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Wikipedia

The Threepenny Opera

The Threepenny Opera[a] (Die Dreigroschenoper [diː dʁaɪˈɡʁɔʃn̩ˌʔoːpɐ]) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, The Beggar's Opera, and four ballads by François Villon, with music by Kurt Weill. Although there is debate as to how much, if any, contribution Hauptmann might have made to the text, Brecht is usually listed as sole author.[1]

Die Dreigroschenoper
The Threepenny Opera
Original German poster from Berlin, 1928
MusicKurt Weill
LyricsBertolt Brecht
Uncredited: François Villon (four songs translated by K. L. Ammer)
BookBertolt Brecht
BasisThe Beggar's Opera by John Gay, translated by Elisabeth Hauptmann
Premiere31 August 1928: Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, Berlin

The work offers a socialist critique of the capitalist world. It opened on 31 August 1928 at Berlin's Theater am Schiffbauerdamm.

Songs from The Threepenny Opera have been widely covered and become standards, most notably "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" ("The Ballad of Mack the Knife") and "Seeräuberjenny" ("Pirate Jenny").

Background

Origins

In the winter of 1927–28, Elizabeth Hauptmann, Brecht's lover at the time, received a copy of Gay's play from friends in England and, fascinated by the female characters and its critique of the condition of the London poor, began translating it into German. Brecht at first took little interest in her translation project,[citation needed] but in April 1928 he attempted to interest the impresario Ernst Josef Aufricht [de] in a play he was writing called Fleischhacker, which he had, in fact, already promised to another producer. Aufricht was seeking a production to launch his new theatre company at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin, but was not impressed by the sound of Fleischhacker. Brecht immediately proposed a translation of The Beggar's Opera instead, claiming that he himself had been translating it. He delivered Hauptmann's translation to Aufricht, who immediately signed a contract for it.[2]

Brecht's major addition to Hauptmann's text was the addition of four songs by the French poet François Villon. Rather than translate the French himself, he used (uncredited) the translations by K. L. Ammer (Karl Anton Klammer [de]), the same source he had been using since his earliest plays.[2]

The first act of both works begins with the same melody ("Peachum's Morning Chorale"/"An Old Woman Clothed In Gray"), but that is the only material Weill borrowed from the melodies Johann Christoph Pepusch arranged for The Beggar's Opera. The title Die Dreigroschenoper was determined only a week before the opening; it had been previously announced as simply The Beggar's Opera (in English), with the subtitle "Die Luden-Oper" ("The Pimp's Opera").[3]

Writing in 1929, Weill made the political and artistic intents of the work clear:

With the Dreigroschenoper we reach a public which either did not know us at all or thought us incapable of captivating listeners [...] Opera was founded as an aristocratic form of art [...] If the framework of opera is unable to withstand the impact of the age, then this framework must be destroyed....In the Dreigroschenoper, reconstruction was possible insofar as here we had a chance of starting from scratch.[4]

Weill claimed at the time that "music cannot further the action of the play or create its background", but achieves its proper value when it interrupts the action at the right moments."[5]

Music

Weill's score shows the influence of jazz and German dance music of the time.[6] The orchestration involves a small ensemble with a good deal of doubling-up on instruments (in the original performances, for example, some 7 players covered a total of 23 instrumental parts, though modern performances typically use a few more players).[7]

 
Playbill of the premiere performance at Theater am Schiffbauerdamm Berlin, 31 August 1928. The name of Lotte Lenya, who played Jenny, was omitted by mistake.

Premieres

Germany

The Threepenny Opera was first performed at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in 1928 on a set designed by Caspar Neher. Despite an initially poor reception, it became a great success, playing 400 times in the next two years. The performance was a springboard for one of the best known interpreters of Brecht and Weill's work, Lotte Lenya, who was married to Weill. Ironically the production became a great favourite of Berlin's "smart set" – Count Harry Kessler recorded in his diary meeting at the performance an ambassador and a director of the Dresdner Bank (and their wives), and concluded "One simply has to have been there."[8]

Critics did not fail to notice that Brecht had included the four Villon songs translated by Ammer. Brecht responded by saying that he had "a fundamental laxity in questions of literary property."[9]

