The Opera: an Overview
Below are images taken from the current published vocal score outlining the characters, the scene structure, and the primary music of the full opera as originally conceived by Gershwin.
SYNOPSIS
The following synopsis is excerpted from Howard Pollack's "George Gershwin: his life and work", pp. 580-582, and includes the names of the original cast members:
...The opera takes place in "the recent past" (plausibly 1927 as well), though the premiere program gave the "time" as "the present" (that is, 1935). On a summer's night in Catfish Row, a black tenement in Charleston [South Carolina], couples dance to the piano playing of Jasbo Brown ("Jasbo Brown Blues"). Clara (Abbie Mitchell, soprano) cradles her infant boy ("Summertime"). Some local men--including Clara's husband, Jake, a fisherman who captains the Sea Gull (Edward Matthews, baritone); Sportin' Life, a dope peddler visiting from New York (John W. Bubbles, tenor); Mingo (Ford L. Buck, tenor); and Robbins (Henry Davis, tenor)--prepare for a Saturday night craps game, to the dismay of Robbin's pious wife, Serena (Ruby Elzy, soprano). Jake attempts to soothe his baby ("A Woman Is a Sometime Thing"). Peter, an elderly honey vendor (Gus Simons, tenor) married to Lily Holmes (Helen Dowdy, mezzo-sopran), returns home to Catfish Row ("Here Come de Honey Man"), as does the crippled beggar Porgy (Todd Duncan, bass-baritone). As the brawny stevedore Crown (Warren Coleman, baritone) and his lover, Bess (Anne Wiggins Brown, soprano) approach, Jake teasingly notes that Porgy's fond of Bess; but Porgy replies that women take no interest in him ("They Pass By Singin' "). Crown Joins the craps game, as does Porgy ("Oh Little Stars"). A fight breaks out between Robbins and Crown, who kills the former with a cotton hook. As Crown flees, Bess seeks refuge in vain with the formidable cookshop keeper, Maria (Georgette Harvey, contralto), before slipping into Porgy's room.
In Serena's room the following night (act 1, scene 2), friends--including Porgy and Bess, who arrive as a couple--mourn the death of Robbins ("Gone, Gone, Gone") and try to raise money for his burial ("Overflow"). Under questioning by a white detective and policeman, Peter discloses that Crown killed Robbins and is hauled off to jail as a witness. The bereaved Serena expresses her grief ("My Man's Gone Now"). Although the collection falls short, an undertaker agrees to bury Robbins after Serena promises to pay him back. Bess leads all in a jubilant spiritual ("Leavin' for the Promise' Lan' ").
The second act opens one month later, as Jake and his men prepare for a fishing expedition ("It Take a Long Pull to Get There"). Porgy, still living with Bess, rejoices in his newfound happiness ("I Got Plenty o' Nuttin' "), and Maria reproaches Sportin' Life ("I Hates Yo' Struttin' Style"). A quack lawyer, Simon Frazier (J. Rosamond Johnson, baritone), issues Bess a divorce from Crown, though the fact that they'd never been married presents an admitted "complication." Alan Archdale, a white attorney (George Lessey, spoken role), reports that becuaswe Peter's family once belonged to his own, he'll arrange for Peter's release from jail. Porgy reacts to a hovering buzzard with superstitious dread ("Buzzard Song"). Porgy and Bess declare their love ("Bess, You Is My Woman") before the latter leaves with the others for a picnic on Kittiwah Island ("Oh, I Can't Sit Down").
