I went to see this amazing play on Leanne's birthday...Porgy and Bess is an opera with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Heyward. It was based on Heyward's novel Porgy and the play of the same name that he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy. All three works deal with African American life in the fictitious Catfish Row in Charleston, South Carolina in the early 1930s.
Originally conceived by Gershwin as an "American folk opera," Porgy and Bess premiered in New York in the fall of 1935 and featured an entire cast of classically trained African-American singers — a daring and visionary artistic choice at the time. Incorporating a wealth of blues and jazz idioms into the classical art form of opera, Gershwin considered it his finest work, but it was not widely accepted in the United States as a legitimate opera until 1976 when the Houston Grand Opera production of his complete score (followed nine years later by its Metropolitan Opera premiere) established it as an artistic triumph. The work is now considered part of the standard operatic repertoire and is regularly performed internationally. "Summertime" is by far the best-known piece from the work, and countless interpretations of this and other individual numbers have also been recorded and performed. The opera is admired for Gershwin's innovative synthesis of European orchestral techniques with American jazz and folk music idioms. Porgy and Bess tells the story of Porgy, a crippled black man living in the slums of Charleston, South Carolina, and his attempts to rescue Bess from the clutches of Crown, her pimp, and Sportin' Life, the drug dealer.
So I was sitting with my girls enjoying this wonderful play at the Savoy Theatre off of the Holborn tube station on the Central line. I left work in a rush just to make the tube and walked what seemed like 2 miles to get to the theatre in boots that started kicking my ass after the first block. The seat was uncomfortable with absolutely no leg room. I was also cramping up a storm. By the time the break arrived I was emotionally wowed and physically drained. Right before the actors came back onto the stage this little white man interrupted a conversation I was having with Olivia. The FIRST question out of his mouth 'I was wondering how you felt about the play so far from a black perspective?' WHHHHHHHAAAATTTT!!!!
So the gentleman and I exchanged a couple of sentences before he left to go back to his seat. Basically I asked him why he would want my perspective. He felt that I could relate to the play because of the characters being black and from Leanne's perspective...my being American was also a factor. The added bonus was that I was the only black person in our section of the theatre. There might have been some in a different section, but they were probably too far away for him to bother. I explained to him that I could have come from the same cultural background as he did. Just because I am the same race as the characters does not mean that I understand their background. I asked him how he liked the play so far as a white man. He said that there were things that he did not understand.
My issue with this conversation (this is for yall folks out there that are curious) was his initiation of the conversation. There was no 'excuse me' or 'hi how are you doing...it sounds like you're from the States...' instead he rudely interrupted the conversation I was having with a friend. There was also no lead up to his conversation. Also, I was sitting next to 4 other Americans, who could have provided him with some information. Do yall know the people around congratulated me on the way I handled the situation. OK. Anyway, I am fed up with thinking about the situation that dampened the second act for me.
and my feet still hurt.
