There are many things to love about Gershwin’s 1935 opera, Porgy and Bess. Most of the tunes are already familiar through jazz standards (“Summertime,” “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’,” “Bess, You is My Woman Now”), and Gershwin’s music has that perfect combination of an undulating Puccini-esque lyricism and catchy syncopations that capture the rhythms of the English language. Gershwin’s music achieves many things at once: it involves full-out operatic singing, yet still has moments that feel like a spontaneous outpouring of emotion. Serena’s “My Man’s Gone Now” at the funeral of her husband in Act I showcases operatic virtuosity and brings on the chills of a new widow’s wail. The “Six Simultaneous Prayers” chorus during the Act II hurricane makes you feel like you have walked into a black church vigil. The creators’ insistence on a black cast makes going to Porgy and Bess a unique experience, and one especially exciting for black audiences, for nowhere else in the repertory do we have the chance to see so many black people on the opera stage – and in the audience.