text: I have to start off by saying that the only reason this is getting two stars is because of the kindness of the Yelp Squad putting it together and the Benedum which is the venue and not the producer being such gracious hosts The Benedum is a lovely venue with a great staff of senior helpers who deserve pats on their backs for herding people in and out pretty efficientlynnThat being saidI was kind of shocked that this was a Broadway tour and not some local production Porgy and Bess was flat unbalanced unennunciated poorly directed and quite frankly when it takes hearing onequarter of a classic Gershwin song to recognize it there is something seriously wrongnnNathanial Stampley who gave life to Porgy was spectacular Deep rich voice superb presence theatrical without being over the top and knew how to communicate properly with both his book materials AND the audience I could hear him clearly every word The rest of the cast not so much and in some cases not at allnnKingsley Leggs came in second as Sporting Life as being audible understandable and keeping a Gershwin song or two intact and recognizable giving his character the right level of theatrical without being over the top or so understated that we could not hear himnnThe rest of the cast and I blame this on the direction was a mixed bag of overthetop broad theater and TV drama The over the toppers stood out like sore thumbs whereas the TV dramatists made me go Huh What did she say The result was a total imbalance of acting styles that simply do not mix wellnnThe direction also lacked peaks and valleys When there was a fight there was no proper build to it It just kind of happened There is such a thing as pace for a theatrical production and the only pace this production has is keep on walking until the curtain comes downnnI have no idea at what point in their tour this production might be but it seems very lackadaisical and sloppy The choreography was uneven as well A couple of the dancers were crisp and sharp while the majority just seemed to be going through the motions They almost seemed like bored union workers just doing enough work to get by until they collected their paychecknnThen there is Bess An almost mannish speaking voice yet a operatic tone in her singing so shrill she flat out cannot be understood Many of the women suffered from this malady My Mans Gone Now is the song that it truly took me a quarter of the song to realize that this is what she was singingnnEven the orchestra somehow did not make Gershwin SOUND like Gershwin and there was almost a muffled quality to the sound overallnnThe only true saving grace for this production is Porgy who is giving the performance of exactly what it requires nnAnd yet our Pittsburgh audience did what they ALWAYS do regardless of whether they have just seen Burton come back from the dead or a street bum fart in a paper bag to the tune of Swaneethey leapt to their feet for a standing ovation The friend that came with me just looked at me rolling her eyes and said Have these people ever been to actual theater beforennLet me give you all some advice on the standing ovation It is NOT a requirement at every performance The purpose of a standing ovation is for when the ENTIRE production is beyond comparison spectacular from leads to chorus and you were truly blown away and moved by what you just saw OR you are seeing someone like Meryl Streep live who deserves such astounding respect AND the performance of her that you just witnessed was aweinspiring If Andrew Stockey walks across a stage and says Good evening he does NOT warrant a standing ovation Part of our Pittsburgh problem is giving overrated praise to those who just do not deserve it Save it for someone who DOES and then the others will work HARDER to earn itnnThank you Yelp for the free tickets Had I been required to actually pay for this I would have been truly miffed