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TRANSCRIPT
THE GERSHWINS’
PORGY AND BESSBY GEORGE GERSHWIN, DUBOSE AND DOROTHY HE Y WARD,
AND IR A GERSHWIN
OPENING NIGHT GAL A
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
Metropolitan Opera House Lincoln Center
COVER: ERIC OWENS AND ANGEL BLUE AS PORGY AND BESS, PHOTOGRAPHED BY PAOLA KUDACKI
Metropolitan Opera
Board of Directors
Peter Gelb General Manager
Yannick Nézet-Séguin Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director
OFFICERS
Ann Ziff Chairman
Dr. Frayda B. Lindemann President and Chief Executive Officer
Mercedes T. Bass Vice Chair
William C. Morris Chair of the Executive Committee
Jeanette Lerman-NeubauerSecretary
Betsy CohenTreasurer
Tod Johnson Vice President
Christine F. HunterHonorary Chair
James W. Kinnear Honorary Chair
Paul M. Montrone President Emeritus
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Mercedes T. Bass
Frank A. Bennack, Jr.
Betsy Cohen
Judith-Ann Corrente
Elizabeth M. Eveillard
Ekkehart Hassels-Weiler
Christine F. Hunter
Tod Johnson
Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer
Dr. Frayda B. Lindemann
William C. Morris
Robert L. Turner
Ann Ziff
MANAGING DIRECTORS
Mrs. Veronica Atkins
Mercedes T. Bass
Frank A. Bennack, Jr.
C. Graham Berwind, III
Susan S. Braddock
Noreen Buckfire
Alexa Bator Chae
Nabil N. Chartouni
Betsy Cohen
Leonard S. Coleman, Jr.
Judith-Ann Corrente
Rena De Sisto
Elizabeth M. Eveillard
Kenneth R. Feinberg
Marina Kellen French
Beth A. Grosshans
Ekkehart Hassels-Weiler
Rolf Heitmeyer
Marlene Hess
H. M. Agnes Hsu-Tang, Ph.D.
Christine F. Hunter
Frederick Iseman
David Henry Jacobs
Tod Johnson
James W. Kinnear
Bruce Kovner
Camille D. LaBarre
Harry T. Lee
Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer
Dr. Frayda B. Lindemann
Frances Marzio
Kathryn A. Miller
William R. Miller
William C. Morris
Sana H. Sabbagh
Marc I. Stern
Hon. David A. Straz, Jr.
Ambassador Nicholas F. Taubman
Douglas Dockery Thomas
Robert I. Toll
Robert L. Turner
Ann Ziff
HONORARY DIRECTORS
Bruce Crawford
Edgar Foster Daniels
Emily Fisher Landau
Mrs. Walter J. Laughery, Jr.
Mrs. Alexander M. Laughlin
Paul M. Montrone
Howard Solomon
ADVISORY DIRECTORS
M. Beverly Bartner
Ellen S. Berelson
Stephen Berger
Stanley M. Bergman
Ms. Angela Chao
Daniel C. Cochran
Carol E. Domina
Gordon P. Getty
Richard Gilbert
Nancy A. Green
H. Alexandra Kauka Hamill
Howard W. Hunter
Linda E. Johnson
Dr. Herbert G. Kloiber
Dr. David G. Knott
Theodore A. Kurz
Dominique Laffont
Marguerite L. Lee
Helen Y. Little
Andrew J. Martin-Weber
Dafna Meitar-Nechmad
Richard J. Miller, Jr.
Linda Mirels
Franci Neely
Marta Nottebohm
Ellen F. Oelsner
Katharina Otto-Bernstein
Miss Leontyne Price
Dr. Steve Prystowsky
Donna Kesselman Raggio, M.D.
Mark H. Rosenberg
Winthrop Rutherfurd, Jr.