On Kittiwah (act 2, scene 2), the ensemble carouses ("Pagan Dance" and "I Ain' Got No Shame") and Sportin' Life takes a skeptical look at religion ("It Ain't Necessarily So"). After Serena chastises the revelers ("Shame on All You Sinners") and the group starts for home, Crown emerges from the thickets and entraps Bess ("What You Want wid Bess?"). In Catfish Row a week later (act 2, scene 3), Jake and his crew set forth despite some threatenting weather (reprise of "It Take a Long Pull to Get There"). Serena prays for Bess, who days earlier had returned from Kittiwah in a state of delirium ("Oh, Doctor Jesus," also known as "Time and Time Again"). The Strawberry Woman (Helen Dowdy), Peter, and the Crab Man (Ray Yeates) sell their goods (Strawberry Woman," reprise of "Here Comes de Honey Man," and "Crab Man"). After recovering, Bess aks Porgy to protect her from Crown, who has threatened to claim her soon ("I Wants to Stay Here," also known as "I Loves You, Porgy"). A hurricane approaches.
Taking shelter in Serena's room from the raging storm (act 2, scene 4), the gathered assembly prays, while Clara comforts her baby ("Oh, Hev'nly father," "Oh, de Lawd Shake de Heavens," reprise of "Summertime," "Oh, Dere's Somebody Knockin' at de Do' "). Crown enters and mocks Porgy and the others ("A Red Headed Woman"). Espying Jake's overturned boat in the harbor, Clara rushes out, leaving her baby in Bess's care, and crown chases after her (reprise of "Oh, Hev'nly Father").
The next night in Catfish Row (act 3, scene 1), the residents mourn Clara, Jake, Crown, and others presumed lost in the storm ("Clara, Clara") as Bess cares for Clara's baby (reprise of "Summertime"). As Crown, who in fact has survived, approaches Porgy's dwelling, the later kills him. The following afternoon (act 3, scene 2), the police ask Porgy to identify Crown's body; scared at the prospcet of seeing Crown's corpse, he refuses and is removed to jail. Sportin' Life take advantage of Porgy's absence by luring Bess with drugs and the promise of the "high life" in New York ("There's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon for New york"). One week later (act 3, scene 3), as familiar routine--men sleeping, sweeping, hammering, and sawing--returns to Catfish Row (pantomime and "Good Mornin', Sistuh!"), Porgy, freed from jail, discovers that Bess has gone ("Oh, Bess, Oh Where's My Bess"). On hearing that she has left for New York, he resolves to find her and departs with his goat cart ("Oh Lawd, I'm On My Way").
...The opera takes place in "the recent past" (plausibly 1927 as well), though the premiere program gave the "time" as "the present" (that is, 1935). On a summer's night in Catfish Row, a black tenement in Charleston [South Carolina], couples dance to the piano playing of Jasbo Brown ("Jasbo Brown Blues"). Clara (Abbie Mitchell, soprano) cradles her infant boy ("Summertime"). Some local men--including Clara's husband, Jake, a fisherman who captains the Sea Gull (Edward Matthews, baritone); Sportin' Life, a dope peddler visiting from New York (John W. Bubbles, tenor); Mingo (Ford L. Buck, tenor); and Robbins (Henry Davis, tenor)--prepare for a Saturday night craps game, to the dismay of Robbin's pious wife, Serena (Ruby Elzy, soprano). Jake attempts to soothe his baby ("A Woman Is a Sometime Thing"). Peter, an elderly honey vendor (Gus Simons, tenor) married to Lily Holmes (Helen Dowdy, mezzo-sopran), returns home to Catfish Row ("Here Come de Honey Man"), as does the crippled beggar Porgy (Todd Duncan, bass-baritone). As the brawny stevedore Crown (Warren Coleman, baritone) and his lover, Bess (Anne Wiggins Brown, soprano) approach, Jake teasingly notes that Porgy's fond of Bess; but Porgy replies that women take no interest in him ("They Pass By Singin' "). Crown Joins the craps game, as does Porgy ("Oh Little Stars"). A fight breaks out between Robbins and Crown, who kills the former with a cotton hook. As Crown flees, Bess seeks refuge in vain with the formidable cookshop keeper, Maria (Georgette Harvey, contralto), before slipping into Porgy's room.
