George and His Friendly Bet
Before Porgy and Bess premiered in September 1935, it seems that George had made a bet in 1922 that he would produce an opera in ten years. According to The Washington Post, he lost this bet by three years!
By Rachel Fernandes
Two months before Porgy and Bess’s September 1935 premiere, an article in The Washington Post suggested that George Gershwin had lost a long-standing bet: that he would “have an opera produced in ten years.” Gershwin conveniently couldn’t remember with whom he’d made the 1922 wager, and the article—penned 13 years later—cheekily observed that while he had lost this bet by three years, “unless some friend remembers the incident, the composer won’t have to pay.” George S. Kaufman, the playwright of Porgy and Bess, was known to tease Gershwin by saying, “it all comes back to me now, George…” No further acknowledgement of this wager ever appeared, however, and we can assume that despite the financial success of Porgy, George never paid up after the loss of this friendly bet!
Further Reading:
Associated Press, “Gershwin’s opera 3 years too late,” The Washington Post, (July 21, 1935).
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