Reading Questions for Porgy and Bess

 

(NOTE: The reading questions assume that you have not only watched the production of the opera, but that you have also read the Grove Music Online and Britannica biographies of Gershwin and that you have read the New York Times articles that you’ve been asked to locate for the library discovery task.)

 

  1. What language do you think George Gershwin (Jacob Gershvin) spoke at home when he was growing up?
  2. What was the relationship of George Gershwin to his brother Ira?
  3. Make a list of the different sorts of musical influences to which Gershwin was exposed and the types of music he created.
  4. Can you relate those musical influences to the music in Porgy and Bess? What kinds of music did he compose before Porgy and Bess and how what traces of his background as a composer can you find in the opera?
  5. Who was Paul Whiteman and what was his relationship to Gershwin?
  6. What song made Gershwin rich? Can you find a performance of it on YouTube?
  7. Why did Gershwin call Porgy and Bess a “folk opera”?
  8. How does Brooks Atkinson establish his ethos in his review of Porgy and Bess?
  9. In his review, Olin Downes makes reference to Isolde and Hans Sachs. Who are these people? What does inclusion of these names in Downes’ review say about who he thinks his audience is?
  10. When Downes writes about the “instinct of Negroes to dance,” do you think this is racist?
  11. Why does Porgy kill Crown?
  12. Why does Bess leave Catfish Row with Sportin’ Life?
  13. Here’s a role-playing exercise that will make you think critically about the opera:

You are part of a UCI arts review board that determines what shows will be produced each year by the School of Fine Arts. The music department has proposed a revival of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. An anti-racist student organization on campus is protesting vigorously against the proposal. Its members maintain that the opera is demeaning to African Americans and that if the music department is going to put on a theatrical piece about African Americans, it should draw on the rich repertory of works that African American composers and librettists have produced. Another student organization is arguing with equal passion that Gershwin’s opera is not racist. It is an American classic. If it is produced at UCI, many students will have the opportunity to hear wonderful music performed by highly talented African American voice students. It would be a tragedy to deny these African American students the opportunity to perform in this work of art. It is your task to prepare a five page memo presenting and defending your position in this controversy. Should Porgy and Bess be performed at UCI?

  1. Gershwin specified in his will that with the exception of a few white characters—who have no singing parts—the cast for Porgy and Bess should consist only of African Americans. If you were producing a revival today, would you want to propose a “color-blind casting”? Why? Why not?
  2. When you watch the production video, once again, put yourself in the position of the director. What choices might you make differently? For example, in some productions, the picnic on Kitiwah Island (Act II, Scene 2), the costumes were much sexier, the dancing more lascivious. And what of the end of that Scene? Are we seeing a rape? A seduction? Consensual sex between Bess and Crown? How would you dress Bess? Would you put her through the same costume changes? These are just some suggestions of where you might think about the choices Trevor Nunn, the director has made.