Jacqui Smith
Daisy M. Soros
Kimberly V. Strauss
John J. Veronis
Arete S. Warren
MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION
Mahmoud M. Abdallah
Dr. Joan Taub Ades
Agnieszka R. Balaban
R. Joseph Barnett
Jane Beasley
Eleanor N. Caulkins
Dr. Patrizia A. Cavazzoni
Betsy Cohn
Robert J. Cubitto
Robert G. Edge
Beatrice Esteve
Bryan M. Fabiano
Sanford H. Fisher
Heather H. Georges
Rosalind Glaser
G. Morris Gurley
Barbara Guss
Mrs. Randolph H. Guthrie
O. Delton Harrison, Jr.
Erik Hartmann
Ronnie S. Hawkins
Matthew G. Hurd
Vikas Kapoor
Mrs. Martin S. Kimmel
Klaus Kleinfeld
Meyer G. Koplow
C. Thomas Kunz
Sandra Ourusoff Massey
John L. McGraw
Mrs. Peter H. Nicholas
Thomas J. Reid
Cynthia D. Sculco
Paul J. Sekhri
Mrs. William F. Sondericker
Jackson Tai
Barry Tucker
George L. Van Amson
Sharon Wee
Michael J. Woods
YOUNG ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS
Amanda S. Brainerd
Jordan A. D. Fudge
Robert M. Iommazzo
So-Chung Shinn Lee
Pedro Magalhães
Julie Warner McAskin
Maxwell J. Murphy
Evelyn M. M. Popp
Chad J. Shampine
Itai Shoffman
Siddhartha Shukla
Kevin M. Tagami
Bee Tham
Eric S. Wei
Satoko Yahata
The Met’s Board of Directors and General Manager Peter Gelb invite you to the opening night of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2019–20 season
by George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin
NEW PRODUCTION PREMIERE
CONDUC TOR David Robertson
BESS Angel Blue CL AR A Golda Schultz SERENA Latonia Moore MARIA Denyce Graves SPORTIN’ L IFE Frederick Ballentine* PORGY Eric Owens CROWN Alfred Walker JAKE Ryan Speedo Green
PRODUC TION James Robinson* SET DESIGNER Michael Yeargan COSTUME DESIGNER Catherine Zuber L IGHTING DESIGNER Donald Holder PROJEC TION DESIGNER Luke Halls CHOREOGR APHER Camille A. Brown*
Gala ChairmanSheila C. Johnson
honor ary Gala ChairmanDouglas Dockery Thomas
Gala Co-Chairmen
Veronica Atkins
C. Graham Berwind, III
Betsy and Ed Cohen
Marlene Hess and James D. Zirin
Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer and Joseph Neubauer
Dr. Frayda B. Lindemann
William C. and Susan F. Morris
Ann Ziff
Corpor ate Chairman
Robert L. Thornton President, First Republic Private Wealth Management
The Metropolitan Opera is grateful to First Republic
for its underwriting support of the Opening Night Gala
produCtion funders
Production a gift of The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund
and Douglas Dockery Thomas
A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera;
Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam; and English National Opera
GERSHWIN is a registered trademark of Gershwin Enterprises.
Porgy and Bess is a registered trademark of Porgy and Bess Enterprises.
Monday, September 23, 2019Cocktail reception at 5 pm on the Mercedes T. Bass Grand Tier. The performance will begin at 6 pm. Dinner with the cast will be served afterward in the Promenade of the David H. Koch Theater.
B l a C k t i e
*Debut
THE GERSHWINS’
PORGY AND BESS
THE GERSHWINS’
PORGY AND BESSBY GEORGE GERSHWIN, DUBOSE AND DOROTHY HE Y WARD,
AND IR A GERSHWIN
OPENING NIGHT GAL A
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
Metropolitan Opera House Lincoln Center
COVER: ERIC OWENS AND ANGEL BLUE AS PORGY AND BESS, PHOTOGRAPHED BY PAOLA KUDACKI
Metropolitan Opera
Board of Directors
Peter Gelb General Manager
Yannick Nézet-Séguin Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director
OFFICERS
Ann Ziff Chairman
Dr. Frayda B. Lindemann President and Chief Executive Officer
Mercedes T. Bass Vice Chair
William C. Morris Chair of the Executive Committee
Jeanette Lerman-NeubauerSecretary
Betsy CohenTreasurer
Tod Johnson Vice President
Christine F. HunterHonorary Chair
James W. Kinnear Honorary Chair
Paul M. Montrone President Emeritus
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Mercedes T. Bass
Frank A. Bennack, Jr.
