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Stage Review

On Broadway, a ‘Porgy’ with Bess at its core

Audra McDonald captivates in Paulus-directed musical

By Don Aucoin

 |  Globe Staff  

  January 13, 2012

Now that the far-from-happy dust has settled from Stephen Sondheim’s preemptive broadside, now that “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess’’ has finally arrived on Broadway, it can be seen, and gloriously heard, for what it is: a fully realized work that pays homage to a classic while infusing it with new, thrilling life. As in the premiere last summer at the American Repertory Theater, Audra McDonald’s mesmerizing portrayal of Bess stands at the center of this musical-theater adaptation, which opened last night under the direction of Diane Paulus.

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