Stripped-down version of ‘Porgy and Bess’ makes classic feel fresh

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Bess (Alexis J. Rogers) struggles to free herself from the abusive Crown (James Earl Jones II) in Court Theatre’s “Porgy and Bess.”

Updated: August 28, 2011 12:22AM

How do you make the interpretation of an acknowledged musical and theatrical masterpiece feel simultaneously revolutionary and classic? The remarkable production of “Porgy and Bess” that opened Saturday at Court Theatre — a production that is less a “revival” than a deeply brilliant “reinvention” — offers some clues.

This genre-defying 1935 work by George and Ira Gershwin, and Dubose and Dorothy Heyward — an opera, folk opera, musical theater work and jazz and gospel-laced revival meeting all in one — blows onto the stage with such an uncanny mix of clarity, revelation and hurricane emotional force that you might think the freshness and electric intensity of it all are rooted in some ineffable magic. In fact, they are the result of the perfect mix of director (Charles Newell) whose uncanny instincts, extraordinary storytelling skills and deeply original sense of casting never fail to leave an indelible mark; musical director (Doug Peck) who can expose the skeleton of the most complex score; 15 performers who fearlessly expose their souls in the blinding light; six musicians, including Peck, who are part jazz band, part orchestra, part sound effects crew; and an inspired design team that is perfectly in synch with Newell’s always deceptively minimalist approach.

Of course the magic invariably spins back to the work itself. And even in this age of cross-cultural everything, the Gershwin brothers’ ability to so completely “live” inside a community radically different from their own (the world of the poor blacks of Catfish Row in coastal Charleston, S.C., circa 1925), and to find a way to capture its spirit, is breathtaking. Any charge of racism that has attached itself to this work over the years seems wholly absurd. And watching this production you can only wish every school kid in this city could see it and discuss its characters’ choices and destinies.

At the story’s center is Bess (the petite and very real Alexis J. Rogers, more girlish than stereotypical siren). She is a lost young woman whose interactions with three different men suggest the physical and spiritual turmoil of her life. Initially shunned by the church ladies (who brand her “a liquor-guzzling slut”), she is sexually hooked on the violent, abusive Crown (the terrific James Earl Jones II, an actor of clarion voice and stout muscularity) and numbed by the “happy dust” given to her by the flashy Sportin’ Life (a sizzlingly stylish Sean Blake), a pimp who lures her with promises of the high life in New York. At the same time she is drawn to the kindness of Porgy (Todd M. Kryger, who emanates warmth and sadness), the crippled beggar who shelters her, and blossoms in her company.

But it is the world that surrounds these three that propels this production — the ordinary fishermen and stevedores, who are always just one step away from prison or death and leaving their women unmoored. The scene of mourning led by Serena (Bethany Thomas, whose phenomenal performance and multi-octave voice stop the show) is emblematic. But Clara (Harriet Nzinga Plumpp) also has her turn to mourn her Jake (Byron Glenn Willis), and the voices and personalities of Wydetta Carter, Adrienne Walker, Joelle Lamarre, Bear Bellinger, Brian Alwyn Newland, Travis Turner and Kelvin Roston, Jr soar. Matt Holzfeind briefly suggests the power of the white world outside theirs.

Set designer John Culbert’s spare, angled, whitewashed stage, framed by giant shutters and shades (and dramatically lit by Brian Scott), pulls the audience into the powerfully choreographed action, with Jacqueline Firkins’ textured white costumes forcing you to study the characters’ faces.

Along with Peck (on piano and organ) and the exceptional Brent Roman on percussion, the superb musicians are Chuck Bontrager, Christian Dillingham, Nick Moran and Stephen Orejudos. They, alone, are worth a visit to the theater.

Far more can be said about this revelatory production, but there is no substitute for experiencing it. Already a super-hot ticket for Court, “Porgy and Bess” is further proof that THIS theater is long overdue for a “best regional theater” Tony Award.