Even if it means sitting in the last row of the second balcony, here is one show that shouldn't be missed. Gershwin's rich portrayal of American Negro life, while bearing as little resemblance to real conditions and problems facing the black man in the United States as "Alice in Wonderland," still packs into a space of two hours the best of the composer's contributions to native American melody.

The cast is practically the same as that which held sway on Broadway for almost a solid year in '42. Tod Duncan acts and sings a human, impressive Porgy, and Etta Moton, while lacking some of the physical characteristics needed to show Boss as the walking bundle of sex the composer intended her to be, has the voice and acting ability to make up for her weaknesses.

But the characterizations that really carried the show was Avon Long's portrayal of "Sportin' Life" peddler of happy dust extraordinary. With a voice almost as bad as Rochester's Long by his incredibly smooth and graceful dance-like capers turns his weakness into a triumphant asset in his rendition of "It Ain't Necessarily So."

Largely responsible for the tremendous power of the opera are the carefully timed and executed lighting effects lending added merit to a production already outstanding.