Local Baritone to Be Featured in National Tour of PORGY AND BESS 2/19-2/21

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of George Gershwin's enduring masterpiece, a new production of Porgy and Bess has been mounted-with full approval of the Gershwin estate-by veteran opera producer Michael Capasso (General Director of New York's vibrant Dicapo Opera). Featuring a stellar cast, live orchestra, and brand new sets, costumes, and lighting, this groundbreaking opera weaves a tale of prejudice, love, and tragedy. Incorporating a wealth of blues and jazz into the classical art of opera, Gershwin considered Porgy & Bess his finest work with songs such as "Summertime" and "It Ain't Necessarily So." Columbus resident and OSU graduate Eric McKeever will be performing the role of Jake for the national tour which runs through June.

In association with The King Arts Complex, CAPA presents PORGY AND BESS at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St.) February 19-21. Show times are Friday, February 19, 8 pm; Saturday, February 20, 2 pm and 8 pm; and Sunday, February 21, 2 pm. Tickets are $65, $55, and $35 at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Office (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, please call (614) 469-0939 or (800) 745-3000. The Southern Theatre Ticket Office will open two hours prior to the performance. Students between the ages of 13-19 may purchase $5 High Five tickets while available. This Spectrum Series presentation is made possible through the generous support of Univar and series sponsors David and Mo Meuse.

"Irresistible in its melodies, moving in its depiction of love's power in the face of all odds, PORGY AND BESS stands before the world as the greatest opera ever written by a native-born American," states producer Capasso. "It has long been a dream of mine to produce this quintessentially American operatic classic, and I hope and trust that audiences all across the country will share my enthusiasm for this new production of George Gershwin's true masterpiece."

Passion, jealousy, murder, and poverty make up the heady brew of this evocative story. Porgy, a downtrodden but generous beggar, haunts the streets known as "Catfish Row," a poor district of early 20th century segregated Charleston, South Carolina. Ardently in love with the prostitute Bess, Porgy has to share his affections with her violent former lover Crown and the roguish suitor Sportin' Life. Written by George Gershwin to a libretto by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin, Porgy and Bess has enjoyed spectacular fame all over the world since its first modest production in New York City in October 1935. This operatic masterpiece has spawned a string of hit songs that have become international icons of the American tradition.

Although Gershwin had hoped for PORGY AND BESS to be premiered at the Metropolitan Opera, his plans were thwarted by the sudden death of Metropolitan Opera Board Chairman Otto Kahn. The opera toured Europe and North and South America throughout the 1950s, and was the first work by an American to be produced at La Scala in Milan, Italy. It enjoyed tremendous success at the Vienna Volksoper, Leningrad's Palace of Culture, and London's Stoll Theatre, and it was this tour that launched the career of Leontyne Price. In its 75 year history, no other opera or musical has employed more African-Americans. The work was not widely accepted in the US as "real" opera until 1976 when the Houston Grand Opera staged PORGY AND BESS with the original score and orchestration. Nine years later, the Met gave its first performance of the work, including it in its Saturday afternoon live broadcast series.

PORGY AND BESS will be directed by Charles Randolph-Wright (writer and director of the film Mama I Want to Sing to be released February 2010), conducted by Music Director Pacien Mazzagatti, and produced in association with Willette Murphy Klausner. With new orchestration by Mazzagatti, brand-new sets designed by John Farrell, costumes by Ildikó Márta Debreczeni, and lighting by Susan Roth, Porgy and Bess kicks off its 26-city tour February 18, 2010, in Van Wert, Ohio.

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