Sumayya Ali, Bryonha Marie Parham & More Join PORGY & BESS National Tour

The National Tour of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS, winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, will launch at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre this November. The tour, accompanied by a 23-piece orchestra, will begin performances Sunday, Nov. 10 with an official opening on Wednesday, Nov. 13. The national tour will travel to more than 20 cities in its first season in addition to San Francisco, including Los Angeles (Ahmanson Theatre), Seattle (5th Avenue Theatre), Dallas (Winspear Opera House), West Palm Beach, Tampa, Naples, Greenville, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Buffalo, East Lansing, St. Paul, Des Moines, Las Vegas, Tempe and Charlotte, with additional cities to be announced in the coming days.

In addition to previously announced original Broadway cast members Alicia Hall Moran as Bess, Nathaniel Stampley as Porgy and Phillip Boykin as Crown, the tour will feature Broadway cast members Sumayya Ali as Clara, DAN BARNHILL as the Detective, Bryonha Marie Parham as Serena, Allison Blackwell as a Woman of Catfish Row, Roosevelt André Credit as a Fisherman andJoseph Dellger as the Policeman. Complete casting will be announced this summer.

THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS by George Gershwin, DUBOSE and Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin, features one of Broadway's most accomplished creative teams, led by Tony-nominated director Diane Paulus (Pippin, Hair), Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks(Topdog/Underdog), and two-time Obie Award-winning composer DIEDRE L. Murray (Running Man). The creative team also includes choreographer Ronald K. Brown, set designer Riccardo Hernandez, costume designer ESOSA, lighting designer Christopher Akerlind and sound designer ACME Sound Partners.

Following its sold-out world premiere engagement at Boston's American Repertory Theater, THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS moved to the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway for a limited engagement with an official opening on January 12, 2012. After extending the show twice, THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS closed on September 23, 2012 after 322 performances, making it the longest running production of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS to ever play Broadway. The 2012 Broadway Cast Recording of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS is now available on PS Classics.

Based on DuBose Heyward's novel "Porgy" and the play of the same name, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward, the Broadway revival of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS is a stunning and stirring new staging with a magnificent 23-piece orchestra, including such legendary songs as "Summertime," "It Ain't Necessarily So," and "I Got Plenty of Nothing." The classic story is set in Charleston's fabled Catfish Row, where the beautiful Bess struggles to break free from her scandalous past, and the only one who can rescue her is the courageous Porgy. Threatened by her formidable former lover Crown, and the seductive enticements of the colorful troublemaker Sporting Life, Porgy and Bess' relationship evolves into a deep romance that triumphs as one of theater's most exhilarating love stories.

THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS first premiered at the Colonial Theatre in Boston on September 30, 1935. Broadway performances followed featuring a cast of classically trained African-American singers - a daring and visionary artistic choice at the time. This new adaptation of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESSwas specifically created for Broadway and features a revised book in a musical theatre format and jazz-oriented musical arrangements.

For more information, please visit www.porgyandbessthemusical.comhttp://www.porgyandbessthemusical.com

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