Opera

Porgy and Bess

0 upcoming performances in New York

George Gershwin’s *Porgy and Bess* is an English-language opera that follows Porgy, a disabled man in a Black coastal community, as he tries to build a life with Bess amid poverty, addiction, and pressure from the outside world. Written with a libretto by DuBose Heyward and lyrics by Ira Gershwin, it draws on Heyward’s earlier novel and stage play. The work’s early New York presence, including a 1935 Broadway run, placed it at the crossroads of opera and commercial theater. Its portrayal of race and authorship has remained a point of debate alongside its influence on American music.