Porgy and Bess

Strings, who’s been bringing bluegrass to arenas lately — and whose tattooed arms meshed seamlessly with the sleeves of his tie-dyed T-shirt — sang “California Sober,” which he recorded in 2023 as a duet with Nelson, and offered a haunting take on “Summertime” from “Porgy and Bess.”

She won a Grammy for her recording of Gershwin’s Porgy And Bess in 2020; and hit headlines in 2022 after pulling out of a performance at Italy’s Arena di Verona in protest at the venue’s use of blackface make-up in a production of Verdi’s Aida.

In 2012, Simons co-produced a revival of “Porgy and Bess” starring Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis that earned him his first Tony.

Williams will sing “My Man’s Gone Now,” Serena’s aria from Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess,” with which she made an unforgettable impression in 2018.

For the 2021-2022 season, “Blue,” an opera about police violence, and the classic “Porgy and Bess” were among the top five operas produced in North America, according to the 2023 Annual Field Report created by Opera America, an industry umbrella organization.