Spoleto Festival USA is expected to have an event to commemorate the opera Porgy and Bess on its 2026 calendar, the festival’s leader told the Charleston City Paper this week.
General Director Mena Mark Hanna said it is too early to discuss details of the free June 2 event – whether it will be an operatic production or something else – to commemorate Porgy and Bess. The festival’s program will be launched in January, he added.
Next year, the festival opens May 22 and runs until June 7, according to the Spoleto website. Tickets go on sale Jan. 30.
In 2016, Charleston Gullah artist Jonathan Green was the visual designer for Spoleto’s first-ever production of the opera Porgy and Bess at the Charleston Gaillard Center, during the festival’s 40th anniversary, according to the festival’s website.
Excerpts of the music George Gershwin wrote for the opera was featured in 1979 during the festival’s finale at Middleton Place.
- To learn more about a different aspect of the Porgy story, pick up a copy of the City Paper on Friday.
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