Porgy and Bess premiered in 1935 and it is considered to be America’s first great opera. It will be presented by the NC Opera on April 14 and 16, 2023. According to Kenneth Overton, who has the role of Porgy, “Porgy and Bess has incredible music, and it's a story that has all the elements of great theatre, love, triumph over adversity, death, dance, and comedy.”

George Gershwin, a Jewish American composer, traveled to South Carolina to gain inspiration to develop Porgy and Bess. At a time when white performers wore black face to perform African American roles, Gershwin required all Porgy and Bess cast members to be of African descent. This decision was controversial, but it opened doors for African American performers and audiences that continues to this day.

Porgy and Bess has provided opportunities for African American singers who often have difficulty finding lead roles in opera. Porgy ang Bess has helped many performers to establish their careers. Cast members are often able to travel around the world with this outstanding opera. In addition, as a part of a large African American cast they can develop important relationships with other Black performers.  

Overton said, “I have met lifelong friends from doing this opera. It has also taken me to several places both domestically and internationally. It doesn't come without its challenges, but it has been worth it.”

In 1954, Maya Angela turned down a principal role in a Broadway show, to take a small part in a 22-nation tour of Porgy and Bess. Dr. Angelou, reflected about her experience in a 2010 interview. “(It was) a chance to see places I ordinarily would never see, I only dreamed of in the little village in Arkansas in which I grew up.” Maya also noted that the cast was full of classically trained singers who had limited opportunities to perform, and they became a close-knit group. 

Porgy and Bess has also had a significant impact on audiences. As it toured throughout the U.S. some venues, like the National Theatre in Washington, DC were integrated because of protests from cast members. Overton commented, “For many years, Porgy and Bess was the only opportunity where seeing African Americans in other standard opera roles would also increase visibility on and off stage. People go where they feel welcomed and safe.”

When Maya Angelou first saw Porgy and Bess, she had a powerful response. “I remained in my seat after the curtain fell and allowed people to climbed over my knees to reach the aisle. I was stunned. Porgy and Bess had shown me the greatest array of Negro talent I had ever seen.”’

​Don't miss your opportunity to see an amazing production of Porgy and Bess! For more information or to buy tickets, just go to www.ncopera.org.

Wendell Tabb has been the Director of Hillside High School’s Theatre Program for almost 30 years.  He has developed an exceptional theater arts program that prepares students for success.  It provides them with real life experiences, technical training, and an environment that nurtures their talents.  According to a former student, "When you think of Durham, NC you don’t think of professional arts training.  Durham is called the City of Medicine or the Bull City. People don't realize that there’s this jewel of a program where students can go into conservatories or to professional acting or other careers in the performing arts."     

Veronique MacRae

Veronique LaShell MacRae is the Founder and Director of Act Trinity Performing Arts Company which is based in Durham, NC.  She has her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Performance from North Carolina Central University and a Master of Arts in Christian Studies from Duke University.  MacRae works as a playwright, producer, director and actor.  This summer her plays will be performed at the Black Theatre Festival and the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, DC.  She has also created a new play that is scheduled to open this fall.

When Veronique LaShell MacRae entered Hillside High School, she wanted to play with the band. She had signed up for a music class but because of a mistake by a guidance counselor, she ended up in theater arts. MacRae was initially upset but then she found something special in Mr. Tabb's class.  She said, "Theater arts gave me an avenue to share my voice where previously I had allowed my voice to be hidden.  That space allowed me to express myself in a way I hadn’t done before.  I was able to carry that into my everyday life and learn who I was and grow as a person.  There was such leadership and mentorship in his arts program.  We learned a lot about teamwork and collaboration.  It was never just about the play."

When MacRae began her career she realized that the training she received at Hillside allowed her to stand apart from her peers.  She said, "Mr. Tabb cross trained us so you didn’t just study acting but you learned all areas of production, including the business side.  And that is something that you don’t get a lot.  You’ll find a lot of actors who don’t understand  how to market themselves or how to carry and present themselves in an audition.  But the way Mr. Tabb taught, you learned vocabulary, technique and professionalism.  You were given real life examples.  To be early was to be on time.  You had to be prepared.  We received an overall experience.” 

