THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS Announces Ticket Information: On Sale Tomorrow for AmEx Holders, 9/12 for General Public

Producers Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel in association with the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) are pleased to announce tickets for THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS will be on sale exclusively to American Express Cardmembers from Wednesday, August 10th, 2011 at 10:00 am through Monday, September 5, 2011 at 11:59 pm, at Ticketmaster.com (800-745-3000). Also, Preferred Seating is available to American Express Gold Card, Platinum Card® and Centurion® members. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday, September 12th at 10:00 am.

THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS begins previews on Saturday, December 17th, 2011 and opens on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at The Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street, between 8th and Broadway).

THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS by George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin has been re-imagined by A.R.T.'s Artistic Director Diane Paulus, Pulitzer prize-winning writer Suzan-Lori Parks, and two-time Obie winner Diedre Murray. The creative team also includes choreographer Ronald K. Brown, set designer Riccardo Hernandez, costume designer Emilio Sosa, lighting designer Christopher Akerlind and sound designer Acme Sound Partners.

The Broadway production will star Audra McDonald as Bess, Norm Lewis as Porgy and David Alan Grier as Sportin' Life, reprising their A.R.T. roles. The show will run at A.R.T. August 17th through October 2nd.

THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS is based on DuBose Heyward's novel "Porgy" and the play of the same name, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward. All three works deal with African American life in the fictitious Catfish Row (based on the real-life Rainbow Row) in Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1920s. George Gershwin worked on Porgy and Bess in Charleston, SC and drew inspiration from the James Island Gullah community, which he felt had preserved some African musical traditions. The music itself reflects his New York jazz roots, but also draws on southern black traditions. Gershwin modeled the pieces after each type of folk song which the composer knew about; jubilees, blues, praying songs, street cries, work songs, and spirituals are blended with traditional arias and recitatives. This new adaptation of the show has been specifically created for Broadway and will feature a revised book in a musical theatre format and jazz-oriented musical arrangements.

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.