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The Arkansas State University Fowler Center will present a concert performance of George Gershwin’s "Porgy and Bess" Sunday, Feb. 2, at 4 p.m.

Based on the novel "Porgy" by DuBose Heyward, this musical collaborative work by Ira and George Gershwin and Dorothy and DuBose Heyward has been entertaining audiences for decades. The show opened on Broadway in 1935 and has been performed at numerous venues all over the world.

"Porgy and Bess" was George Gershwin’s longest and most ambitious creation, and was not successful during his short lifetime. Some of the songs received popularity before his death in 1937, but fame did not find this musical masterpiece until 1940 when the Theater Guild presented a slightly revised version.

For more many years the opera was performed in Europe, where it was considered a truly American opera.

Admission for "Porgy and Bess" is $30 for adults, $26 for faculty and staff, and $20 for students; or $26 for adults, $20 for faculty and staff and $17 for students, depending on the seat location. Tickets may be purchased from the ASU Central Box Office, located at the Convocation Center, 870-972-2781, or online at tickets.astate.edu.

The next program in the Fowler Center Series will be the Peking Acrobats, Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 7:30 p.m. For more information contact Jerome Biebesheimer, director of Fowler Center, 870-910-8115, or e-mail fowlercenter@astate.edu.

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