Today an opinion piece by world renown playwright David Mamet ("Waiting for Godot") came out, called "Why I Am No Longer a Brain-Dead Liberal - An election season essay". In it he notes "Porgy and Bess is a buncha good songs but has nothing to do with race relations, which is the flag of convenience under which it sailed." And he's quite correct.
Like many musicals, including -- believe it or not -- "Singin' in the Rain" and "My Fair Lady"-- Porgy and Bess is an amalgam of wonderful songs with a plot put together to give the songs ambiance and gravitas. The play itself is merely a vehicle to showcase the music. Now the plots of these song-driven classics rise above the usual fare, but it is the song list that makes the films. The only musical I know in which the songs were specifically written with a particular plot in mind was maybe "West Side Story".
Having established that arguable point, I've heard better renditions of the "Porgy and Bess" songs. Frank Sinatra, William Warfield, Ella Fitzgerald, and a dozen others come to mind. The pay-off is always the three-minute "Ol' Man River" song. Paul Robeson, a multi-talented genius in most things except politics, perhaps sings that song the best.
And then back on the shelf it goes.
Like many musicals, including -- believe it or not -- "Singin' in the Rain" and "My Fair Lady"-- Porgy and Bess is an amalgam of wonderful songs with a plot put together to give the songs ambiance and gravitas. The play itself is merely a vehicle to showcase the music. Now the plots of these song-driven classics rise above the usual fare, but it is the song list that makes the films. The only musical I know in which the songs were specifically written with a particular plot in mind was maybe "West Side Story".
Having established that arguable point, I've heard better renditions of the "Porgy and Bess" songs. Frank Sinatra, William Warfield, Ella Fitzgerald, and a dozen others come to mind. The pay-off is always the three-minute "Ol' Man River" song. Paul Robeson, a multi-talented genius in most things except politics, perhaps sings that song the best.
And then back on the shelf it goes.