Remake?
Already saw the post regarding Fantasia playing Bess in a remake but I was wondering who folks might see in other roles for a hypothetical remake?
shareIt's a double-edged sword. Any remake should be cast with attractive, personable opera singers who can do their own singing, but such individuals who are at all successful are usually already booked too far in advance to open their schedules for that kind of commitment, unless we're talking about a filmed version of a stage production much like Trevor Nunn's, thus killing two birds with two paychecks. The other edge of the sword is that, unfortunately, once a performer appears in PORGY AND BESS, he or she is usually type-casted to it for life. Professional singers today want to avoid that at all costs. It may have been unavoidable in the days of Avon Long and Eva Jessye, but times have changed.
shareIt's just been announced that Trevor Nunn is once again getting his mauling hands on PORGY AND BESS. This will be an adapted, abbreviated, two-and-a-half-hour "musical" version with a smaller cast and orchestra, set for late fall in London. Perhaps this, too, will end up on video. That's the bad news. The good news is that it might spark interest in, and finally the release of, the 1959 film version, if all the lawyers involved can see making a buck on it.
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