A new production of the Gershwins' groundbreaking folk opera Porgy and Bess--trimmed down from "a four hour opera to a two-and-a-half-hour musical"--will begin performances at the Savoy Theatre in London on October 25th and open on November 9th, according to The New York Times.
Tony Award-winner Sir Trevor Nunn (The Woman in White, Les Miserables)--who helmed an acclaimed production of Porgy and Bess at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1986--has adapted the opera into the musical The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. ."..About three years ago, he said, he approached the Gershwin estate with the idea of turning the opera into a musical by fashioning a book out of the 1925 novel, the subsequent play and the opera's libretto by DuBose Heyward (whose wife, Dorothy, co-wrote the play) and some other historical materials. The estate approved of his version, and he has invited members of the Gershwin family along for the process, including a workshop last year," states the article. Frankel/Viertel/Baruch/Routh Group, Howard Panter for the Ambassador Theater Group and Tulbart Productions will produce the London production, which is capitalized for $5 million. Tom Viertel has also said that the show might come to Broadway in 2007-2008.Videos