To mark 75 years since George Gershwin’s tragically early death, Cape Town Opera performs this exuberantly colourful staging of the great American songwriter’s immortal ‘folk opera’ Porgy and Bess.
A jazzy fusion of classical opera and Broadway musical, boasting some of the most unforgettable melodies in the song repertoire – including ‘Summertime’ and ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’ – Porgy and Bess is not only America’s greatest opera but the only opera fully to embrace the African-American experience.
Originally set among the teeming black community of Catfish Row, a run-down tenement in 1920s South Carolina, the opera tells of the crippled beggar Porgy’s desperate attempts to rescue the beautiful Bess from her twin dependency upon her violent lover Crown and the sleazy dope-dealer Sportin’ Life.
Created to celebrate Cape Town Opera’s 10th anniversary in 2009, this vibrantly physical production brilliantly highlights the work’s universal and enduring message by shifting the action to apartheid-era Soweto.
Opened by Oswald Stoll on 24 Dec 1904. The first London theatre with a revolving stage. Home of the English National Opera (ENO). 2358 seats, the largest theatre in London, built in 1904 and very sophisticated at the time. The globe at the top was meant to revolve, but this wasn't allowed and 'chaser' lights were installed instead. Home of the ENO. since 1968. Society of London Theatre member. Restoration work costing £41m started in 2001 and due to be completed by 2004 to coincide with the centenary of the Coliseum. During the restoration an artistic programme will be staged.
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