United States Gershwin, Porgy and Bess: Soloists, Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra / Kwamé Ryan (conductor). Metropolitan Opera, New York, 2.12.2025. (RP)
It was a cold, wet New York evening, but the sight and sound of Vuvu Mpofu’s Clara cradling her baby and singing ‘Summertime’ sent the chill packing and warmed the heart. The lovely tenderness with which Mpofu sang one of George Gershwin’s greatest songs stood in stark contrast to the men of Catfish Row setting up for a crap game. Porgy and Bess was back at the Metropolitan Opera in James Robinson’s now classic production.
Porgy and Bess is a long night at the opera, but time flew as Gershwin’s great tunes flowed one after another in rapid succession. Since the opera made its overdue Met debut in 1985, casting has never been an issue. Simon Estes and Grace Bumbry were the Met’s first Porgy and Bess, and Angel Blue and Eric Owens starred in the first run of Robinson’s staging in 2019. Alfred Walker and Brittany Renee topped a superb cast in this revival.
Robinson’s production originated at the English National Opera. Catfish Row, a fictional neighborhood in Charleston, SC, is depicted as three-story structures outlined only by beams. There is scant furniture, befitting tenement buildings where people scrape by, and privacy is nonexistent. Community is strong, anchored by religion, but Catfish Row in the 1920s is rife with problems – poverty, violence, drugs – that haunt society today.
There is an ochre cast to the production: the sun never shines, the atmosphere is oppressive and storm clouds beckon. Lighting and projections create the terrors of the hurricane that passes over the ramshackle collection of buildings. Amidst the gambling, murder and lust, temperatures soared even higher every time the dancers appeared on the stage. Their electrifying movements were as spiky and angular as the structures that framed them.
Undoubtedly, the darker sides of Alfred Walker’s vocal and dramatic range were evident when he was Crown in the previous two productions of this show. His Porgy, however, was a solid man, kind-hearted and at peace with himself. Though slow to anger, he could be deadly. The richness of his bass-baritone filled ‘I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’ with the same hope and joy with which he headed for New York singing ‘Oh, Lawd, I’m on my Way’.
Brittany Renee is a fascinating Bess, torn between animal lust and the lure of drugs versus her yearning for a decent life with Porgy. She glowed physically and vocally when joining Walker in ‘Bess, You Is my Woman Now’, but aged before one’s eyes as she attempted to fend off Crown in ‘What You Want wid Bess?’ However, ‘happy dust’ won in the end as she headed to New York with Frederick Ballentine’s honey-voiced and loose-limbed Sportin’ Life. As if anyone could resist his ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’ and ‘There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon for New York’?
Gershwin believed that Metropolitan Opera singers could not sing his jazz-infused music. Time proved him wrong, and even Wagnerian singers are cast nowadays. Eric Owens portrayed Porgy in the past, and another rising Wotan, Ryan Speedo Green, was Crown in this run. With his strapping physique and equally imposing voice, Green commanded the stage. When he hurled ‘Alright, Big Friend! We’re on for another bout!’ at Porgy, it sent chills down your spine.
Latonia Moore’s Serena was a prim, pious church lady who gave vent to her grief in a searing ‘My Man’s Gone Now’. Her man was the hapless Robbins, portrayed by Chauncey Packer, who did double duty as the lively Crabman hawking his catch later in the opera. Brittany Olivia Logan was a bright-voiced, perky Strawberry Woman selling her fruit, and Benjamin Taylor’s Jake was as robust as his rich baritone. Perhaps a sign of the times, scattered jeers from the audience greeted Grant Neale’s Detective and Bobby Mittelstadt’s Policeman when they appeared on the scene. Darren Drone’s Undertaker and Kevin Short’s ‘Lawyer’ Frazier personified sleaze, as they connived ways to part folks from their money in death and marriage.
In his Met conducting debut, Kwamé Ryan led a perfectly paced performance that crackled with energy and churned with emotion. For all the hit songs, it is the choruses that form the backbone of Porgy and Bess. The Metropolitan Opera Chorus sounded great, especially in the hymns and prayers sung as the hurricane swept through Catfish Row.
With this run of Porgy and Bess, the Met marks a milestone: Denyce Graves’s farewell to the operatic stage. Since her 1995 debut as Carmen, the mezzo-soprano has lent her glamour and sumptuous voice to roles from Saint-Saëns’s Dalila to Sally in Kevin Put’s The Hours. Her powers remain undiminished as she demonstrated in the role of Maria, anchoring the entire performance with her integrity and still majestic voice. Graves’s star never dimmed over her impressive 30-year career.
Rick Perdian
Featured Image: Denyce Graves (Maria) and Frederick Ballentine (Sportin’ Life) © Richard Termine/Met Opera
Production:
Production – James Robinson
Sets – Michael Yeargan
Costumes – Catherine Zuber
Lighting – Donald Holder
Projection – Luke Halls
Choreographer – Camille A. Brown
Fight director – David Leong
Chorus director – Tilman Michael
Cast:
Clara – Vuvu Mpofu
Mingo – Errin Duane Brooks
Sportin’ Life – Frederick Ballentine
Jake – Benjamin Taylor
Serena – Latonia Moore
Robbins / Crabman – Chauncey Packer
Jim – Norman Garrett
Peter – Norman Shankle
Maria – Denyce Graves
Porgy – Alfred Walker
Crown – Ryan Speedo Green
Bess –- Brittany Renee
Detective – Grant Neale
Lily – Adrienne Danrich
Policeman – Bobby Mittelstadt
Undertaker – Darren Drone
Annie – Jasmine Muhammad
‘Lawyer’ Frazier – Kevin Short
Nelson – Steven D. Myles
Strawberry Woman – Brittany Olivia Logan
Coroner – Michael Lewis
Scipio – Ezra Sibusiso Maldonado-Hazel