Dr.
Eric Conway of Morgan State University writes:
“Hello
Everyone,
You
probably already have heard that the Morgan State University Fine and
Performing Arts Department is celebrating 10-years in the (new)
Murphy Fine Arts Center. This celebration will take place throughout
this 2012 calendar year! We have already had great productions
including a faculty Art Exhibition, August Wilson's JITNEY!, Pianist
Leon Bates, and most recently, the MSU Modern Dance Ensemble.
“Now,
I would like to call your attention to our next production, the
Gershwin's PORGY & BESS! I personally am so very proud of
this project on so many levels. We have world-class alumni returning
to star as principals in this production, i.e. Kevin Short as Porgy,
Kishna Davis as Bess, Larry Hylton as Sportin Life, and the list goes
on. Along side of these career performers will be our own students
side-by-side singing on stage in smaller roles and/or the chorus. In
addition to these alumni performers already listed, we will have
Lester Lynch as Crown, who is quite a formidable performer. I
believe that our cast is arguably stronger than the most recent
Washington Opera production a few years ago, where Kevin Short was
cast as Porgy as well.
“This
production is produced in cooperation with our Morgan State
University Opera Workshop Department, where faculty member, Vincent
Stringer is the Artistic Director. There are not too many academic
opera programs that could even consider the scope of a production
such as this. Our program and students are second to none!
“In
addition to these world-class names we have a director, Hope Clarke,
who has already won 2 Tony Awards for her productions of Porgy and
Bess. To make sure that we have a professional stage set, we
purchased the actual set from Philadelphia Opera Company. We
purchased this so that in the future if we happen to produce this
again, we will already have the set in our storage at Morgan.
"If
this were not enough to suggest that were some type of karma working
in this production, after a little research, we determined that the
original Bess in the 1st production of Porgy and Bess, attended
Morgan State University. What a wonderful confluence of events!
Much of the country will be looking at this production, as we are
producing this at the same time as the Broadway version of Porgy and
Bess is playing on Broadway - to mixed reviews in the re-adaptation.
“We
will have 4 performances: Thursday, March 29, 9:00 AM (open to
public, but targeting Baltimore-area Schools), Friday, March 30, 2012
7:30 PM, Saturday, March 31, 2012 7:30 PM, and Sunday, April 1, 2012
4:00 PM. Tickets for this Opera favorite are nicely priced at $65,
$55, $45, $25. See flyer attached.
“Please
tell ALL your friends to come out and support Morgan and this
production. This is sure to be a production that you do not want to
miss. This is a fitting event in the 10-Year celebration of a
building that we are so very proud of at Morgan. See you later on
this month!”
Eric
Eric
Conway, D.M.A.
Fine
and Performing Arts Department, Chairperson
Morgan
State University
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