ANDY DRACHENBERG: When you first heard about Porgy and Bess, what captivated you as something you wanted to work on?
NORM LEWIS: I always loved the music – it’s timeless. When I found out the other people who were possibly going to be involved with it… Audra McDonald (whoo!), David Alan Grier, and Diane Palus – to get to work with her was just going to be awesome… and Suzan-Lori Parks, this whole team of people. I wanted to work with all of these people no matter what the show was. It happened to be The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess and that was just the cherry on top. I had to be a part of this, and at the audition I was hoping and praying that I was going to get the part, and I was lucky enough to get it!
AD: What was your knowledge of the show before then?
NL: I got to play in the chorus of the Orlando Opera Company back in the 1980s, and that was my introduction to the opera itself. I just fell in love with it. The music has always been in my life. It’s been around for 76 years now, and either seeing it on television, or hearing different versions of someone’s interpretation of “Summertime” or “I’ve Got Plenty of Nothin’,” because of the jazz influence that the Gershwins had, people have always been able to put a different spin on it.
AD: Tell me a little about your character, Porgy.
NL: Porgy is a staple in this small community of Catfish Row. He’s a cripple, and he knows his place, and people love him for who he is. He’s a person who understands who he is, why he is, that kind of thing. He knows he’s probably going to be alone and not have a romance in his life. People have gravitated toward him because he’s so charismatic and charming – but that’s how he makes his living: he’s a beggar. He’s been portrayed over the years as a cripple, and in some productions audiences can feel sorry for him. This production hopefully won’t be that – they’ll understand his plight.
AD: How is the music style of this production being shaped?
NL: If you know anything about the Gershwins, they have a very big history of infusing jazz into any situation. What Diedre Murray is doing with the arrangements – not changing the show to be a big jazz musical, but bringing undercurrents of jazz influence there. That really helps with this particular version being a little bit more accessible to newer audiences while staying true to what the music is and how the show has been portrayed for 76 years.
AD: Can you tell us about the rehearsal experience – working with everybody?
NL: We’ve had such great times already. It’s funny, and very lucky, when you know you have a cast that you’re going to be able to work with for a long period of time. We understand each other – there’s a lot of cultural similarities that we’ve all gone through, especially with church community background, so that really helps. We’re transferring that into this community of people that are from Catfish Row. Our history as African Americans is very tight knit in the sense that we have a very spiritual base, and I think that’s been the foundation for our coming together-ness, and I think that transfers into what the community was in Catfish Row from the 1920s through the 1940s.
AD: The show itself began in Boston 75 plus years ago. What are you most looking forward to continuing the show’s legacy in 2011?
NL: Wow…76 years… just to know that I’m standing on the shoulders and the legacy of people who started that long ago, the cultural differences back then, the racial differences… the things they had to go through and struggle through to get this show going and be on the stage. Hopefully I will honor those people and the spirit of those people who started 76 years ago.
NORM LEWIS (Porgy) recently played Javert in Les Miserables at London’s West End, a role he also played on Broadway and for which he received a Drama League nomination. Other Broadway roles include Sondheim on Sondheim(recording recently released), King Triton in The Little Mermaid, Billy Flynn in Chicago, Jake in Side Show, John in Miss Saigon, as well as roles in The Wild Party, Amour, and he was in the original cast of Tommy. Off-Broadway he was seen as Nathan in Dessa Rose (Drama Desk nomination, AUDELCO Award), Valentine in Two Gentlemen of Verona (Drama League nomination), Doc in Captains Courageous, and Roger in A New Brain. Regional credits include Coalhouse in Ragtime,Sweeney in Sweeney Todd, El Gallo in The Fantastics. He appeared in concert for The Actors’ Fund concerts of Chess (Molokov), Dreamgirls (Curtis), and HAIR. Children of Eden (Father), Bright Lights Big City (Tad), Golden Boy (Eddie) for City Center Encores! Film and television includes Sex and the City 2, Preaching to the Choir, Confidences, Mystery Woman, “Cosby”, “Strong Medicine”, “All My Children”, “As The World Turns”. His debut solo CD is entitled “Norm Lewis: This is the Life.”