Cabbage Row, in the Charleston of the 1920s, was the inspiration for "Catfish Row" in DuBose Heyward’s novel, Porgy, and is the setting for Porgy and Bess. The opera by George and Ira Gershwin with a libretto by Hayward, is brought to life on the new Martha and John M. Rivers Performance Hall stage, just blocks from the historical Cabbage Row.
David Herskovits, whose 1998 production of Mamba’s Daughters by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward won an OBIE award and sold out at Spoleto Festival USA in 1999, returns to the Festival to direct this landmark production. Lester Lynch sings Porgy, Alyson Cambridge sings Bess, and Visual Designer Jonathan Green creates a setting that reveals the roots, strength, and character of the Gullah community.
Porgy and Bess at Spoleto Festival USA