Great Performances at the Met: Porgy and Bess

Eric Owens and Angel Blue star as the sympathetic duo Porgy and Bess in this primetime production. 

The all-star ensemble features Alfred Walker as Crown, Frederick Ballentine as Sportin’ Life, Latonia Moore as Serena, Golda Schultz as Clara and Donovan Singletary as Jake. David Robertson conducts. Great Performances at the Met: Porgy and Bess airs Friday, July 17 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

James Robinson’s production takes place in the 1920s inside Catfish Row, a tenement neighborhood of Charleston, South Carolina, beginning with its inhabitants relaxing after a day’s work. Drug-dealer Sportin’ Life, Jake and some of the other men gather to play craps under the disapproving eye of the religious Serena. Disabled beggar Porgy arrives and is about to join the game when Crown and his partner Bess appear. Drunk and high on drugs, Crown loses, starts a fight and kills Robbins, Serena’s husband. Before the police arrive, Crown runs off to hide, telling Bess that he’ll be back for her. Sportin’ Life offers to take Bess to New York with him, but she refuses. Only Porgy is sympathetic to Bess; he offers her shelter and his protection, which she accepts. A collection is being taken to meet the cost of the burial, and Bess offers Serena a contribution which she refuses, thinking it must be Crown’s money. Serena finally accepts when she realizes the money is from Porgy.