Betsy Cohen
Judith-Ann Corrente
Elizabeth M. Eveillard
Ekkehart Hassels-Weiler
Christine F. Hunter
Tod Johnson
Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer
Dr. Frayda B. Lindemann
William C. Morris
Robert L. Turner
Ann Ziff
MANAGING DIRECTORS
Mrs. Veronica Atkins
Mercedes T. Bass
Frank A. Bennack, Jr.
C. Graham Berwind, III
Susan S. Braddock
Noreen Buckfire
Alexa Bator Chae
Nabil N. Chartouni
Betsy Cohen
Leonard S. Coleman, Jr.
Judith-Ann Corrente
Rena De Sisto
Elizabeth M. Eveillard
Kenneth R. Feinberg
Marina Kellen French
Beth A. Grosshans
Ekkehart Hassels-Weiler
Rolf Heitmeyer
Marlene Hess
H. M. Agnes Hsu-Tang, Ph.D.
Christine F. Hunter
Frederick Iseman
David Henry Jacobs
Tod Johnson
James W. Kinnear
Bruce Kovner
Camille D. LaBarre
Harry T. Lee
Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer
Dr. Frayda B. Lindemann
Frances Marzio
Kathryn A. Miller
William R. Miller
William C. Morris
Sana H. Sabbagh
Marc I. Stern
Hon. David A. Straz, Jr.
Ambassador Nicholas F. Taubman
Douglas Dockery Thomas
Robert I. Toll
Robert L. Turner
Ann Ziff
HONORARY DIRECTORS
Bruce Crawford
Edgar Foster Daniels
Emily Fisher Landau
Mrs. Walter J. Laughery, Jr.
Mrs. Alexander M. Laughlin
Paul M. Montrone
Howard Solomon
ADVISORY DIRECTORS
M. Beverly Bartner
Ellen S. Berelson
Stephen Berger
Stanley M. Bergman
Ms. Angela Chao
Daniel C. Cochran
Carol E. Domina
Gordon P. Getty
Richard Gilbert
Nancy A. Green
H. Alexandra Kauka Hamill
Howard W. Hunter
Linda E. Johnson
Dr. Herbert G. Kloiber
Dr. David G. Knott
Theodore A. Kurz
Dominique Laffont
Marguerite L. Lee
Helen Y. Little
Andrew J. Martin-Weber
Dafna Meitar-Nechmad
Richard J. Miller, Jr.
Linda Mirels
Franci Neely
Marta Nottebohm
Ellen F. Oelsner
Katharina Otto-Bernstein
Miss Leontyne Price
Dr. Steve Prystowsky
Donna Kesselman Raggio, M.D.
Mark H. Rosenberg
Winthrop Rutherfurd, Jr.
