Photo Flash: First Look at Rufus Bonds Jr, Nicola Hughes and More in Opening Night of PORGY AND BESS at Regents Park Open Air

Last night, Monday 28 July, was the Opening Night of the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess which runs at Regents Park Open Air Theatre until 23 August. After the show, cast, creative team and invited guests enjoyed a summer drink of Canard Duchêne Champagne on the lawn of Regents Park Open Air Theatre, accompanied by Belly Pork Croquettes with Roasted Corn Cream and Lemon Cone Trees. Check out the photos below!

Celebrated as a landmark piece of American theatre with iconic songs including 'Summertime', 'I Got Plenty of Nothing', 'I Loves You Porgy' and 'It Ain't Necessarily So', Porgy and Bess is directed by Regents Park Open Air Theatre's Artistic Director Timothy Sheader, with a book adapted by Suzan-Lori Parks and a musical score adapted by Diedre L. Murray.

Drawing on talent from both sides of the Atlantic, Rufus Bonds Jr plays Porgy and Nicola Hughes plays Bess, with Phillip Boykin as Crown, Cedric Neal as Sportin' Life and Olivier Award-winning Sharon D Clarke as Mariah.

The full cast of Porgy and Bess also includes David Albury, Angela M. Caesar, Jade Ewen, Alex Giannini, Owain Gwynn,Tyrone Huntley, George Ikediashi, Claudia Kariuki, Arthur Kyeyune, Oliver Lidert, Leon Lopez, Jay Marsh, Tania Mathurin, Ellen O'Grady, Golda Rosheuvel, Yemie Sonuga and Marvin Springer.

Rufus Bonds Jr, Phillip Boykin and Cedric Neal are appearing with the permission of UK Equity, incorporating the Variety Artistes' Federation, pursuant to an exchange program between American Equity and UK Equity.

Porgy, a crippled beggar, is devoted to taming wild Bess and saving her from a life of ruin. Yet new beginnings give way to temptation as Bess is haunted by the demons of her past.

The set and costumes for Porgy and Bess will be designed by Katrina Lindsay whose credits include Table and London Road(both National Theatre), Cabaret (West End and UK Tour), and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Broadway) for which she won the 2008 Tony, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Award winner for Best Costume Design. Choreography will be by Liam Steelwhose credits include the musical staging and choreography for the film of LES MISERABLES and at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, co-directed and choreographed Into the Woods which was remounted at the Delacorte Theatre in New York's Central Park in 2012.

Porgy and Bess is part of the 2014 season at Regents Park Open Air Theatre which also includes All My Son's which ran from15 May to 7 June, Hobson's Choice from 12 June to 12 July, Twelfth Night (Re-imagined for everyone aged 6 and over) from 21 June to 12 July and To Kill a Mockingbird from 28 August to 13 September.

For further information please visit www.openairtheatre.com