Porgy and Bess – Grange Park Opera

Laquita Mitchell and Musa Ngqungwana in Porgy and Bess at Grange Park Opera. Picture: Richard Hubert Smith

Porgy and Bess continues at Grange Park Opera with performances on 3 and 7 July 2019.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

In a leafy corner of Surrey, the Gods of Theatre look down and bless this sublime production of Porgy and Bess.

Grange Park Opera has drawn together a cast from Africa, Britain, the Philippines and North America, and a production team that has welded them into a powerful retelling of this classic work.

I have listened to this score since my teens, it was my bridge between musicals and more mainstream opera of the 20th century. At times, especially since another recent production, I wondered if it was dated and played out. That I would never be able to rediscover the pleasure of first hearing this work on scratchy LPs borrowed from my local music library. Until now.

To hear the words expressed with such renewed meaning, to see the smaller roles reinvented with humour, to see such committed acting and singing, to hear this score soar and swing, reminded me what a masterpiece it is, a true opera, yet accessible to audiences accustomed to the sung-through musicals of today.

Musa Ngqungwana is a moving, believable Porgy. He sings with legato phrasing and a powerful voice, gentle but lonely, until he succeeds in loving Bess, when he glows with happiness. And then when Bess is threatened, he becomes frightening in his anger, his determination and strength. It’s a remarkable performance.

Laquita Mitchell is a sexy, sassy Bess, a young woman who goes with the flow, succumbing to the men who pursue her, until Porgy gives her a sense of her self-worth. With a soaring top to her voice in ‘What you Want with Bess’ and ‘I loves you Porgy’, it’s another wonderful performance, their duet ‘Bess You is my Woman’ just one of many highlights. Her transformation from grief at Porgy’s imprisonment to cocaine induced euphoria as she succumbs to yet another exploitive man is convincing and true.

Francesca Chiejina as Clara sings ‘Summertime’ as it should be: a high, expressive, lyrical voice, gloriously floating this lullaby to her baby. That she combines it with a shy physicality, almost a gentle dancing, gives her performance a depth that contrasts with her later grief.

Serena has the aria we probably know best after ‘Summertime’, ‘My Man’s Gone Now’. Sarah-Jane Lewis gives the most heart-wrenching performance I have ever heard. Those long soaring wails are not just show pieces in her singing, but true howls of grief, yet sung with great beauty and precision. Moving and thrilling.

Rheinhaldt Tshepo Moagi is a fine Sporting Life with ringing top notes and a rounded characterisation, and never lets his two big numbers ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’, and ‘There’s a Boat That’s Leaving Soon For New York’ just become show pieces. As everywhere in this production, the dramatic intent of the words are finely balanced with subtle movement that acknowledges the Broadway influences.

Donovan Singletary is a sexy handsome Crown, a real wolf in sheep’s clothing, just a touch more ring in the voice would have made an even greater impact. Robert Winslade-Anderson has warmth and charm as the fisherman Jake.

Chantale Nurse is forceful as Maria, contrasting her scatting with her legit singing. Nkululeko Masuku stands out as Mingo, his beautiful tenor voice soaring in the opening scenes.

In other smaller roles are Julia Daramy-Williams, a beautifully sung whimsical Strawberry Woman, Calvin Lee as the Honeyman, and Benjie del Rosario as Nelson and a very funny Crab Man, wielding his crawfish as weapons.

And then we have the chorus. Intricately choreographed by Lizzie Gee, each one characterised, the big choral numbers are goose-bumpingly electrifying.  From the opening, wordless, offstage chorus to their first The Train is at the Station’, to the complex cross rhythms of the storm scene, these great singers seize every moment. Thrilling, and stars as much as any of the principals.

Jean-Pierre van der Spuy has directed this production with realism and conviction to the fore. The sense of community in Catfish Row, the ebb and flow of the central relationships, and the detail, always the detail, in the staging and the acting.

David Plater’s lighting cleverly enhances the major musical moments, flooding Francis O’Connor’s truthful shanty town set and costumes with colour. And I must mention the fight direction by Kevin McCurdy. The killing of Robbins and the murder of Crown graphic and convincing.

Stephen Barlow conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra invests this great production with a fulfilling musicality.   Relishing the lyrical moments, the playing lilts and dances with Broadway swing. The grand operatic moments beautifully linked to the brassier Gershwin of An American in Paris and Rhapsody in Blue. The detail of the orchestration shines through.

There are just two performances remaining of this production, fight to get a ticket.  And pray to the Gods of Theatre that smiled on this production, to reach out to an enterprising producer to bring it into town for a season. It deserves to be seen by a much wider audience.

Leon Ferguson