Written in Charleston? It ain’t necessarily so

When Asheville Ballet reprises its 2000 performance of Porgy and Bess this week at Diana Wortham Theatre, many in the audience may be unaware of the story’s local roots.

Porgy, the novel, was started and finished in Hendersonville, where Charleston writers Dubose and Dorothy Heyward owned a summer home. Dubose’s book was lauded as “the best novel of the season [1925] by an American author,” and “of a beauty so rare and perfect it may be called classic.” The following year, again in Hendersonville, Dorothy devoted seven months to a secret project—transforming her husband’s dramatic novel into a play.

In late summer, as Dorothy neared completion of her effort, a letter arrived at the Heyward residence from a rising musical star named George Gershwin. He had picked up the novel late one night, read it straight through and, fired with inspiration, dashed off an invitation to collaborate on a jazz opera. Fearful that her husband would jump at the offer, Dorothy showed Dubose her script, titled Catfish Row. He loved it, rejected Gershwin’s advances and collaborated in completion of the play. Relabeled Porgy, it became a hit of the 1927 Broadway season.

Five years would elapse, during which Al Jolson bought movie rights to the play but dropped the project, Prohibition was overturned and the stock market crashed—leaving the Heywards bankrupt with a 2-year-old daughter and Dubose’s literary career in the doldrums before Gershwin repeated his offer. The Gershwin brothers had just picked up the Pulitzer Prize for drama with what would become their most successful musical, Of Thee I Sing, and George was a hot property.

Dubose demurred. Could Jolson be included in the deal? And there were business considerations to be negotiated before the couple could interrupt their work to devote time to such an effort. Gershwin was reportedly that close to dropping the project completely. “The sort of thing I have in mind is a much more serious thing than Jolson can ever do,” he sniffed.

But financial considerations finally convinced the Heywards to cooperate, and contracts were signed October 17, 1933. Porgy and Bess opened in New York two years later to wild acclaim. Two years further on, Gershwin was dead, but “Summertime,” “I’ve Got Plenty o’ Nuthin’” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So” were already classics.

The story was based on real characters in Charleston’s black community, and was embraced by New York’s artistic establishment as a wonderfully true-to-life “Negro opera.” In later years, though, it was rejected by the NAACP and others as racist and denigrating in its depiction of drug use and murder in the African-American community. Later still, its artistry was reaffirmed by black and white critics, and it is generally accorded high esteem today.

Performed around the world through ensuing years, it would wait for Asheville’s Ann Dunn to take the story forward another step—many steps, in fact—in 2000.  As Dunn told Xpress at the time, “When I hear music, I see dance. And the music in Porgy and Bess just begs to be danced.” Porgy and Bess was reborn in WNC as a ballet with Gershwin’s score refigured for dance by jazz pianist Chuck Lichtenberger. In that first version, danced by what was then the Asheville Civic Ballet Company, all vocals were performed by local blues singer Kat Williams.

This week’s reprise once again features Lichtenberger on keyboard, and local vocalists singing Gershwin’s classics include Molly Kummerle (Ruby Slippers), Woody Wood and Lisa Abeling.

Professional dancers Lyle Lane and Sarah McGinnis will play Porgy and Bess, respectively. The rest of the cast features members of Dunn’s troupe, including Jamie Drye as Crown and Garth Grimball as Sportin’ Life.

As Dunn asks: “How can you resist this timeless, heartwarming love story set in steamy Charleston?

Especially one written from the comfort of home.

Asheville Ballet presents Porgy and Bess at Diana Wortham Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12. Tickets are $25-$45 (students/children $15). Call 257-4530 for tickets or for more information.