Porgy and Bess Program [pdf] - American Repertory Theater

BACKSTAGE
Behind the scenes in local
and national theater
The Colonial Theatre Goes Dark
The high-profile, Broadway-bound musical adaptation
of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess is basking in the
glory of its triumphant return to the Greater Boston
area, but in a bittersweet turn of events, Porgy’s original
birthplace, the Colonial Theatre on Boylston
Street, went dark earlier this summer for what could
be an extended period of time.
Porgy premiered at the historic Colonial Theatre
in 1935 (September 30, to be exact) prior to its engagement
on Broadway. The new revival is testing
its wings at the American Repertory Theater in
Cambridge. Meanwhile, the 1,700-seat Colonial, famous
for pre-Broadway tryouts, including the premieres
of such landmark musicals as Oklahoma! and
La Cage aux Folles, was shut down in early July following
a four-week engagement of a revival of West
Side Story, and its future is uncertain. Boston’s oldest
continuously operating theater, the Colonial is
known for its spectacular murals, extensive ornate
gold leafing throughout the interior and unbeatable
sight lines for a venue of its size. The Colonial’s shuttering
comes on the heels of a breakdown in negotiations
between Emerson College, which
purchased the theater in 2006, and Broadway
Across America-Boston, which has been the theater’s
longtime presenter of Broadway touring musicals,
having leased it for more than a decade.
According to a report in The Boston Globe,
Emerson told Broadway Across America-Boston in
early 2010 that it first wanted to explore the option
of leasing the theater to other potential producers. A
lease renewal was finally offered by Emerson last
November, but Broadway Across America-Boston declined,
saying it had waited as long as it could and
went ahead with other plans for its 2011–12 season.
Instead, the organization will present two touring
shows next season at Boston’s Shubert Theatre,
as well as The Opera House, which it owns. The
Shubert Theatre, which is operated by the Citi
Performing Arts Center, has been used mostly by
the Boston Lyric Opera, although the Boston premiere
of Jersey Boys played there three summers ago.
BERNSTEIN IN BOSTON: The Huntington
Theatre Company mounts Mary Zimmerman's
new adaptation of Leonard Bernstein's classic
musical Candide, based on Voltaire's famous
satire, at the Boston University Theatre beginning
September 10.
Next year, Broadway Across America-Boston will
present a tours of La Cage aux Folles and The
Addams Family at the Shubert.
Andrew Tiedemann, Emerson’s vice president for
communications, told Playbill.com in July, “Emerson
is actively seeking a new tenant. We have enjoyed
having Broadway Across America as our tenant…we
hope in the future they would consider a lease.”
While Emerson hopes that Broadway Across
America will return the following season, it is seeking
out other presenters and producers in the meantime.
According to the Globe and other sources, last
year Emerson was in negotiations with longtime
Boston theater stalwart Jon B. Platt, who ran the
Colonial for more than a decade before selling his
company, American Artists/Broadway in Boston, in
1998 to SFX Theatricals (which, after various owners
and entities, has morphed into Broadway Across
America). But discussions between Platt and
Emerson reportedly stalled. Platt, a veteran
Broadway producer of shows like the current blockbuster
The Book of Mormon, helped to raise the
money for a $2 million renovation to the Colonial
in the early ’90s. In a statement to the Globe, Platt
said, “For Boston to lose The Colonial Theatre as a
home for Broadway shows would indeed be a tragic
day in the cultural life of our beloved city.”
Liz Lauren
4 AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER