Tony Nominee Phillip Boykin Joins the National Tour of Porgy and Bess

Tony Award nominee Phillip Boykin will reprise his role as the villainous Crown in the national tour of Porgy and Bess. The cast includes Alicia Hall Moran and Nathaniel Stampley as the title characters, who also appeared in the Broadway company. The tour will launch this fall and is scheduled to make stops in 14 cities, with more to be announced, including Pittsburgh and Tempe.

Boykin received a Tony nomination for his performance in Porgy and Bess, which also marked his Broadway debut. Boykin talked about his “dream of being on Broadway” in his Fresh Face interview, which you can read here.

Set in Charleston’s fabled Catfish Row, Porgy and Bess follows beautiful Bess (Hall Moran) as she struggles to break free from her scandalous past, and the crippled but courageous Porgy (Stampley). The revised production of the classic Gershwin opera features the famous songs "Summertime," "Bess, You Is My Woman Now," "I Got Plenty o' Nothin" and "It Ain't Necessarily So."

The Diane Paulus-helmed revival opened at Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre on January 12, 2012 and ran for 293 performances. The production picked up the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical as well as a trophy for leading lady Audra McDonald.