NJ State Opera Tickets

Having seen and loved many productions of Porgy and Bess, I looked forward to another spectacular rendition of my favorite opera. However I was quite disappointed last Friday night as I listened and could hardly understand anything that was being sung. (and I already know most of the libretto) I was also disappointed with the orchestra and the conductor who directed some of the songs in such a manner making it difficult for the singer to keep up with him. After the opening,

Sunday's Porgy & Bess was outstanding, but just barely wortth the ticketing chaos that still had a block-long waiting line 30 minutes past scheduled curtain time. If tthis is typical of the Symphony Hall's ticketing process, I'm not optomistic about the venue's future prospects.

The production was excellent. However, there should have been a better system in place to receive tickets. I went on Friday, May 23, and arrived at the theater at 7:50 pm The ticket holders line was extremely long and consequently, the show started about 25 minutes later because of this. Also the driving directions from the New Symphony Hall website were terrible. I came from NYC and it had me driving out of the way because of wrong information on the site. I

The production and actor/singers were great. However, the accoustics -- even for us who sat in the center orchestra -- was not great. It was impossible to hear the words, and unless the actors were in the front of the stage, they were somewhat drowned out by the orchestra. The experience would have been 100% if the actors were miked and the lyrics/captions posted as is done for classical operas in the Met and NY State Theatrues.

The performance of " PORGY & BESS " deserves a 5 STAR RATING..The entire cast was outstanding and the set was terrific!! On the other hand, the Newark Symphony Hall was NOT the proper place to hold this beautiful American opera. We were six friends that had good seats, center orchestra and none of us incuding people sitting near us could not understand the words. I felt that the producers of this opera, did the entire cast and the audience an injustice! Though the voices were very strong and beautiful, the accostics were not. I realize the theatre is old but I don't understand how you can have such a marvelous show in a building with poor sound quality.The CLARITY DID NOT project off the stage . Why couldn't a quality audio system be brought in with a staff to operate it for the performance. Or all the performers should have been wearing small microphones so the audience could understand and hear the beautiful english words that were being sung. The seats were not inexpensive, and I feel the producers should have either upgraded the audio system for the performance or they should have chosen another theatre. To conclude: THE PERFORMANCE WAS EXCELLENT! THE THEATRE WAS NOT!

This Porgy and Bess was wonderful in every way--splendidly done!

This was a wonderful production of Porgy and Bess. The staging was perfect and the cast was terrific. The only thing I would recommend is that the producers move this inspiring production to the NJPAC where the acoustics would have been better.

we were very disappointed by the entire performance and especially the venue. We expected to love it all and went with a great attitude, having loved the music for many years and anticipating a once in a lifetime event! Perhaps the balcony seats which afforded good viewing, though from afar had an impact. We had great difficulty hearing the words and sometimes the singers voices were muffeled. We paid $55. for these tickets and spent half our day only to be disenchanted with the whole experience.

The performance at Newark was outstanding. Although I was familiar with much of the music, I had never seen Porgy and Bess performed. It was a thrill hearing such wonderful voices and becoming involved with such believable characters. The Gershwins created a musical spectacle with a wonderful mix of emotions which made us laugh and cry and always kept us interested. It is no wonder that this masterpiece lives on. Thank you all for a wonderful afternoon. The only downside was that I had difficulty understanding the some of the words in the first act..

This was an excellent performance. The lead characters were all on their game and sounded amazing, especially Laquita Mitchell as Bess. The only problem I had was that you couldn't hear some of the singers from the mezzanine and the theater was very warm throughout the performance. But I loved the acting, staging, music, and set and overall it was a great experience!