By 1933, when Weill and Brecht were forced to leave Germany by the Nazi seizure of power, the play had been translated into 18 languages and performed more than 10,000 times on European stages.[10]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the first fully staged performance was given on 9 February 1956, under Berthold Goldschmidt, although there had been a concert performance in 1933, and a semi-staged performance on 28 July 1938. In between, on 8 February 1935 Edward Clark conducted the first British broadcast of the work. It received scathing reviews from Ernest Newman and other critics.[11] But the most savage criticism came from Weill himself, who described it privately as "the worst performance imaginable … the whole thing was completely misunderstood". But his criticisms seem to have been for the concept of the piece as a Germanised version of The Beggar's Opera, rather than for Clark's conducting of it, of which Weill made no mention.[12][13][14]

United States

America was introduced to the work by the film version of G. W. Pabst, which opened in New York in 1931.[15]

The first American production, adapted into English by Gifford Cochran and Jerrold Krimsky and staged by Francesco von Mendelssohn, featured Robert Chisholm as Macheath. It opened on Broadway at the Empire Theatre, on April 13, 1933, and closed after 12 performances. Mixed reviews praised the music but slammed the production, with the critic Gilbert Gabriel calling it "a dreary enigma".[16]

France

A French version produced by Gaston Baty and written by Ninon Steinhof and André Mauprey was presented in October 1930 at the Théâtre Montparnasse in Paris. It was rendered as L'Opéra de quat'sous; (quatre sous, or four pennies being the idiomatically equivalent French expression for Threepenny).[17]

Russia

In 1930 the work was premiered in Moscow at the Kamerny Theatre, directed by Alexander Tairov. It was the only one of Brecht's works to be performed in Russia during his lifetime. Izvestia disapproved: "It is high time that our theatres ceased playing homage to petit-bourgeois bad taste and instead turned to more relevant themes."[18]

Italy

The first Italian production, titled L'opera da tre soldi and directed by Giorgio Strehler, premiered at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan on 27 February 1956 in the presence of Bertolt Brecht. The cast included: Tino Carraro (Mackie), Mario Carotenuto (Peachum), Marina Bonfigli [it] (Polly), Milly (Jenny), Enzo Tarascio [it] (Chief of Police). The conductor was Bruno Maderna. Set designs were by Luciano Damiani and Teo Otto; costume design by Ezio Frigerio.[19]

Hungary

The first Hungarian performance of the play was at the Comedy Theatre of Budapest (Vígszínház), on 6 September 1930. It was titled A koldus operája, which is a reference to Gay's original opera. The play was translated by Jenő Heltai, who mixed Weill and Pepusch' s music, and also Brecht and Gay's texts too. The director was Ernő Szabolcs, the cast included: Pál Jávor (Mackie), Franciska Gaal (Polly), Gerő Mály (Peachum), Ella Gombaszögi (Mrs. Peachum).[20]

Roles

Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 31 August 1928[21]
Conductor: Theo Mackeben
Macheath ("Mackie Messer"/"Mack the Knife"), London's greatest and most notorious criminal tenor/baritone Harald Paulsen
Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum, the "Beggar's Friend", controller of all the beggars in London; conspires to have Mack hanged baritone Erich Ponto
Celia Peachum ("Frau Peachum"), Peachum's wife; helps him run the business mezzo-soprano Rosa Valetti
Polly Peachum, the Peachums' daughter; after knowing Mack for only five days, agrees to marry him soprano Roma Bahn
Jackie "Tiger" Brown, Police Chief of London and Mack's best friend from their army days baritone Kurt Gerron
Lucy Brown, Tiger Brown's daughter; claims to be married to Mack soprano Kate Kühl
Jenny ("Spelunken-Jenny"/"Low-Dive Jenny"/"Ginny Jenny"), a prostitute once romantically involved with Macheath; is bribed to turn Mack over to the police mezzo-soprano Lotte Lenya
Filch, a misfit young man who approaches the Peachums in hopes of beggar training tenor Naphtali Lehrmann
Street Singer ("Moritatensänger"), sings 'The Ballad of Mack the Knife' in the opening scene baritone Kurt Gerron
Smith, a constable baritone Ernst Busch
Walter tenor Ernst Rotmund
Matthias tenor Karl Hannemann
Jakob tenor Manfred Fürst
Jimmie tenor Werner Maschmeyer
Ede tenor Albert Venohr
Beggars, gangsters, whores, constables

Synopsis

Overview

Set in Victorian London, the play focuses on Macheath, an amoral, antiheroic criminal.

