Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Forget-Me-Not

Since its 1935 New York City debut with an all-black cast of singers, George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess has garnered ample attention — and controversy. The masterful jazz- and blues-heavy opera contains one of the best-known standards of all time, “Summertime,” and centers on African American life on poverty-stricken Catfish Row. A Broadway tour stops at the Flynn on Thursday, featuring a powerful cast and new staging directed by Charles Randolph-Wright. With a jarring murder and delicate love triangle, the play pushes audiences to consider its much-debated racial themes and stereotypes. Whether you conclude that Porgy captures an American era better left forgotten or that it celebrates the unyielding spirit of its characters, the opera’s lasting impact makes it well worth a viewing.