Phillip Boykin Joins PORGY AND BESS National Tour

The National Tour of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS, winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, will star Theatre World Award winner and original Broadway cast member Phillip Boykin, who will reprise his Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle Award-nominated role as Crown. Boykin joins previously announced original Broadway cast members Nathaniel Stampley as Porgy and Alicia Hall Moran as Bess. The national tour, which begins in the late fall of 2013 will travel to more than 20 cities in its first season, including Los Angeles (Ahmanson Theatre), Seattle (5th Avenue Theatre), Dallas (Winspear Opera House), Charlotte, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Des Moines, Tampa, Las Vegas, Cleveland, West Palm Beach, Tempe, St. Paul and Greenville with additional cities to be announced in the coming days.

In addition to his nominations for his work as Crown, Boykin received the 2012 Theatre World and an I.R.N.E. award for his Outstanding Broadway Debut. Boykin has portrayed the roles of Crown and Jake in the operatic version of Porgy and Bess, as well as Joe in the national tour of Show Boat, Ken in Ain't Misbehavin and Fred in Smokey Joe's Café. He will also appear in the upcoming movie Something Whispered about the Underground Railroad.

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, 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 BESS was 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.com

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