Grimaldi Forum, Monaco

About this event

A new staging of George Gershwin’s only opera, Porgy and Bess, marks Monaco’s National Day festivities. Echoing the French repertoire championed at the Opéra de Monte‑Carlo, the production highlights the artistic kinship between Gershwin and Ravel and the 1920s fascination with American popular music in Europe. The musical direction embraces Gershwin’s singular palette — from the lullaby atmosphere of Summertime and jazz‑inflected rhythms to traditional Black American tunes and Charleston street cries he studied on site — while revealing the score’s affinities with impressionism and verismo through vivid orchestration, commanding choruses, and searing solos.

Cast & creative

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  Porgy

  Michael Sumuel
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  Bess

  Brittany Olivia Logan
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  Crown

  Bongani Justice Kubheka
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  Serena

  Leah Hawkins
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  Clara

  Brandie Sutton
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  Maria

  Adriana Bignagni Lesca
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  Jake

  Donovan Singletary
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  Sportin' Life

  Chauncey Packer
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  Conductor

  Lee Reynolds
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  Stage director

  Jean-Louis Grinda
• R

  Set designer

  Rudy Sabounghi
• S

  Costume designer

  Stéphanie Putégnat
• L

  Lighting designer

  Laurent Castaingt
• C

  Choreographer

  Caroline Roëlands
• 

  Video designer

  Julien Soulier
• A

  Chorus Master

  Antoinette Huyssen