Macheath ("Mackie," or "Mack the Knife") marries Polly Peachum. This displeases her father, who controls the beggars of London, and he endeavours to have Macheath hanged. His attempts are hindered by the fact that the Chief of Police, Tiger Brown, is Macheath's old army comrade. Still, Peachum exerts his influence and eventually gets Macheath arrested and sentenced to hang. Macheath escapes this fate via a deus ex machina moments before the execution when, in an unrestrained parody of a happy ending, a messenger from the Queen arrives to pardon Macheath and grant him the title of baron. The details of the original 1928 text have often been substantially modified in later productions.[22]

A draft narration by Brecht for a concert performance begins: "You are about to hear an opera for beggars. Since this opera was intended to be as splendid as only beggars can imagine, and yet cheap enough for beggars to be able to watch, it is called the Threepenny Opera."[23]

Prologue

A street singer entertains the crowd with the illustrated murder ballad or Bänkelsang, titled "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" ("Ballad of Mack the Knife"). As the song concludes, a well-dressed man leaves the crowd and crosses the stage. This is Macheath, alias "Mack the Knife".

Act 1

The story begins in the shop of Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum, the boss of London's beggars, who outfits and trains the beggars in return for a slice of their takings from begging. In the first scene, the extent of Peachum's iniquity is immediately exposed. Filch, a new beggar, is obliged to bribe his way into the profession and agree to pay over to Peachum 50 percent of whatever he made; the previous day he had been severely beaten up for begging within the area of jurisdiction of Peachum's protection racket.

After finishing with the new man, Peachum becomes aware that his grown daughter Polly did not return home the previous night. Peachum, who sees his daughter as his own private property, concludes that she has become involved with Macheath. This does not suit Peachum at all, and he becomes determined to thwart this relationship and destroy Macheath.

The scene shifts to an empty stable where Macheath himself is preparing to marry Polly once his gang has stolen and brought all the necessary food and furnishings. No vows are exchanged, but Polly is satisfied, and everyone sits down to a banquet. Since none of the gang members can provide fitting entertainment, Polly gets up and sings "Seeräuberjenny", a revenge fantasy in which she is a scullery maid turning pirate queen to order the execution of her bosses and customers. The gang becomes nervous when the Chief of Police, Tiger Brown, arrives, but it's all part of the act; Brown had served with Mack in England's colonial wars and had intervened on numerous occasions to prevent the arrest of Macheath over the years. The old friends duet in the "Kanonen-Song" ("Cannon Song" or "Army Song"). In the next scene, Polly returns home and defiantly announces that she has married Macheath by singing the "Barbarasong" ("Barbara Song"). She stands fast against her parents' anger, but she inadvertently reveals Brown's connections to Macheath which they subsequently use to their advantage.

Act 2

Polly warns Macheath that her father will try to have him arrested. He is finally convinced that Peachum has enough influence to do it and makes arrangements to leave London, explaining the details of his bandit "business" to Polly so she can manage it in his absence. Before he leaves town, he stops at his favorite brothel, where he sees his ex-lover, Jenny. They sing the "Zuhälterballade" ("Pimp's Ballad", one of the Villon songs translated by Ammer) about their days together, but Macheath doesn't know Mrs Peachum has bribed Jenny to turn him in. Despite Brown's apologies, there's nothing he can do, and Macheath is dragged away to jail. After he sings the "Ballade vom angenehmen Leben" ("Ballad of the Pleasant Life"), another Villon/Ammer song, another girlfriend, Lucy (Brown's daughter) and Polly show up at the same time, setting the stage for a nasty argument that builds to the "Eifersuchtsduett" ("Jealousy Duet"). After Polly leaves, Lucy engineers Macheath's escape. When Mr Peachum finds out, he confronts Brown and threatens him, telling him that he will unleash all of his beggars during Queen Victoria's coronation parade, ruining the ceremony and costing Brown his job.

Act 3

Jenny comes to the Peachums' shop to demand her money for the betrayal of Macheath, which Mrs Peachum refuses to pay. Jenny reveals that Macheath is at Suky Tawdry's house. When Brown arrives, determined to arrest Peachum and the beggars, he is horrified to learn that the beggars are already in position and only Mr Peachum can stop them. To placate Peachum, Brown's only option is to arrest Macheath and have him executed. In the next scene, Macheath is back in jail and desperately trying to raise a sufficient bribe to get out again, even as the gallows are being assembled.

