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<\/p>\nComposer George Gershwin is best known for \u201cRhapsody in Blue\u201d and \u201cAn American in Paris.\u201d But he also partnered with his brother, Ira, to write the greatest of all American operas, \u201cPorgy & Bess.\u201d Gulfshore Opera is bringing a condensed version of the witty, gritty story of unshakable love to the stage to celebrate America250.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s one of the first and certainly most beloved American opera,\u201d said Gulfshore Opera founder Steffanie Pearce. \u201cAnd the unique American flavor of the opera is in that the Gershwins used themes from jazz and blues and gospel to create the story, which is essentially a love story that can be transposed to many generations and many locations.\u201d<\/p>\n
When a murder shakes a small fishing town in South Carolina and tempts strongheaded Bess to return to her drug-filled past, Porgy, a beggar, becomes her unlikely refuge.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis legs don’t work well, but he truly cares about her, and he picks her up out of the gutter and brings her back to health,\u201d said Pearce. \u201cAnd she realizes that this is really what love is about, not all that flash. So, we’re going to focus more on that story and, of course, the great music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gulfshore Opera\u2019s production of \u201cPorgy & Bess will be special, in part, because bass baritone Kevin Short will be portraying Porgy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s had a really big international career,\u201d Pearce noted. \u201cHe’s been on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera every year for like 25 years, and he has done the role of Porgy on several world tours. He will be here. It’s an intimate perspective of the great moments from \u2018Porgy and Bess.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Gulfshore Opera is performing an abbreviated version of it March 27 through April 1 at Charlotte Performing Arts Center and the Norris Center in Naples.<\/p>\n
MORE INFORMATION:<\/p>\n
Gershwins\u2019 “Porgy and Bess” is a thought-provoking, gritty and spirited story of the unshakable love between Porgy, a disabled beggar, and Bess, a beautiful woman haunted by the demons of her past.<\/p>\n
Themes of community resilience, acceptance, and redemption weave through this poignant story, ultimately asking if even the most unwavering of loves can conquer the force of addiction.<\/p>\n
Many of the opera\u2019s songs have become popular jazz and blues covers, including the well-known \u201cSummertime.”<\/p>\n
George Gershwin first became interested in the possibility of composing a full-length opera based on DuBose Heyward\u2019s \u201cPorgy,\u201d which concerns the life and struggles of an African American community in Catfish Row, South Carolina, after reading it in 1926.<\/p>\n
Heyward and his wife Dorothy successfully brought the novel to the stage as a play, yet efforts failed to set it as a musical. However, in 1933, Gershwin, his brother Ira, and Heyward signed a contract with the Theatre Guild in New York to stage the work as an opera. Early the next year, Gershwin started work on the score, spending the summer in South Carolina. He completed work in early 1935.<\/p>\n
Advertised as an \u201cAmerican folk opera,\u201d “Porgy and Bess” opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York. It was initially a financial disaster, running for only 124 performances. Nevertheless, \u201cPorgy and Bess\u201d is generally considered Gershwin\u2019s most important work and has become one of the most celebrated operas in the American repertoire.<\/p>\n
George Gershwin was born at the end of the 19th century, during the term of William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States. Born Jacob Gershowitz in Brooklyn, New York, on September 26, 1898, Gershwin was the son of immigrants who came to the United States from St. Petersburg, Russia.<\/p>\n
When he was 13, the Gershwin family purchased a secondhand piano for George\u2019s older brother, Ira. At age 15, George was offered a job in Broadway\u2019s famed \u201cTin Pan Alley\u201d playing the piano to sell songs.<\/p>\n
\u201cPorgy and Bess\u201d opened in 1935 in New York and Boston to mixed reviews. Two years later on July 11, 1937, Gershwin died in Hollywood, California, just weeks before his 39th birthday.<\/p>\n
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Courtesy of Gulfshore Opera<\/p>\n
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Gulfshore Opera <\/p>\n
Bass baritone Kevin Short has enjoyed an illustrious career that includes over 20 operas at the Metropolitan Opera. <\/p>\n
More on Kevin Short<\/p>\n
Bass baritone Kevin Short has enjoyed an illustrious career that includes over 20 operas at the Metropolitan Opera. Recent highlights have included Porgy in \u201cPorgy and Bess,\u201d Sam in \u201cUn ballo in maschera,\u201d Uncle Paul in Terence Blanchard\u2019s \u201cFire Shut Up in My Bones,\u201d Doctor Grenvil in \u201cLa traviata,\u201d and Pfleger in \u201cElektra.\u201d Other roles at The Met include the title role in \u201cDer fliegende Holl\u00e4nder,\u201d Sarastro in \u201cDie Zauberfl\u00f6te,\u201d Rocco and Don Fernando in \u201cFidelio,\u201d Nick Shadow in \u201cThe Rake\u2019s Progress,\u201d Mephistopheles in \u201cFaust,\u201d Philippe II in \u201cDon Carlos,\u201d Zaccaria in \u201cNabucco,\u201d Sparafucile in \u201cRigoletto\u201d and Jack Rance in \u201cLa fanciulla del West.\u201d<\/p>\n
Engagements on other international stages include Porgy in \u201cPorgy and Bess\u201d with NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester Hamburg, Headmaster\/Preacher\/Mr. Dingleas in Paul McCartney\u2019s \u201cLiverpool Oratorio\u201d (Cincinnati Opera), \u201cBeethoven IX\u201d (Philadelphia Orchestra), and \u201cMahler VIII\u201d (Grant Park Music Festival, Chicago). In addition to the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Short has appeared as a leading artist with Santa Fe Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Arizona Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Seattle Opera, Op\u00e9ra Comique, Welsh National Opera, Oper der Stadt K\u00f6ln, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and many others.<\/p>\n
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Courtesy of Gulfshore Opera<\/p>\n
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Gulfshore Opera <\/p>\n
Kearstin Piper Brown, praised for her \u201cthrilling singing\u201d (\u201cOpera Now\u201d), has emerged as one of the most sought-after lyric sopranos in the United States. <\/p>\n
About Kearstin Piper Brown<\/p>\n
Kearstin Piper Brown, praised for her \u201cthrilling singing\u201d (\u201cOpera Now\u201d), has emerged as one of the most sought-after lyric sopranos in the United States. In 2026, she made her debut with the Tulsa Symphony and reprised the role of Bess with Dayton Opera. Highlights of 2025 include cover engagements at Lyric Opera of Chicago for \u201cLa boh\u00e8me\u201d (Mim\u00ec) and at the Metropolitan Opera for \u201cPorgy and Bess\u201d (Bess). She made her role debut as Alice Ford with Portland Opera.<\/p>\n
During the 2024 season, Brown made notable company debuts with Florida Grand Opera as Nedda and with the Metropolitan Opera as Evelyn in \u201cFire Shut Up in My Bones.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown has performed her signature role of Bess with numerous companies, including Utah Festival Opera, Opera Kazan, Skylight Music Theatre, Dayton Opera, Virginia Opera, and the Belarusian Philharmonic Orchestra in Minsk. Her portrayal has been featured internationally through the New York Harlem Productions tour, which has appeared at prestigious venues such as Staatsoper Hamburg, Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Komische Oper Berlin. She first performed the role in 2009 with Cape Town Opera and toured with the company to the Edinburgh Festival, Royal Festival Hall, London, and the Israeli Opera.<\/p>\n