Porgy And Bess Souvenir Libretto Program 1944-45 Hirschfeld Franklin Moten

Description

Porgy And Bess Souvenir Libretto Program 1944-45 Season
Starring Etta Moten and William Franklin
Produced by Cheryl Crawford
Condition as shown in photos. Staple-bound. Cover split at crease. Worn and aged. Tiny check marks by songs. Otherwise no markings found.
Includes:
Photos
Profiles of Creators
Star Bios
Crew Bios
From Wikipedia:
1942 Broadway revival -
Noted director and producer Cheryl Crawford produced professional stock theater in Maplewood, New Jersey, for three very successful seasons. The last of these closed with Porgy and Bess, which she co-produced with John Wildberg. In refashioning it in the style of musical theater which Americans were used to hearing from Gershwin, Crawford produced a drastically cut version of the opera compared with the first Broadway staging. The orchestra was reduced, the cast was halved, and many recitatives were reduced to spoken dialog.
Having seen the performance, theater owner Lee Shubert arranged for Crawford to bring her production to Broadway. The show opened at the Majestic Theatre in January 1942. Duncan and Brown reprised their roles as the title characters, with Alexander Smallens again conducting. In June, contralto Etta Moten, whom Gershwin had first envisioned as Bess, replaced Brown in the role. Moten was such a success that Bess became her signature role.