Soon it becomes clear that neither Polly nor the gang members can, or are willing to, raise any money, and Macheath prepares to die. He laments his fate and poses the 'Marxist' questions: "What's picking a lock compared to buying shares? What's breaking into a bank compared to founding one? What's murdering a man compared to employing one?" (These questions did not appear in the original version of the work, but first appeared in the musical Happy End, another Brecht/Weill/Hauptmann collaboration, in 1929 – they may in fact have been written not by Brecht, but by Hauptmann).[24]

Macheath asks everyone for forgiveness ("Grave Inscription"). Then a sudden and intentionally comical reversal: Peachum announces that in this opera mercy will prevail over justice and that a messenger on horseback will arrive ("Walk to Gallows"); Brown arrives as that messenger and announces that Macheath has been pardoned by the queen and granted a title, a castle and a pension. The cast then sings the Finale, which ends with a plea that wrongdoing not be punished too harshly as life is harsh enough.

Musical numbers

Prelude

11. Ouverture
12. Die Moritat von Mackie Messer ("The Ballad of Mack the Knife" – Street singer)

Act 1

13. Morgenchoral des Peachum (Peachum's Morning Choral – Peachum, Mrs Peachum)
14. Anstatt dass-Song (Instead of Song – Peachum, Mrs Peachum)
15. Hochzeits-Lied (Wedding Song – Four Gangsters)
16. Seeräuberjenny (Pirate Jenny – Polly)[b]
17. Kanonen-Song (Cannon Song – Macheath, Brown)
18. Liebeslied (Love Song – Polly, Macheath)
19. Barbarasong (Barbara Song – Polly)[c]
10. I. Dreigroschenfinale (First Threepenny Finale – Polly, Peachum, Mrs Peachum)

Act 2

11.a Melodram (Melodrama – Macheath)
11a. Polly's Lied (Polly's Song – Polly)
12.a Ballade von der sexuellen Hörigkeit (Ballad of Sexual Dependency – Mrs Peachum)[d]
13.a Zuhälterballade (Pimp's Ballad or Tango Ballad – Jenny, Macheath)
14.a Ballade vom angenehmen Leben (Ballad of the Pleasant Life – Macheath)
15.a Eifersuchtsduett (Jealousy Duet – Lucy, Polly)
15b. Arie der Lucy (Aria of Lucy – Lucy)
16.a II. Dreigroschenfinale (Second Threepenny Finale – Macheath, Mrs Peachum, Chorus)[e]

Act 3

17.a Lied von der Unzulänglichkeit menschlichen Strebens (Song of the Insufficiency of Human Struggling – Peachum)
17a. Reminiszenz (Reminiscence)
18.a Salomonsong (Solomon Song – Jenny)
19.a Ruf aus der Gruft (Call from the Grave – Macheath)
20.a Grabschrift (Grave Inscription – Macheath)
20a. Gang zum Galgen (Walk to Gallows – Peachum)
21.a III. Dreigroschenfinale (Third Threepenny Finale – Brown, Mrs Peachum, Peachum, Macheath, Polly, Chorus)

Reception

Opera or musical theatre?

The ambivalent nature of The Threepenny Opera, derived from an 18th-century ballad opera but conceived in terms of 20th-century musical theatre, has led to discussion as to how it can best be characterised. According to critic and musicologist Hans Keller, the work is "the weightiest possible lowbrow opera for highbrows and the most full-blooded highbrow musical for lowbrows".[25]

The Weill authority Stephen Hinton notes that "generic ambiguity is a key to the work’s enduring success", and points out the work's deliberate hybrid status:

For Weill [The Threepenny Opera] was not just ‘the most consistent reaction to [Richard] Wagner’; it also marked a positive step towards an operatic reform. By explicitly and implicitly shunning the more earnest traditions of the opera house, Weill created a mixed form which incorporated spoken theatre and popular musical idioms. Parody of operatic convention – of Romantic lyricism and happy endings – constitutes a central device.[3]

"Mack the Knife"

The work's opening and closing lament, "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", was written just before the Berlin premiere, when actor Harald Paulsen (Macheath) threatened to quit if his character did not receive an introduction; this creative emergency resulted in what would become the work's most popular song, later translated into English by Marc Blitzstein as "Mack the Knife", and now a jazz standard that Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny Rollins, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Michael Bublé, Robbie Williams and countless others have covered. In 2015 the Library of Congress added the recordings of "Mack the Knife" by Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin to the National Recording Registry.

