SIZING UP 'PORGY AND BESS'; AUDIENCE CAN DECIDE ABOUT PRAISED, CRITICIZED OPERA

"Porgy and Bess" has been called the quintessential American opera, yet the Metropolitan Opera House didn't get around to mounting a production until 1985, 50 years after "Porgy and Bess" debuted in Boston.

Credited with breaking down the color barrier on the American stage and with desegregating theaters during its early tours, "Porgy and Bess" sometimes has been criticized as patronizing and for promoting racial stereotypes. But the love, jealousy, murder, gambling and drug dealing on Catfish Row in Charleston, S.C., summon songs that have become Americana.

Productions are more difficult to mount because the Gershwin estate requires that only black casts perform "Porgy and Bess," and it fits uncomfortably into any category. Is it opera, folk opera or musical theater?

The opportunity to decide all kinds of things about "Porgy and Bess" will come Tuesday, Feb. 13, when the New York City-based Living Arts Inc. production of "Porgy and Bess" is presented at the Show Me Center. The curtain is at 7 p.m.

Written by George and Ira Gershwin based on DuBose and Dorothy Heyward's dramatic production, "Porgy and Bess" received mixed reviews in the beginning. Dennis Seyer, who is directing the upcoming production of the musical "Babes in Arms" at Southeast, thinks the number of popular songs in the opera may have turned off opera critics. "Summertime," "It Ain't Necessarily So" and "I Got Plenty of Nuttin'" are some of those memorable songs.

"But the songs are entirely within the operatic tradition," Seyer says. "Many of the most successful operas from the past have had songs."

Following eight years after the landmark "Showboat," the first musical with an integrated cast, "Porgy and Bess" was the first production with a black cast who weren't onstage just to entertain but rather to talk and sing about their concerns and their lives.

"Gershwin takes it one step further," Seyer says. "The black actor/singer is really legitimized."

Its American music and subject matter also set "Porgy and Bess" apart, says Dr. Christopher Goeke, who teaches vocal music at the university. "It brought opera to America. It also created an audience for opera that would not have gone."

The wealth of good songs has made "Porgy and Bess" a classic, Goeke said. "It's appealing to the audience. They understand the text. ... It doesn't seem like an opera when you're listening to it."

No doubt an opera

The difficulty of singing the music leaves no doubt that "Porgy and Bess" is an opera, Goeke says.

"It belongs in the category of opera because the music is so difficult to sing. You have to be classically trained to sing it."

Some critics have questioned the legitimacy of an opera about black poverty written by two white southerners and two Jews from New York.

But Trent Ball, director of the Minority Student Program at Southeast, makes an analogy with Harriet Beecher Stowe writing "Uncle Tom's Cabin." "It comes from the time it was set in. You can't look at it in today's context. It's very much a period piece," he says.

Ball's program and Student Support Services at Southeast are taking a total of 50 students to the production. Afterward, they will meet to discuss issues "Porgy and Bess" brings up.

"It's about relationships and racial issues and family, all centered on the importance of working together," Ball says.

James La Cour, assistant to the president for equity issues at Southeast, saw a production of "Porgy and Bess" 30 years ago and primarily remembers the Gershwin music.

"It's a useful thing to come to Cape Girardeau, especially during Black History Month, being the first black opera," he says. "This is a time when we examine all facets of black life. We're very fortunate to have it."

Seyer pointed out that the Show Me Center ticket prices of $36, $29 and $22 for "Porgy and Bess" compare favorably to prices for musicals in New York, currently running $85 and $65.

He's giving the cast of "Babes in Arms" the night off from rehearsals to see "Porgy and Bess."

WANT TO GO?

*WHAT: "Porgy and Bess"

*WHERE: Show Me Center

*WHEN: Feb. 13

*HOW MUCH: Starting at $22

INFORMATION: 651-500