[GERSHWIN, GEORGE. (1898-1937).] Printed Document. 2pp. Small 4to. New York, January 22, (1942). A one sheet printed in red and blue announcing the first revival of Porgy and Bess.
George Gershwin read DuBose Heyward’s novel, Porgy, in the summer of 1926, and immediately wrote to him suggesting a collaboration on an operatic version. Informed that a stage adaptation by The Theatre Guild was already underway, Gershwin set aside his plans, never losing hope, however, that such a venture could someday be realized. The Guild’s acclaimed production of Porgy, also directed by Rouben Mamoulian, premiered on October 10, 1927. Interest in the play remained sufficiently high so that when Gershwin again contacted Heyward in 1932, he met with a favorable response. Soon George, his brother Ira, and Heyward commenced work on a musical setting of Porgy. Three years later, on October 10, 1935, exactly eight years after the play’s stage debut, Porgy and Bess opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York. The production suffered no lack of praise; however, music critics discussed the question whether Gershwin had created an opera in the strictest sense. Stylistic criticisms followed; nonetheless, the contention of the majority – which continues to this day – was that Gershwin had created a “compellingly dramatic” production, and that Mamoulian pulled off “one of the most notable feats in virtuous direction our modern theatre has ever seen,” (The Life and Times of Porgy and Bess: The Story of an American Classic, Alpert).
In 1942, director and producer Cheryl Crawford and theater producer John Wildberg staged a revival of Porgy & Bess with a stock theater company in Maplewood, New Jersey. The production changed the original book, used a smaller cast and orchestra and had many of the recitatives spoken as dialogue, cutting the length of the show by 45 minutes. Broadway theater owner and producer Lee Schubert saw the show and arranged for Crawford to bring her production to New York’s Majestic Theatre, where many members of the original cast reprised their roles. Running for nine months, Crawford’s Porgy & Bess was financially more successful than the original production.
In excellent condition and rare.