"Pirate Jenny"

"Pirate Jenny" is another well-known song from the work, which has since been recorded by Nina Simone, Judy Collins, Tania Tsanaklidou, and Marc Almond, among others. In addition, Steeleye Span recorded it under the alternate title "The Black Freighter". Recently, the drag queen Sasha Velour has made an adaptation by the same name for an installment of One Dollar Drags, an anthology of short films.[26]

"The Second Threepenny Finale"

Under the title "What Keeps Mankind Alive?", this number has been recorded by the Pet Shop Boys on the B-side of their 1993 single "Can You Forgive Her?", and on two albums. Tom Waits covered it on two albums, and William S. Burroughs performed it in a 1994 documentary.

Revivals

Germany

After World War II the first theater performance in Berlin was a rough production of The Threepenny Opera at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm. Wolf Von Eckardt described the 1945 performance where audience members climbed over ruins and passed through a tunnel to reach the open-air auditorium deprived of its ceiling. In addition to the smell of dead bodies trapped beneath the rubble, Eckardt recollects the actors themselves were "haggard, starved, [and] in genuine rags. Many of the actors … had only just been released from concentration camp. They sang not well, but free."[27]

France

The Pabst film The Threepenny Opera was shown in its French version in 1931. In 1937 there was a production by Aufricht at the Théâtre de l'Étoile which failed, though Brecht himself had attended rehearsals. The work was not revived in France until after World War II.[17]

United Kingdom

In London, West End and Off-West End revivals include:

In 2014, the Robert David MacDonald and Jeremy Sams translation (previously used in 1994 at the Donmar Warehouse) toured the UK, presented by the Graeae Theatre Company with Nottingham Playhouse, New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse.[35]

United States

In 1946, four performances of the work were given at the University of Illinois in Urbana, and Northwestern University gave six performances in 1948 in Evanston, Illinois.[36] In 1952, Leonard Bernstein conducted a concert performance of the work at the Brandeis University Creative Arts Festival in the Adolph Ullman Amphitheatre, Waltham, Massachusetts, to an audience of nearly 5,000. Marc Blitzstein, who translated the work, narrated.[37]

At least five Broadway and Off-Broadway revivals have been mounted in New York City.

Regional productions include one at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Massachusetts, in June and July 2003. Directed by Peter Hunt, the musical starred Jesse L. Martin as Mack, Melissa Errico as Polly, David Schramm as Peachum, Karen Ziemba as Lucy Brown and Betty Buckley as Jenny. The production received favorable reviews.[41][42][43][16]

Film adaptations

German director G. W. Pabst made a 1931 German- and French-language version simultaneously, a common practice in the early days of sound films.

Another version was directed by Wolfgang Staudte in West Germany in 1963, starring Curd Jürgens, Gert Fröbe, and Hildegard Knef. Scenes with Sammy Davis Jr. were added for its American release.[44]

In 1989 an American version (renamed Mack the Knife) was released, directed by Menahem Golan, with Raul Julia as Macheath, Richard Harris as Peachum, Julie Walters as Mrs Peachum, Bill Nighy as Tiger Brown, Julia Migenes as Jenny, and Roger Daltrey as the Street Singer.[45]

Radio adaptations

In 2009, BBC Radio 3 in collaboration with the BBC Philharmonic broadcast a complete radio production of the Michael Feingold translation directed by Nadia Molinari with the music performed by the BBC Philharmonic.[46] The cast included Joseph Millson as Macheath, Elen Rhys as Polly/Whore, Ruth Alexander-Rubin as Mrs Peachum/Whore, Zubin Varla as Mr. Peachum/Rev. Kimball, Rosalie Craig as Lucy/Whore, Ute Gfrerer as Jenny, Conrad Nelson as Tiger Brown and HK Gruber as the Ballad Singer.

