By Andrew Gans
08 Jun 2012

	Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis in The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess.
	Photo by Michael J. Lutch

McDonald, whose duet with co-star Lewis on the Gershwin classic "I Loves You, Porgy" is one of the season's most memorable moments, said the biggest challenge of the role is stepping onto the Richard Rodgers Theatre stage each night. "The first step onto the stage [is a challenge] because it's such a painful journey. It's a very painful journey that Bess takes, so knowing that you're about to go through all that, when you take the first step on stage, it's daunting. I usually try to think about something else or sometimes I'll read a passage from the book before I go on stage, but then maybe five-ten minutes before I go on stage, I'll play Plants vs. Zombies or something like that on my iPad to get my mind off of what's about to happen because it's daunting!"

Despite the difficulty of the role, there are moments that McDonald relishes. "The entire show is glorious and beautiful, but for me, my favorite part—maybe it's because it's where I have to do the least—is where the ladies are praying over me. They sing that beautiful 'Doctor Jesus' as they're praying over me, and then they lay me down on the bed. Then the section with the street vendors starts with the Strawberry Lady singing and the Honey Man and the Crab Man. That's Andrea Sojola and Phumzile Sojola and Cedric Neal—just the sound of their voices and that gorgeous music and the fact that I just kind of get to lie down and listen to that moment [is] very restorative for me."

McDonald believes the story of Porgy and Bess still resonates so strongly with audiences because it's a tale of "star-crossed lovers...Under really no circumstances should these two people come together and have their hearts be pulled together in the way that they are," she said. "I think that just speaks to the power of love and its transformative power within this show to actually change people, and Porgy becomes a different person because of Bess, and Bess—for a time—becomes a different person because of Porgy, and the only reason she's not able to hold onto that is because Porgy is taken away from her."

	McDonald in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.
	photo by Michael J. Lutch

Prior to its Broadway arrival, this revised version of the opera by George & Ira Gershwin and DuBose & Dorothy Heyward raised the hackles of some theatre purists. The fact that the show has been embraced by audiences, critics and Tony nominators is especially meaningful for its cast. "It's total gratitude that we have been embraced," McDonald said. "We all knew in our hearts how much we loved this piece and how much we've all been affected by this piece for years before we all came together with this, and all we ever wanted to do was honor it and interpret it in the way that we have been charged to do.... Knowing that was in our hearts and not, 'Let's screw with Porgy and Bess.'

"We do love this piece, and we love that we're getting a chance to bring it here to Broadway and people are getting a chance to experience it for the first time. Maybe they've seen it a million times before, but just to see this particular version, and it's a testament to the piece, and we know that there will be five million other versions of it for generations and generations to come. There's a reason why it's a classic."

[For tickets, visit Ticketmaster.com. The Richard Rodgers Theatre is located at 226 West 46th Street.]

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