It Ain’t Necessarily So
Director Tazewell Thompson explains why he, and the world, still turn to Porgy and Bess
“No,” I had initially said when Michael Egel inquired on the opposite end of an email, late 2020, if I was interested and available to direct George and Ira Gershwin’s magnificent opera Porgy and Bess for the summer of 2022.
I was ostensibly available. Opera and theater projects, lined up nonstop from March 2020 through all of 2024, had ground to a halt, been postponed, rescheduled or cancelled altogether due to the pandemic. I was certainly, desperately seeking to nourish the beast of creative satisfaction and, like many others, get back to work.
More importantly, was I interested in directing Porgy and Bess? Again? I had directed this historic masterwork in Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Detroit, New Orleans, Vancouver, Tokyo, Osaka, Madrid, Milan (La Scala), and twice at New York City Opera—the second time televised “Live From Lincoln Center” where it was nominated for an Emmy Award for “Best Classical Production and Best Director.”
Why should I want to return to Porgy and Bess? What could I possibly bring to Iowa? Why now? What could l bring new to this opera?
I love the music of Porgy and Bess. I’ve a collection of great recordings from the opera. I often return to a favorite artist, the Juilliard-trained pianist, Nina Simone, whose utterly sublime vocal rendition of “I Loves You, Porgy” broke records and helped launch her career. I play over and over the sensational Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong recording of Porgy and Bess. After Armstrong’s trumpet intro, these jazz greats duet majestically through the Gershwin score. Choose your artist—Leontyne Price, Sinatra, Streisand, Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker—for the aria “Summertime,” the most covered song in the world with over 25,000 versions.
Return to the opera now? The times are fraught, lit by lightning and fierce division, misunderstandings and twisted truths. We seek a semblance of sanity through this unprecedented period and endless nightmare we are all experiencing. Love, family, friends, and places where we worship are there when we need them, and we need them now to soothe our sorrows and comfort our personal losses. We also need our places of artistic fulfillment and entertainment. We need to sit together, side-by-side, in the dark, holding our hands and hearts around the intimate stage of the Blank Performing Arts Center.
We need a culturally relevant opera with a compelling story of indelible individuals and a hard-scrabble tight-knit community that finds strength in shared spirituality and interdependence. It gives us hope and
insight into the kaleidoscopic inhabitants of Catfish Row. We need a story that brings us to the edge of our seats, brings us to tears and laughter. We need a score that represents one of the most advanced, ambitious and accomplished compositional achievements of the composer and lyricist. We need, especially now, songs that lift the soul and uplift the spirit.
We need a jazz-infected score, radiant chorales, blues, spirituals, Tin Pan Alley, prayers, dirges, celebrations, love ballads, chants, wails, authentic shouts and cries of street vendors. Songs of pain, anger, outrage and courage. We need “Bess, You Is My Woman Now,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’,” “My Man’s Gone Now,” “There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon for New York,” the aforementioned “Summertime” and “I Loves You, Porgy.”
At the beginning of 2021, I came back to Michael Egel. I had done my research on him and, indeed, found him to be warm, fair, supportive, a lover of opera, knowledgeable of the repertoire, respectful of his audiences. We continued our discussions.
I said: “Yes.”
“Yes,” I want to direct a new Porgy and Bess for DMMO’s 50th Anniversary Season. “Yes” to working with Keith Brumley, the esteemed resident set designer. “Yes” to the brilliant lighting designer, Robert Wierzel. “Yes” to Harry Nadal, an astonishing up-and-coming costume design talent. “Yes” to a sensational, first-rate company to sing the landmark work, and a major affirmative “Yes” to the maestro, reigning in all the musical elements, the world-class conductor Michael Ellis Ingram marking his DMMO debut. “Yes” to a season that honors native Iowan and international opera star, Simon Estes. “Yes,” I am looking forward to June to enter the arena and begin rehearsals for Porgy and Bess. I am saying “Yes,” as a gladiator says “YES” when he charges!
Learn more about the team behind Des Moines Metro Opera’s new production of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess → https://desmoinesmetroopera.org/productions/porgyandbess/