Jacqui Smith
Daisy M. Soros
Kimberly V. Strauss
John J. Veronis
Arete S. Warren
MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION
Mahmoud M. Abdallah
Dr. Joan Taub Ades
Agnieszka R. Balaban
R. Joseph Barnett
Jane Beasley
Eleanor N. Caulkins
Dr. Patrizia A. Cavazzoni
Betsy Cohn
Robert J. Cubitto
Robert G. Edge
Beatrice Esteve
Bryan M. Fabiano
Sanford H. Fisher
Heather H. Georges
Rosalind Glaser
G. Morris Gurley
Barbara Guss
Mrs. Randolph H. Guthrie
O. Delton Harrison, Jr.
Erik Hartmann
Ronnie S. Hawkins
Matthew G. Hurd
Vikas Kapoor
Mrs. Martin S. Kimmel
Klaus Kleinfeld
Meyer G. Koplow
C. Thomas Kunz
Sandra Ourusoff Massey
John L. McGraw
Mrs. Peter H. Nicholas
Thomas J. Reid
Cynthia D. Sculco
Paul J. Sekhri
Mrs. William F. Sondericker
Jackson Tai
Barry Tucker
George L. Van Amson
Sharon Wee
Michael J. Woods
YOUNG ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS
Amanda S. Brainerd
Jordan A. D. Fudge
Robert M. Iommazzo
So-Chung Shinn Lee
Pedro Magalhães
Julie Warner McAskin
Maxwell J. Murphy
Evelyn M. M. Popp
Chad J. Shampine
Itai Shoffman
Siddhartha Shukla
Kevin M. Tagami
Bee Tham
Eric S. Wei
Satoko Yahata
GALA COMMITTEE
GALA CHAIRMAN
Sheila C. Johnson
HONORARY GALA CHAIRMAN
Douglas Dockery Thomas
GALA CO-CHAIRMEN
Veronica Atkins
C. Graham Berwind, III
Betsy and Ed Cohen
Marlene Hess and James D. Zirin
Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer and Joseph Neubauer
Dr. Frayda B. Lindemann
William C. and Susan F. Morris
Ann Ziff
GALA VICE CHAIRMEN
Katherine Farley and Jerry I. Speyer/Tishman Speyer
Mr. and Mrs. John B. Hess
Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis
CORPORATE CHAIRMAN
Robert L. ThorntonPresident, First Republic Private Wealth Management
PRIME BENEFACTORS
Stanley and Marion BergmanHenry Schein, Inc.
Frank and Marianne Diassi
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen L. Green
Mrs. Allan J. Riley
George and Lydia Weiss
BENEFACTORS
Marco Antonio AchónHead of Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, U.S. CEO Santander Investment Securities, Inc. General Manager of New York Branch
BNY Mellon
Amparo Espinosa and Manuel Espinosa
Seifi and Ellen Ghasemi
Linda E. Johnson
Anne Welsh McNulty
Lynn C. Schneider
PRINCIPAL SPONSORS
Samantha and Nabil Chartouni
Daniel C. Cochran and Gregory B. Sutphin
Valerie and Harry Cooper
Judith-Ann Corrente and Wim Kooyker
Beth and Gary Glynn
Dr. David G. Knott and Ms. Françoise Girard
Frances Marzio
OPENING NIGHT GALA
PORGY AND BESSNEW PRODUCTION PREMIERE
Monday, September 23, 2019
Hearst
Franci Neely
Sana H. Sabbagh
Barbara and Donald Tober
Lauren and John Veronis
PRIME SPONSORS
Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Braddock
Noreen and Ken Buckfire
Marina Kellen French
Rolf Heitmeyer
Bertita and Guillermo L. Martínez
Andrew J. Martin-Weber
AnnMarie and Jim McCaughan
Mr. and Mrs. Antonio Pargana
Matthew Christopher Pietras
Donna Kesselman Raggio, M.D., and John J. Raggio
Allen and Heidi Roberts
Paul J. Sekhri and Mark Duvall Gude
Mr. Jake and Mrs. Helene Marie Shafran
Daisy M. Soros
SPONSORS
Hugh A. Andrews
Steven and Betsy Bush
David Chou
Reverends Nilcelia and Roger Davidson
Carol E. and David A. Domina
Bryan M. Fabiano
Kenneth R. Feinberg and Camille S. Biros
Earl Franks
Renata and Claudio Garcia
Mr. Sergey Generalov
Rosalind and Eugene J. Glaser
Dr. Beth Grosshans and Mr. Dennis Stattman
Stanley and Nancy Grossman
Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Gund
Barbara Guss
Molly K. Heines and Thomas J. Moloney
David Hirsch
Judith M. Hoffman
David C. Howse
Samuel Kendall and Georgia Pask
Marguerite Lee and Perk Hixon
Mark Loewen
Dr. Ernest R. Marrone
Matthew and Julie McAskin
Joel Robert Melamed MD
Mr. and Mrs. Corbin R. Miller
Yasuko Noguchi and George Shelden
The Prince Family Fund
Ruth B. Schwinge
Trisha D. Scudder
Nancy S. Smith
James H. Theodore
Debra Therit
Ida Tjeknavorian
Wendy and George Van Amson
David Warren and Helen Lee-Warren
Sharon Wee and Tracy Fu
Dr. and Mrs. Douglas P. Zipes
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Dr. Joan Taub Ades
Prof. Daniel I. A. Cohen
Eliot Keele
Christian Keesee
Dr. Anne Kolker
C. Thomas Kunz and Rosemarie Sweeney
Miriam Mangot
Jacqueline Badger Mars
Dr. Carol D. Morris
Helen H. Thompson
Anonymous
(committee in formation)