<Dd> Time: The "recent past" (c. 1930). </Dd> <P> Scene 1: Catfish Row, a summer evening </P> <P> The opera begins with a short introduction which segues into an evening in Catfish Row . Jasbo Brown entertains the community with his piano playing . Clara, a young mother, sings a lullaby to her baby ("Summertime") as the working men prepare for a game of craps ("Roll them Bones"). One of the players, Robbins, scorns his wife Serena's demands that he not play, retorting that on a Saturday night, a man has the right to play . Clara's husband, the fisherman Jake, tries his own lullaby ("A Woman is a Sometime Thing") with little effect . Little by little, other characters in the opera enter Catfish Row, among them Mingo, another fisherman, and Jim, a stevedore who, tired of his job, decides to give it up and join Jake and the other fishermen . Porgy, a disabled beggar, enters on his goat cart to organize the game . Peter, an elderly "honey man" returns, singing his vendor's call . Crown, a strong and brutal stevedore, storms in with his woman, Bess, and buys cheap whiskey and some "Happy Dust" off the local dope peddler, Sportin' Life . Bess is shunned by the women of the community, especially the pious Serena and the matriarchal cookshop owner Maria, but Porgy softly defends her . The game begins . One by one, the players get crapped out, leaving only Robbins and Crown, who has become extremely drunk . When Robbins wins, Crown attempts to prevent him from taking his winnings . A brawl ensues, which ends when Crown stabs Robbins with a cotton hook, killing him . Crown runs, telling Bess to fend for herself but that he will be back for her when the heat dies down . Sportin' Life gives her a dose of happy dust and offers to take her with him when he goes to New York, but she rejects him . He flees, and Bess begins to pound on doors, but is rejected by all of the residents of Catfish Row, with the exception of Porgy, who lets her in . </P> <P> Scene 2: Serena's Room, the following night </P>

What character sings summertime in porgy and bess