‘Porgy And Bess’ Nominated For Ten Tony Awards

I have to object to your perpetuation of the myth that Stephen Sondheim criticized  this production of “Porgy and Bess” before  it had actually been performed.  This is simply untrue.  The letter he wrote objected to very specific statements which Ms. Paulus and the other principals involved with this production made to the NYTimes regarding the original work of Gershwin and Heyward.  He felt (and I agree with him) that their statements misrepresented and maligned the original work and that many of their stated intentions regarding the work were simply wrong.   He was responding to their published comments, not to the unseen production.  Had Ms. Paulus not wanted people to comment on her ideas she should not have published them.  To continue to mischaracterize Sondheim’s comment is opportunistic on the part of Ms. Paulus and sloppy on the part of the reporter.