Brown, Lorraine, 1929-2010

Porgy and Bess was a three act "folk opera" originally produced by The Theatre Guild at the Alvin Theatre, New York City, in 1927. It was taken directly from a book by Dubose Heyward titled Porgy, with lyrics and music by Ira and George Gershwin. Robert Breen, secretary for the American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) was instrumental in bringing federal financing to the performing arts on the American scene and promoting artistic and cultural exchanges between the U.S. and Europe. Beginning in 1949 with a U.S. tour of Hamlet throughout Europe, ANTA sponsored such projects as the American National Ballet Theatre's tour of Europe, and American participation in the Berlin Arts Festival in 1951. Porgy and Bess, which showed a different side of life in America, was one of the productions chosen to be played before European audiences in 1952. Breen directed and co-produced it with Blevins Davis. This critically acclaimed revival of Porgy and Bess toured twenty-nine countries in North and South America and Europe for four years from 1952-1956.