Composer George Gershwin is best known for “Rhapsody in Blue” and “An American in Paris.” But he also partnered with his brother, Ira, to write the greatest of all American operas, “Porgy & Bess.” Gulfshore Opera is bringing a condensed version of the witty, gritty story of unshakable love to the stage to celebrate America250.
“It's one of the first and certainly most beloved American opera,” said Gulfshore Opera founder Steffanie Pearce. “And the unique American flavor of the opera is in that the Gershwins used themes from jazz and blues and gospel to create the story, which is essentially a love story that can be transposed to many generations and many locations.”
When a murder shakes a small fishing town in South Carolina and tempts strongheaded Bess to return to her drug-filled past, Porgy, a beggar, becomes her unlikely refuge.
“His legs don't work well, but he truly cares about her, and he picks her up out of the gutter and brings her back to health,” said Pearce. “And she realizes that this is really what love is about, not all that flash. So, we're going to focus more on that story and, of course, the great music.”
Gulfshore Opera’s production of “Porgy & Bess will be special, in part, because bass baritone Kevin Short will be portraying Porgy.
“He's had a really big international career,” Pearce noted. “He's been on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera every year for like 25 years, and he has done the role of Porgy on several world tours. He will be here. It's an intimate perspective of the great moments from ‘Porgy and Bess.’”
Gulfshore Opera is performing an abbreviated version of it March 27 through April 1 at Charlotte Performing Arts Center and the Norris Center in Naples.
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Gershwins’ "Porgy and Bess" is a thought-provoking, gritty and spirited story of the unshakable love between Porgy, a disabled beggar, and Bess, a beautiful woman haunted by the demons of her past.
Themes of community resilience, acceptance, and redemption weave through this poignant story, ultimately asking if even the most unwavering of loves can conquer the force of addiction.
Many of the opera’s songs have become popular jazz and blues covers, including the well-known “Summertime."
George Gershwin first became interested in the possibility of composing a full-length opera based on DuBose Heyward’s “Porgy,” which concerns the life and struggles of an African American community in Catfish Row, South Carolina, after reading it in 1926.
Heyward and his wife Dorothy successfully brought the novel to the stage as a play, yet efforts failed to set it as a musical. However, in 1933, Gershwin, his brother Ira, and Heyward signed a contract with the Theatre Guild in New York to stage the work as an opera. Early the next year, Gershwin started work on the score, spending the summer in South Carolina. He completed work in early 1935.
Advertised as an “American folk opera,” "Porgy and Bess" opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York. It was initially a financial disaster, running for only 124 performances. Nevertheless, “Porgy and Bess” is generally considered Gershwin’s most important work and has become one of the most celebrated operas in the American repertoire.
George Gershwin was born at the end of the 19th century, during the term of William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States. Born Jacob Gershowitz in Brooklyn, New York, on September 26, 1898, Gershwin was the son of immigrants who came to the United States from St. Petersburg, Russia.
When he was 13, the Gershwin family purchased a secondhand piano for George’s older brother, Ira. At age 15, George was offered a job in Broadway’s famed “Tin Pan Alley” playing the piano to sell songs.
“Porgy and Bess” opened in 1935 in New York and Boston to mixed reviews. Two years later on July 11, 1937, Gershwin died in Hollywood, California, just weeks before his 39th birthday.
More on Kevin Short
Bass baritone Kevin Short has enjoyed an illustrious career that includes over 20 operas at the Metropolitan Opera. Recent highlights have included Porgy in “Porgy and Bess,” Sam in “Un ballo in maschera,” Uncle Paul in Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” Doctor Grenvil in “La traviata,” and Pfleger in “Elektra.” Other roles at The Met include the title role in “Der fliegende Holländer,” Sarastro in “Die Zauberflöte,” Rocco and Don Fernando in “Fidelio,” Nick Shadow in “The Rake’s Progress,” Mephistopheles in “Faust,” Philippe II in “Don Carlos,” Zaccaria in “Nabucco,” Sparafucile in “Rigoletto” and Jack Rance in “La fanciulla del West.”
Engagements on other international stages include Porgy in “Porgy and Bess” with NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester Hamburg, Headmaster/Preacher/Mr. Dingleas in Paul McCartney’s “Liverpool Oratorio” (Cincinnati Opera), “Beethoven IX” (Philadelphia Orchestra), and “Mahler VIII” (Grant Park Music Festival, Chicago). In addition to the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Short has appeared as a leading artist with Santa Fe Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Arizona Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Seattle Opera, Opéra Comique, Welsh National Opera, Oper der Stadt Köln, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and many others.
About Kearstin Piper Brown
Kearstin Piper Brown, praised for her “thrilling singing” (“Opera Now”), has emerged as one of the most sought-after lyric sopranos in the United States. In 2026, she made her debut with the Tulsa Symphony and reprised the role of Bess with Dayton Opera. Highlights of 2025 include cover engagements at Lyric Opera of Chicago for “La bohème” (Mimì) and at the Metropolitan Opera for “Porgy and Bess” (Bess). She made her role debut as Alice Ford with Portland Opera.
During the 2024 season, Brown made notable company debuts with Florida Grand Opera as Nedda and with the Metropolitan Opera as Evelyn in “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.”
Brown has performed her signature role of Bess with numerous companies, including Utah Festival Opera, Opera Kazan, Skylight Music Theatre, Dayton Opera, Virginia Opera, and the Belarusian Philharmonic Orchestra in Minsk. Her portrayal has been featured internationally through the New York Harlem Productions tour, which has appeared at prestigious venues such as Staatsoper Hamburg, Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Komische Oper Berlin. She first performed the role in 2009 with Cape Town Opera and toured with the company to the Edinburgh Festival, Royal Festival Hall, London, and the Israeli Opera.
Go here for information about the other performers in the opera.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
Sponsored in part by the State of Florida through the Division of Arts and Culture.
