Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in a new production starring a handpicked team of singers from all around the world

New Production | Opera House, Main Stage
22 March 2014 at 20:00
Performances: 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30 March; 01, 02, 03, 05, 06, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 26, 27, 29, 30 April; 01, 05, 06, 08, 09, 10 May

The 1943 European premiere of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess took place at the Royal Danish Theatre. Now this swinging opera returns to the theatre in a staging especially created for the Opera House, featuring a unique, handpicked team of singers from all around the world.

Porgy and Bess will be staged by the experienced and Tony award-winning Scottish opera and musical director John Doyle. Liz Ascroft has designed a huge set piece inspired by the poverty and squalor of the sun parched Southern States. The set design also consists of the largest painted backdrop ever created at the Royal Danish Theatre.

Porgy will be performed by American Derrick Lawrence, who is based in Europe and spans a wide repertoire from Mozart to Wagner, and American Kenneth Overton, who enjoys an active opera career throughout the United States, both within the classical repertoire and new music. British Elizabeth Llewellyn, who in 2013 was nominated as Singer of the Year by Opernwelt, will debut in the role as Bess, alternating with the accomplished, award-winning American soprano Lisa Daltirus.

Gershwin’s dynamic and dramatic music will be brought to life by conductors Michael Boder, Lionel Friend and Geoffrey Paterson and the Royal Danish Orchestra.

Read the article on how Porgy and Bess at the European premiere in Denmark in 1943 represented a fourfold provocation against WWII Nazi occupation.

The Royal Danish Theatre wishes to express its sincere gratitude for the generous funding offered by the A. P. Møller and Chastine McKinney Møller Foundation, which has enabled the staging of Porgy and Bess. The Danish Research Foundation is the principal sponsor of the Royal Danish Opera.

For further information or interview appointment / reportage, please contact Public Relations Manager Louise Pedersen by phone +45 33696988/mobile +45 40530035 or email lope@kglteater.dk

Kind regards,

The Press Department
The Royal Danish Theatre
Email: presse@kglteater.dk
T: +45 33696983
W: kglteater.dk