When MacRae lived in New York, she found that the technical skills she learned were also invaluable.  She said, "I’m trained as a stage manager. I’m trained as a production manager.  I’ve done professional lighting.  I’ve built sets.  So I have an understanding of backstage and that allowed me to enter the field in various doors. You may not get the acting gig.  But if you have the ability to do tech work then you may meet the person you can give your headshot or resume to which allows you to get on the stage.   Some people say that you should be the master of one thing and not the jack of all trades but because Mr. Tabb gave us a foundation in every area it allowed us to become strong in whatever area we wanted to master."

MacRae once worked in a program for suicidal teens and found that she was able to connect with the students through the arts.  "I was able to do that for them because Mr. Tabb did that for us.  I had a mom who was very ill and I went through a lot in high school but I was always able to come to the stage and to that classroom and know that it wasn’t just about a teacher trying to get good scores but about someone who really cared and was invested in our holistic whole being.  That is what stuck with me.  I wanted to pay it forward."  

MacRae will be forever grateful for that guidance counselor's mistake.  She said, "God has a way of working things out because if I hadn’t attended Mr. Tabb’s class, I wouldn’t have discovered my passion for the theater. Now what I do with my arts organization enables me to help people discover their gifts and give a voice to those who may feel voiceless and bring a way for people to discover who they are.  I learned from Mr. Tabb that there are no limits and whatever gifts I have in me, that I am supposed to use them to help others.”  

April Parker Jones

April Parker Jones has appeared on several television shows including NCIS, Young & the Restless and Scandal.  Today she stars on Tyler Perry’s If Loving You is Wrong and just landed a recurring role on How To Get Away with Murder.

April Parker Jones was also not supposed to be in Mr. Tabb's class.  She was originally scheduled to attend Jordan High School but at the last minute she was reassigned to Hillside High School. According to Parker Jones, "Without that, I would not have had the opportunity to train under Wendell Tabb who was and still is very influential in my life.  In that four years at Hillside I learned everything that I needed to know about the industry. ‘Competence breeds confidence’. I felt that.  I felt that he had equipped me for what I needed to succeed in this industry.  Mr. Tabb is an amazing educator.”   

Parker Jones experience at Hillside’s Theater Arts program had a profound impact on her. "Mr. Tabb was just so passionate about what he does.” she said.”There were times that he would be so proud of us that he would cry.   He gave us that freedom to be okay with expressing ourselves and our emotions and I really credit him with helping me fall in love with acting.  He played a huge role in the relationship that I have with the industry and with the art.  I’ll forever be grateful to him."

Parker Jones went on to study theater arts at North Carolina Central University.  After receiving acclaim for her performance in a one woman show, Parker Jones decided to leave college to pursue acting in New York.  While there she had a daughter and met her husband who is also an actor.  They later moved to California where she had another daughter and her career began to gain momentum.  In 2014, she joined the cast of Tyler Perry’s If Loving You is Wrong. 

Parker Jones was grateful for the opportunity. She said, “Being on the Tyler Perry show has exceeded my expectations.  It was a dream come true from the crew to all the people involved with running the studio.  Everything is run in such a spirit of excellence.  It was such a joy because I had never experienced so many wonderful beautiful black people like that in Hollywood.  I was so proud of everybody and everything.  It was a joy.” 

If Loving You Is Wrong made history as the most watched premier on the OWN network.  The show was well received and continued to deliver solid ratings.  Parker Jones said, “The actors all meshed well together and it was so harmonious. I can’t wait to get back there to shoot another season.  I am really looking forward to working with Tyler Perry and the rest of the crew again and really excited about the future of the show.  I hope that the fans will continue to support it so that we can continue to have more seasons. 

When asked about her plans for the future, Parker Jones said, “I would like to see my career continue to evolve and work in this industry until the day that I die.  I see myself teaching and sharing my experiences and helping the next generation of artists to develop their careers.  I see myself using this platform is to be of service and encourage others.  I think that is why we are all here.  Everybody’s purpose is to somehow be of service. And I just see a long prosperous life with a lot of love.”  

Fate led both Veronica LaShell MacRae and April Parker Jones to Hillside High School Theater Arts program.  Wendell Tabb fostered their passion for theater arts and helped them to grow as performers and individuals. They are both determined to follow in his footsteps and inspire another generation of performers.  Despite the challenges of being an artist, they are committed to their community and their craft.  As MacRae said, “I’m still doing theater arts.  It is like once I ended up in Mr. Tabb’s class I never left.”