A CENTURY OF CREATIVITY
THE MACDOWELL COLONY 1907-2007

|| DUBOSE and DORORTHY HEYWARD'S OBJECTS:   ||

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Video: The Heywards adapt DuBose's novel.
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Playwright Dorothy Kuhns met poet DuBose Heyward at The MacDowell Colony in 1922, and they married the following year.  When the Heywards returned to the Colony in 1924, DuBose was working on his novel Porgy.  It was Dorothy who convinced DuBose it would work as a play, and the two collaborated on dramatizing the story, which became the basis for George Gershwin’s legendary opera Porgy and Bess.

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Manuscript of 'Porgy'

Porgy, a Play
Original typescript, copyright deposit, August 2, 1926. 
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
Courtesy DuBose and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund (35) Digital ID #mc0035

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Porgy, a Play

In 1924, DuBose Heyward read from his novel-in-progress at The MacDowell Colony. His fellow colonists pronounced it "atrocious," and suggested he return to writing poetry.  The novel was called Porgy, and Heyward finished it despite their criticism.  Dorothy Heyward saw dramatic possibilities in the story and convinced DuBose it would work as a play.  This is the original copyright deposit for the play Porgy, still in its brown paper cover. The 1927 Theater Guild production ran for 367 performances.

'Respite: to the MacDowell Colony'

"Respite: to the MacDowell Colony"
Typescript poem, [n.d.]. 
Edward and Marian MacDowell Collection,
Music Division, Library of Congress. Courtesy of DuBose and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund (37)
Digital ID #mc0037

"Respite: to the MacDowell Colony"

Dorothy (1890–1961) and DuBose (1885–1940) Heyward met at The MacDowell Colony in 1922 and married soon after.  Marian MacDowell was godmother to their daughter Jenifer.  The Heywards returned often to the Colony and were planning to work there in 1940, but DuBose died suddenly that June after a massive heart attack.  He was first and foremost a poet.  This poem, "Respite: to the MacDowell Colony," is believed to be by DuBose Heyward.  It was found among the Heywards’ many letters to Marian MacDowell.

 

Photograph of Porgy & Bess production

Porgy and Bess
Production shot from Porgy and Bess, 1935.  Copyprint.  Rouben Mamoulian Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
Bequest of Azadia Mamoulian (88)
Digital ID #mc0088

Porgy and Bess

George Gershwin read DuBose Heyward’s novel Porgy in 1926, and immediately wrote to him about collaborating on a musical version.  The result became an American classic, Porgy and Bess. Shown here is a photo from the original 1935 production, directed by Rouben Mamoulian.  DuBose Heyward’s lyrics for Porgy and Bess, that include both "Summertime" and "My Man’s Gone Now," have been called "the best lyrics in the musical theater" by composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Digital ID # mc0088