Recordings

Recordings are in German, unless otherwise specified.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The word "threepenny" refers to a coin in Britain's pre-decimal currency, which was discontinued in 1971 after the decimalization of sterling.
  2. ^ In the original version, "Pirate Jenny" is sung by Polly during the wedding scene, but is sometimes moved to the second act and given to Jenny. In the 1956 Off-Broadway production starring Lotte Lenya, Polly sang a version of the "Bilbao Song" from Brecht's and Weill's Happy End in the first act wedding scene. Sometimes (e.g. in the 1989 recording) it's sung by Polly in the first act and by Jenny in the second act between song 13 and 14 according to the list above.
  3. ^ In the Marc Blitzstein adaptation, this song was moved to the second act and sung by Lucy Brown.
  4. ^ The 2016 adaptation by Simon Stephens at the National Theatre, London, included "Surabaya Johnny" from the Brecht/Weill play Happe End (sung by Jenny).
  5. ^ In the 2016 National Theatre, London, adaptation, this song was moved after the Tango Ballad as the finale to act one and sung by Mrs Peachum, Macheath and Chorus.

References

  1. ^ Thomson & Sacks 1994, pp. 108–109.
  2. ^ a b Thomson & Sacks 1994, p. 108.
  3. ^ a b Hinton 2013.
  4. ^ Brook 1996, pp. 471–472..
  5. ^ Taruskin 2010, p. 535.
  6. ^ Hinton 1990, p. 161.
  7. ^ Ross 2008, p. 192.
  8. ^ Hinton (2009), p. 56.[incomplete short citation]
  9. ^ Thomson & Sacks 1994, p. 111.
  10. ^ Chamberlain, Jane H. (PDF). ATA Source (45): 20–31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-09. Newsletter of the literary division of the American Translators Association. Summer 2009
  11. ^ Weill, Kurt (November 1997). Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya, Speak Low (When You Speak Love): The Letters of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, p. 159. ISBN 9780520212404.
  12. ^ Hinton 1990, p. 72.
  13. ^ Bertolt Brecht, The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht – A Study from Eight Aspects, p. 30
  14. ^ Reed, Philip (1995). Philip Reed, On Mahler and Britten: Essays in Honour of Donald Mitchell on His Seventieth. ISBN 9780851156149.
  15. ^ Hinton 1990, p. 81.
  16. ^ a b c d The Threepenny Opera in America, "The Threepenny Opera" website, accessed 19 September 2016
  17. ^ a b Hinton 1990, p. 63.
  18. ^ Hinton 1990, pp. 64–65.
  19. ^ L'opera da tre soldi (1955–56), photos, costumes; poster, Piccolo Teatro di Milano, accessed 27 June 2015.
  20. ^ "Koldusopera bemutató a Vígszínházban - Hírek - Theater Online".
  21. ^ Casaglia 2005.
  22. ^ Hinton 1990, pp. 50–77.
  23. ^ Hinton 1990, p. 1.
  24. ^ Hinton 1990, pp. 28–29.
  25. ^ Hinton 1990, p. 146.
  26. ^ House of Velour (2018-05-03), Sasha Velour's One Dollar Drags | "Pirate Jenny", retrieved 2018-05-20
  27. ^ Von Eckardt, Wolf; Gilman, Sander (1975). Bertolt Brecht's Berlin. ISBN 978-0-385-05501-7.
  28. ^ Hinton 1990, pp. 71–72.
  29. ^ "The Prince Of Wales Theatre, Coventry Street, London, W1 Formerly The Prince's Theatre". www.arthurlloyd.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
  30. ^ Hinton 1990, p. 74.
  31. ^ Hinton 1990, pp. 75–76.
  32. ^ "National Theatre, Threepenny Opera". London Theatre Record: 30. March 12, 1986.
  33. ^ Meech, Anthony (2011-01-01). "Brecht's the Threepenny Opera for the National Theatre: A 3p Opera?". In Baines, Roger; Marinetti, Cristina; Perteghella, Manuela (eds.). Staging and Performing Translation. Cultural Criminology. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 126–138. doi:10.1057/9780230294608_8. ISBN 978-1-349-31003-6.
  34. ^ "The Threepenny Opera | National Theatre". www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
  35. ^ "The Threepenny Opera | Graeae Theatre Company". www.graeae.org. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
  36. ^ Hinton 1990, pp. 97–99.
  37. ^ Hinton 1990, p. 104.
  38. ^ Hinton 1990, pp. 108–115.
  39. ^ "Threepenny Opera: Debauchery, Updated" by Jeff Lunden, NPR, 15 April 2006
  40. ^ Feingold, Michael. "The Threepenny Opera Enters the Dead Zone: Robert Wilson whips out his embalming fluid at BAM", The Village Voice, October 12, 2011
  41. ^ Sommer, Elyse. A CurtainUp Berkshire Review: The Three Penny Opera", curtainup.com, June 28, 2003
  42. ^ Portantiere, Michael. "Berkshires Review: The Threepenny Opera", theatermania.com, June 30, 2003
  43. ^ Brantley, Ben. "The Fine Art Of Slumming It", The New York Times, July 4, 2003
  44. ^ Die Dreigroschenoper (1963) at IMDb
  45. ^ Mack the Knife (1989) at IMDb
  46. ^ "The Threepenny Opera, Drama on 3". BBC Radio 3.
  47. ^ Haas & Uekermann 1988.

