Laverne Cox, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and More Spent the Night at the Opera for the Met’s Premiere of Porgy and Bess
“There is no such thing as perfection in the performing arts,” announced the Metropolitan Opera’s general manager, Peter Gelb. He was addressing the audience at Monday evening’s gala dinner celebrating the unanimously well-reviewed Porgy and Bess, which opened the fall season. “But I will gladly take tonight’s performance as the second best thing.”
His were sentiments shared by most everyone, especially considering the performance’s polarizing history. Porgy and Bess was born as a novel, written by DuBose Heyward in 1925; the opera rendition of the same name (with a score and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin) has been lauded for welcoming an all-black cast to opera stages around the world, while at the same time condemning them to the deep, segregated South of the fictional Catfish Row of South Carolina. The characters endure poverty and homicide, and the female protagonist, Bess, can’t kick her habit of drugs and abusive men. (But what’s an opera without some melodrama?) Also note that orchestrating the whole affair (the writers, the composers, the conductors, et cetera) is a crew of all white men. Is it a story representing the underrepresented or does it perpetuate outmoded stereotypes? Per the New York Times review by Anthony Tommasini, “All these questions are valid. But they were pushed aside for me in the moment when hearing Gershwin’s masterpiece on Monday, especially in a performance so authoritative and gripping.”
The night began with a red carpet, where the likes of Maggie Gyllenhaal, Iman, Misty Copeland, Donna Karan, Laverne Cox, and more turned up in looks that lent the event even more drama. From the world of opera, there was Sheila Johnson, the evening’s Gala Chairman, and the cast themselves: Angel Blue (Bess) glittered in a metallic number; Frederick Ballentine (Sportin’ Life) cut a cool figure in a gold suit; and Golda Schultz (Clara) made the most of the summery weather in a floral gown.
After a Champagne reception at the Met, everyone climbed the theater’s red-carpeted, cantilevered stairs to find their seats beneath the twinkling Swarovski sputnik chandeliers. The next three hours were filled with commanding performances; the show began with the production’s famous “Summertime” and ended with an ensemble performance, led by the magnificent Eric Owens (Porgy), of “Oh, Lord, I’m on My Way.”
It has been 30 years since the opera was last seen on the stage of the Met, and it turned out to be well worth the wait. Afterward, whispers and remarks of praise carried the crowd from one theater to the next—the dinner reception hosted at the nearby David H. Koch Theater.
At dinner, guests were transported to a summer night in South Carolina: Twinkle lights were strung in the atrium and vine-ripe tomatoes were artfully strewn on the tabletops. They might have been a garnish, but Pat Cleveland—ever the individualist in a full-coverage sequined look she had made herself the day before—helped herself to the fruit. On the official menu were shrimp and grits, cornbread, and pickled cauliflower. Over their meals, Tiler Peck, in Valentino, caught up with fellow ballerina Copeland, and Ariana Rockefeller evoked a bygone romance in a floral gown “by my talented cousin Alexandra O’Neill of Markarian,” she explained.
Midway through dinner, Gelb took the stage, calling out all cast and creative members for one more round of applause. He joked that this was an audience that, unlike poor Bess, didn’t need any “happy dust.” He was right; the spirits were as high as the cotton in the production’s opening song. If only it were still summer.
Photo: Jared Siskin / PMC1/21Maggie Gyllenhaal
Photo: Jared Siskin / PMC2/21Donna Karan
