Photo Flash: Opening Tonight - The South Florida Symphony Orchestra's PORGY AND BESS

The South Florida Symphony Orchestra's production of the Gershwin's great American opera Porgy and Bess opens tonight. The staging is directed by famed Broadway producer/director Richard Jay-Alexander and SFSO's acclaimed music-director Maestra Sebrina María Alfonso will conduct the 70 piece South Florida Symphony Orchestra with set design by award-winning designer Paul Tate DePoo. The new adaption, featuring an all-star black cast will be presented in three performances: Wednesday, January 16 at the Adrienne Arsht Center's Knight Concert Hall in Miami; Saturday, January 19 at the Tennessee Williams Theater in Key West; and concluding Wednesday, January 23 at the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Ft. Lauderdale, with a season gala event in celebration of the SFSO's 21st anniversary.

Neil Nelson as Porgy and Brandie Sutton as Bess lead an all-star cast that includes Jermaine Smith- Sportin' Life, Kyaunnee Richardson- Clara, Simone Paulwell- Serena, Eric Shane - Jake and Gwendolyn Brown as Maria.

It is a rare opportunity to be able to see and hear the American masterpiece Porgy and Bess.It is universally recognized as one of the greatest creative works this country has ever produced. But that opportunity is now a reality, due to the commitment of the South Florida Symphony Orchestra, with an exciting cast and a full 70-piece orchestra, in all their glory, under the masterful baton of Maestra Sebrina María Alfonso.

Porgy and Bess was written by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play "Porgy," an adaptation of DuBose Heyward's 1925 novel of the same name.

Porgy and Bess is considered by critics the most important American opera of the 20th century. Gershwin's masterwork has gained popularity over generations, boasting some of the most beautiful songs ever written, including known classics and standards, such as "Summertime," "I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'," "I Loves You, Porgy," "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" and "It Ain't Necessarily So."

Like many great American cultural works, Porgy and Bess sprang out of the soil that created jazz, with its unique hymns, rhythms, field calls, blues, revival shouts and spiritual soul. Gershwin worked passionately to create a one-of-a-kind classic, which ended up crossing musical lines, creating something that had never been done before. Whether referred to as an opera, a folk opera or a musical, it is surely a theatrical masterpiece and rarely done because it is such an ambitious undertaking. For that very reason, the well-established symphony reached out to Broadway veteran, Richard Jay-Alexander, to bring it to the stage in a very special way. The entire orchestra and cast will share the stage in what is sure to be an exciting evening's entertainment, telling an enthralling story, drawing us into the human condition.

The Gershwin-Heyward collaboration originally featured an all-black cast of classically trained singers-revolutionary casting in 1930s America. First performed in 1935, in Boston, at the time it received mixed reviews. Many people couldn't quite come to terms with its Catfish Row subject matter combined with outstanding vocalists and sophisticated music. As everyone wondered what to label such a revolutionary work, with recitatives and arias, it is still argued today, by scholars, yet beloved and admired by all. Just a few seasons ago, a new revival was reinterpreted and staged on Broadway, by director Diane Paulus, starring Norm Lewis and Audra McDonald. It won a Tony Award for Best Revival. It has proven to be an enduring treasure and tour de force for orchestras and casts alike.

For more information, visit www.southfloridasymphony.org

Photos courtesy of Richard Jay-Alexander