Tony Nominee Joshua Henry Talks Porgy and Bess and 'Amazing' Co-Star Audra McDonald

After coming down from the high of receiving news of his recent Tony nomination, former Scottsboro Boys star Joshua Henry is back at work in rehearsals for the American Repertory Theater’s upcoming retooling of Porgy and Bess.

Henry will play Jake opposite Audra McDonald as Bess, Norm Lewis as Porgy and David Alan Grier as Sportin' Life in a production that begins performances on August 17 at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, MA. Broadway.com recently caught up with the actor to find out how the show, which is already building pre-Broadway buzz, is coming along.

“It’s going great,” Henry said. “I have an amazing creative team who is really re-imagining this very historical piece.” Obie winner Diedre Murray, Pulitizer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks and Hair director Diane Paulus are reworking the classic story, but even Henry doesn’t quite know exactly how the show will differ from the opera’s various incarnations. “Things are very much still in flux and transitioning, but I like the direction it’s heading in.”

Henry is also in awe of his co-star, four-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald. “She’s amazing,” he said. “She reads like a beast, has such a strong sense of dramatic structure and her instrument is ridiculous. The word 'stupid' comes to mind! It’s really unfair to have all those things in one person.”

So will the show be heading to Broadway? Henry could not confirm but said, “That seems like the plan.”