Audra McDonald and her fellow stars of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) production of the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, Norm Lewis (Porgy) and David Alan Grier (Sportin' Life), are coming to Broadway following the A.R.T. run of the play in Cambridge, Massachusetts (August 31–October 2, previews from August 17), and McDonald's own US fall concert tour, which runs through November. As the New York Times reports, the Broadway production will open at the Richard Rodgers Theater on January 12, 2012, with previews beginning this December 17.

For the upcoming production, the Gershwins' seminal American opera Porgy and Bess is being re-imagined by A.R.T.'s Artistic Director Diane Paulus, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Suzan-Lori Parks, and two-time Obie winner Diedre Murray. The creative team was charged by the Gershwin Trusts and the Heyward Trust to create a version with a unique identity as a musical. The production will be presented in association with Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel.

“The fusion of musical styles in Porgy and Bess is distinctly American," say spokespersons from the Gershwin family. "It has had, and continues to have, a successful life in opera houses around the world yet it contains some of America’s most beloved jazz and popular standards ... We believe audiences will fall in love with [the new artistic team's] vision of this masterwork for the 21st century."

Porgy and Bess at the Richard Rodgers Theater will mark Audra McDonald's tenth turn in a Broadway production. She is the winner of four Tony Awards, for Carousel (1994), Master Class (1996), Ragtime (1998), and A Raisin in the Sun (2004), and has recorded four solo albums for Nonesuch Records: Way Back to Paradise (1998), How Glory Goes (2000), Happy Songs (2002), and Build a Bridge (2006).

For more information on the A.R.T. performances, visit americanrepertorytheater.org. For details on Audra McDonald's fall tour, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.