In Serena's room the following night (act 1, scene 2), friends--including Porgy and Bess, who arrive as a couple--mourn the death of Robbins ("Gone, Gone, Gone") and try to raise money for his burial ("Overflow"). Under questioning by a white detective and policeman, Peter discloses that Crown killed Robbins and is hauled off to jail as a witness. The bereaved Serena expresses her grief ("My Man's Gone Now"). Although the collection falls short, an undertaker agrees to bury Robbins after Serena promises to pay him back. Bess leads all in a jubilant spiritual ("Leavin' for the Promise' Lan' ").
The second act opens one month later, as Jake and his men prepare for a fishing expedition ("It Take a Long Pull to Get There"). Porgy, still living with Bess, rejoices in his newfound happiness ("I Got Plenty o' Nuttin' "), and Maria reproaches Sportin' Life ("I Hates Yo' Struttin' Style"). A quack lawyer, Simon Frazier (J. Rosamond Johnson, baritone), issues Bess a divorce from Crown, though the fact that they'd never been married presents an admitted "complication." Alan Archdale, a white attorney (George Lessey, spoken role), reports that becuaswe Peter's family once belonged to his own, he'll arrange for Peter's release from jail. Porgy reacts to a hovering buzzard with superstitious dread ("Buzzard Song"). Porgy and Bess declare their love ("Bess, You Is My Woman") before the latter leaves with the others for a picnic on Kittiwah Island ("Oh, I Can't Sit Down").
On Kittiwah (act 2, scene 2), the ensemble carouses ("Pagan Dance" and "I Ain' Got No Shame") and Sportin' Life takes a skeptical look at religion ("It Ain't Necessarily So"). After Serena chastises the revelers ("Shame on All You Sinners") and the group starts for home, Crown emerges from the thickets and entraps Bess ("What You Want wid Bess?"). In Catfish Row a week later (act 2, scene 3), Jake and his crew set forth despite some threatenting weather (reprise of "It Take a Long Pull to Get There"). Serena prays for Bess, who days earlier had returned from Kittiwah in a state of delirium ("Oh, Doctor Jesus," also known as "Time and Time Again"). The Strawberry Woman (Helen Dowdy), Peter, and the Crab Man (Ray Yeates) sell their goods (Strawberry Woman," reprise of "Here Comes de Honey Man," and "Crab Man"). After recovering, Bess aks Porgy to protect her from Crown, who has threatened to claim her soon ("I Wants to Stay Here," also known as "I Loves You, Porgy"). A hurricane approaches.
Taking shelter in Serena's room from the raging storm (act 2, scene 4), the gathered assembly prays, while Clara comforts her baby ("Oh, Hev'nly father," "Oh, de Lawd Shake de Heavens," reprise of "Summertime," "Oh, Dere's Somebody Knockin' at de Do' "). Crown enters and mocks Porgy and the others ("A Red Headed Woman"). Espying Jake's overturned boat in the harbor, Clara rushes out, leaving her baby in Bess's care, and crown chases after her (reprise of "Oh, Hev'nly Father").
The next night in Catfish Row (act 3, scene 1), the residents mourn Clara, Jake, Crown, and others presumed lost in the storm ("Clara, Clara") as Bess cares for Clara's baby (reprise of "Summertime"). As Crown, who in fact has survived, approaches Porgy's dwelling, the later kills him. The following afternoon (act 3, scene 2), the police ask Porgy to identify Crown's body; scared at the prospcet of seeing Crown's corpse, he refuses and is removed to jail. Sportin' Life take advantage of Porgy's absence by luring Bess with drugs and the promise of the "high life" in New York ("There's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon for New york"). One week later (act 3, scene 3), as familiar routine--men sleeping, sweeping, hammering, and sawing--returns to Catfish Row (pantomime and "Good Mornin', Sistuh!"), Porgy, freed from jail, discovers that Bess has gone ("Oh, Bess, Oh Where's My Bess"). On hearing that she has left for New York, he resolves to find her and departs with his goat cart ("Oh Lawd, I'm On My Way").