper Mill Playhouse titled, Pirates! (or Gilbert and Sullivan plunder'd). It was, as I wrote then, "a fast and rowdy adaptation of the English duo's irreplaceable The Pirates Of Penzance conceived by Nell Benjamin (additional book and lyrics), Gordon Greenberg (director) and John McDaniel (music supervision, new arrangements and orchestrations).

Those who know me, either in person or via this column, know that unless the authors of a theatre piece are alive to make or approve of changes, I want to see the play or musical they wrote. Some argue that theatre is a living art form that must change with the times and I agree. But I interpret that as meaning that directors and designers can freshen up older plays and musicals with new interpretations instead of new words. I think there's a great value in the museum quality of theatre, which gives us insight to the world of those who originally enjoyed the works we see in revivals. If that means sitting through four hours of Shakespeare or enduring racist and sexist elements of past musicals, so be it.

But here's what I wrote about Pirates! four years ago...

Those who may cry heresy at changing one note or altering one word of this G&S classic, take heart. This does not come off like some Philistine's attempt to improve or update a fine old antique that remains in perfectly good working order. No, think of Pirates! as a translation of sorts. Instead of using a book, a play or a film as source material, the creators have taken a beloved work by two masters of comic operetta and have respectfully translated it into a boisterous American musical comedy. High satire is replaced by low humor, artful soprano trills are ditched in favor of hearty mezzo belts, references to British gentility are unceremoniously tossed into the briny foam as the language of the libretto is Americanized and new orchestrations give the piece a more freewheeling Broadway sound. Slap on a new title, have your second female lead straddle a phallic symbol that blasts confetti at the audience, and you've got a welcome variation on a classic.

Does that concept of taking a beloved work of operetta and translating it into musical comedy sound a bit like what we've been hearing from Diane Paulus, Suzan-Lori Parks and others involved in the Broadway-bound revival of Porgy and Bess? That they're taking a classic opera from the 1930s and revising it into a piece intended to satisfy a modern musical theatre audience?

Personally, I think that if a modern musical theatre audience can't appreciate what is considered to be the greatest opera ever written by Americans, then it's the modern musical theatre audience that needs to be changed, not Porgy and Bess. I absolutely do not agree with many of the criticisms of the original work that have been expressed by the new production's creative team, but devising a new adaptation of Porgy and Bess based on the opera, with the Gershwin estate's backing, is something I can see as a legitimate artistic endeavor. Although I think it's completely fair to object to changes made in deceased authors' works with having seen the new product, I also believe the new product deserves to be judged on its own merits. You can hate the fact that the show was done, but still conclude that it was done well.

It's the title that's the problem. Suzan Lori-Parks has been quoted as saying, "We haven't touched the opera. We're making another show. We're not saying this will replace original Porgy and Bess." But if the estate insists on calling the production The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess it creates a false impression of what she and Paulus say they are doing.

What if there was a subtitle, significantly displayed below the title on all promotional materials? Something like:

The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

in a new musical theatre adaptation

Would that cool the fire down a bit?

Oh, and maybe a sub-subtitle like...

The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

in a new musical theatre adaptation

of an opera DeBose Heyward had something to do with, too

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