Richard Bratby

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Plus: the orchestra becomes a character in its own right in Opera North’s Merry Widow

issue 20 October 2018

  • Porgy and Bess

    Coliseum, in rep until 17 November

  • The Merry Widow

    Grand Theatre, Leeds, and touring until 17 November

Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess springs to life fully formed, and pulls you in before a word has been sung. A whirlwind flourish; the hectic bustle of violins and xylophone, and then a quick fade into an image of a woman cradling a child and ‘Summertime’, the very first number we hear sung.

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