Porgy and Bess, Starring Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis, Opens on Broadway

The anticipated restaging of the Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess, starring Audra McDonald, Norm Lewis and David Alan Grier, opens January 12 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Featuring a revised book by Suzan-Lori Parks and directed by Diane Paulus, the cast also includes Joshua Henry, Phillip Boykin, Nikki Renée Daniels, Christopher Innvar, Bryonha Marie Parham and NaTasha Yvette Williams. Porgy and Bess is scheduled to run through July 8.

A slew of stage and screen stars are expected to attend the opening night performance including Liza Minnelli, Angela Lansbury, Spike Lee, Paul Simon, Al Sharpton, Matthew Broderick, Barbara Cook, Tony Kushner, Candice Bergen, Zoe Caldwell, Estelle Parsons, Christine Baranski, Alan Alda, Cheyenne Jackson, Gavin Creel, Christine Ebersole, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sierra Boggess, Laura Osnes, Joe Mantello, Casey Nicholaw, Mario Cantone, John Cullum, Alan Cumming, Benjamin Walker, Patricia Clarkson, Melba Moore, Ray Davies, Nona Hendryx, Andrew McCarthy, Piper Perabo, Barbara Smith and Bart Sher.

Set in Charleston’s fabled Catfish Row, Porgy and Bess follows beautiful Bess (McDonald) as she struggles to break free from her scandalous past, and the only one who can rescue her is the crippled but courageous Porgy (Lewis). The show features the classic Gershwin tunes "Summertime," "Bess, You Is My Woman Now," "I Got Plenty o' Nothin" and "It Ain't Necessarily So."

"It’s some of the most beautiful music ever written," McDonald recently told Broadway.com. "When you have music like, that everyone wants to be a part of it."