Bibliography

  • Brockett, Oscar G. and Hildy, Franklin J., History of The Theatre, Allyn and Bacon, 2002 (9th Edition), ISBN 0-205-35878-0
  • Brook, Stephen, ed. (1996). Opera: A Penguin Anthology. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-026073-1.
  • Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Die Dreigroschenoper (31 August 1928)". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  • Haas, Michael; Uekermann, Gerd (1988). Zu unserer Aufnahme (Booklet accompanying the 1988 recording, Cat: 430-075). London: Decca Record Company.
  • Hinton, Stephen (1990). Kurt Weill: The Threepenny Opera. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33026-8.
  • Hinton, Stephen (2013). "Dreigroschenoper, Die". The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Oxford Music Online.
  • Ross, Alex (2008). The Rest is Noise. London: Fourth Estate. ISBN 978-1-84115-475-6.
  • Taruskin, Richard (2010). Music in the Early Twentieth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-538484-0.
  • Thomson, Peter; Sacks, Glendyr, eds. (1994). The Cambridge Companion to Brecht. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-42485-1.
  • Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992). The Oxford Dictionary of Opera. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-869164-5

External links

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For the 1931 film see The Threepenny Opera 1931 film For the 1989 film see Mack the Knife 1989 film Survival Song redirects here For the AJJ song see People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World This article s lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article May 2023 The Threepenny Opera a Die Dreigroschenoper diː dʁaɪˈɡʁɔʃn ˌʔoːpɐ is a play with music by Bertolt Brecht adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay s 18th century English ballad opera The Beggar s Opera and four ballads by Francois Villon with music by Kurt Weill Although there is debate as to how much if any contribution Hauptmann might have made to the text Brecht is usually listed as sole author 1 Die Dreigroschenoper The Threepenny OperaOriginal German poster from Berlin 1928MusicKurt WeillLyricsBertolt BrechtUncredited Francois Villon four songs translated by K L Ammer BookBertolt BrechtBasisThe Beggar s Opera by John Gay translated by Elisabeth HauptmannPremiere31 August 1928 Theater am Schiffbauerdamm BerlinThe work offers a socialist critique of the capitalist world It opened on 31 August 1928 at Berlin s Theater am Schiffbauerdamm Songs from The Threepenny Opera have been widely covered and become standards most notably Die Moritat von Mackie Messer The Ballad of Mack the Knife and Seerauberjenny Pirate Jenny Contents 1 Background 1 1 Origins 1 2 Music 2 Premieres 2 1 Germany 2 2 United Kingdom 2 3 United States 2 4 France 2 5 Russia 2 6 Italy 2 7 Hungary 3 Roles 4 Synopsis 4 1 Overview 4 2 Prologue 4 3 Act 1 4 4 Act 2 4 5 Act 3 5 Musical numbers 5 1 Prelude 5 2 Act 1 5 3 Act 2 5 4 Act 3 6 Reception 6 1 Opera or musical theatre 6 2 Mack the Knife 6 3 Pirate Jenny 6 4 The Second Threepenny Finale 7 Revivals 7 1 Germany 7 2 France 7 3 United Kingdom 7 4 United States 8 Film adaptations 9 Radio adaptations 10 Recordings 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 Bibliography 15 External linksBackground EditOrigins Edit In the winter of 1927 28 Elizabeth Hauptmann Brecht s lover at the time received a copy of Gay s play from friends in England and fascinated by the female characters and its critique of the condition of the London poor began translating it into German Brecht at first took little interest in her translation project citation needed but in April 1928 he attempted to interest the impresario Ernst Josef Aufricht de in a play he was writing called Fleischhacker which he had in fact already promised to another producer Aufricht was seeking a production to launch his new theatre company at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin but was not impressed by the sound of Fleischhacker Brecht immediately proposed a translation of The Beggar s Opera instead claiming that he himself had been translating it He delivered Hauptmann s translation to Aufricht who immediately signed a contract for it 2 Brecht s major addition to Hauptmann s text was the addition of four songs by the