On a blustery, cold fall night, hearing the signature song “Summertime” ringing through the Maine Center for the Arts had a bittersweet effect.

Bittersweet could also describe the experience of watching the Living Arts touring version of “Porgy and Bess.” While the production was well conceived and boasted a talented vocal cast, several problems marred the staging Friday at the Hutchins Concert Hall.

“Porgy and Bess,” by George and Ira Gershwin and DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, is among the classics of American opera (some would argue it’s a musical, but make no mistake, it’s opera). This timeless tale of how one man’s love helps to redeem a wanton woman is tragic and moving.

However, it also has to be accessible, and it often wasn’t for the near sell-out crowd at the MCA. From early on, too much of the singing – especially the female voices – was lost with segments unintelligible because of sound difficulties and the volume of the orchestra under the direction of Zoltan Papp. Intelligibility improved in the second act, but the problem persisted.

To help compensate for the sound difficulties and the Southern dialect the script calls for, a screen above the stage flashed the lyrics and kept pace with the actors most of the time.

Still, an opera in English shouldn’t have to have a lyric screen. An essential part of any theater experience is the audience giving itself up to the work on stage, and it’s hard to invest attention in the production while toggling eyes up for dialogue and down for action.

Nevertheless, there was much to like about the production. Among the standouts in the strong cast were Samuel Stevenson as the “cripple” Porgy, Stephanie Beadle as the strident Maria (perhaps the sole source of comic relief), Thomas Elliott as the bad-to-the-bone Crown and Everett Suttle as the amoral Sportin Life. James Fouchard’s set and Candace Donnelly’s costume design evoked the feel of Catfish Row in 1930s Charleston, S.C.

By the end of nearly three hours, the show had won over many present.

Still, its total didn’t equal the sum of its parts, and it was hard to leave the theater without a feeling of what could have been.

Dale McGarrigle can be reached at 990-8028 and dmcgarrigle

@bangordailynews.net.