New York Adult Entertainment: David Alan Grier shrugs off ‘Porgy and Bess’ controversy
He emailed the American Repertory Theater’s Diane Paulus, who was directing the adaptation by Suzan-Lori Parks and Deidre L. Murray. Grier, who knew Paulus from a workshop of her “Best of Both Worlds,” wanted to play Sporting Life, the drug-pusher and pimp portrayed in the original Broadway production by Cab Calloway and in the film version by Sammy Davis Jr.
Grier impressed the team by holding his own alongside lead actors Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis, and singing two songs: the funny, upbeat “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and the teasing, seductive “There’s a Boat That’s Leaving Soon.”
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To get into character, Grier learned all he could about the 1930s in South Carolina, went back to the original notes left by the show’s creators, listened to Ella Fitzgerald scat and watched documentaries of pimps. He also drew on his roots growing up in Detroit and watching pimps decked out in colorful clothes stroll down 12th Street.
See the full article from “The Grio”