Porgy and Bess at Skylight Music Theatre
May 6, 2013Events

Porgy and Bess at Skylight Music Theatre

Throughout Bill Theisen’s tenure as artistic director, the Skylight Music Theatre has stayed true to its name – presenting both Broadway-style musicals and classical opera. So it’s hard to imagine a better finale to Theisen’s reign than Porgy and Bess, the American classic that embraces all of musical theater, from showbiz to symphony. This is the first time Gershwin’s American folk opera has been staged here since the Florentine Opera performed it nearly 25 years ago. Theisen will direct a huge cast of local and national artists, evoking the hard-knock ways of Catfish Row and bringing to life some of…

BY Paul Kosidowski

Throughout Bill Theisen’s tenure as artistic director, the Skylight Music Theatre has stayed true to its name – presenting both Broadway-style musicals and classical opera. So it’s hard to imagine a better finale to Theisen’s reign than Porgy and Bess, the American classic that embraces all of musical theater, from showbiz to symphony. This is the first time Gershwin’s American folk opera has been staged here since the Florentine Opera performed it nearly 25 years ago. Theisen will direct a huge cast of local and national artists, evoking the hard-knock ways of Catfish Row and bringing to life some of the greatest music composed by an American.

➞ Porgy and Bess (May 17-June 9). Skylight Music Theatre. Cabot Theatre. Broadway Theatre Center. 158 N. Broadway, 414-291-7800, skylightmusictheatre.org.

Paul Kosidowski
Paul Kosidowski is a freelance writer and critic who contributes regularly to Milwaukee Magazine, WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio and national arts magazines. He writes weekly reviews and previews for the Culture Club column. He was literary director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater from 1999-2006. In 2007, he was a fellow with the NEA Theater and Musical Theater Criticism Institute at the University of Southern California. His writing has also appeared in American Theatre magazine, Backstage, The Boston Globe, Theatre Topics, and Isthmus (Madison, Wis.). He has taught theater history, arts criticism and magazine writing at Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

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