Tony Awards: ‘Porgy and Bess’ beats ‘Follies’ for musical revival
“The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” won the Tony Award for revival of a musical, beating out the recent revival production of “Follies” that ran at the Ahmanson Theatre.
“Porgy and Bess,”which stars Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis, opened last year at American Repertory Theatre in Massachusetts before transferring to Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in January.
The production, directed by Diane Paulus, garnered controversy for altering certain narrative aspects of the original Gershwin musical for what some people saw as commercial reasons. Playwright Suzan Lori-Parks worked with Diedre L. Murray on cuts and revisions to the musical.
TONYS 2012: Red carpet | Winners & Nominees
Stephen Sondheim wrote a letter to the New York Times criticizing the changes, though he had not seen the production.
The other nominees were”Evita”and “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Last year’s winner in the category was “Anything Goes.”
RELATED:
Theater review: ‘Follies’ at the Ahmanson Theatre
Theater review: ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at La Jolla Playhouse
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