French poet Francois Villon Rather than translate the French himself he used uncredited the translations by K L Ammer Karl Anton Klammer de the same source he had been using since his earliest plays 2 The first act of both works begins with the same melody Peachum s Morning Chorale An Old Woman Clothed In Gray but that is the only material Weill borrowed from the melodies Johann Christoph Pepusch arranged for The Beggar s Opera The title Die Dreigroschenoper was determined only a week before the opening it had been previously announced as simply The Beggar s Opera in English with the subtitle Die Luden Oper The Pimp s Opera 3 Writing in 1929 Weill made the political and artistic intents of the work clear With the Dreigroschenoper we reach a public which either did not know us at all or thought us incapable of captivating listeners Opera was founded as an aristocratic form of art If the framework of opera is unable to withstand the impact of the age then this framework must be destroyed In the Dreigroschenoper reconstruction was possible insofar as here we had a chance of starting from scratch 4 Weill claimed at the time that music cannot further the action of the play or create its background but achieves its proper value when it interrupts the action at the right moments 5 Music Edit Weill s score shows the influence of jazz and German dance music of the time 6 The orchestration involves a small ensemble with a good deal of doubling up on instruments in the original performances for example some 7 players covered a total of 23 instrumental parts though modern performances typically use a few more players 7 Playbill of the premiere performance at Theater am Schiffbauerdamm Berlin 31 August 1928 The name of Lotte Lenya who played Jenny was omitted by mistake Premieres EditGermany Edit The Threepenny Opera was first performed at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in 1928 on a set designed by Caspar Neher Despite an initially poor reception it became a great success playing 400 times in the next two years The performance was a springboard for one of the best known interpreters of Brecht and Weill s work Lotte Lenya who was married to Weill Ironically the production became a great favourite of Berlin s smart set Count Harry Kessler recorded in his diary meeting at the performance an ambassador and a director of the Dresdner Bank and their wives and concluded One simply has to have been there 8 Critics did not fail to notice that Brecht had included the four Villon songs translated by Ammer Brecht responded by saying that he had a fundamental laxity in questions of literary property 9 By 1933 when Weill and Brecht were forced to leave Germany by the Nazi seizure of power the play had been translated into 18 languages and performed more than 10 000 times on European stages 10 United Kingdom Edit In the United Kingdom the first fully staged performance was given on 9 February 1956 under Berthold Goldschmidt although there had been a concert performance in 1933 and a semi staged performance on 28 July 1938 In between on 8 February 1935 Edward Clark conducted the first British broadcast of the work It received scathing reviews from Ernest Newman and other critics 11 But the most savage criticism came from Weill himself who described it privately as the worst performance imaginable the whole thing was completely misunderstood But his criticisms seem to have been for the concept of the piece as a Germanised version of The Beggar s Opera rather than for Clark s conducting of it of which Weill made no mention 12 13 14 United States Edit America was introduced to the work by the film version of G W Pabst which opened in New York in 1931 15 The first American production adapted into English by Gifford Cochran and Jerrold Krimsky and staged by Francesco von Mendelssohn featured Robert Chisholm as Macheath It opened on Broadway at the Empire Theatre on April 13 1933 and closed after 12 performances Mixed reviews praised the music but slammed the production with the critic Gilbert Gabriel calling it a dreary enigma 16 France Edit A French version produced by Gaston Baty and written by Ninon Steinhof and Andre Mauprey was presented in October 1930 at the Theatre Montparnasse in Paris It was rendered as L Opera de quat sous quatre sous or four pennies being the idiomatically equivalent French expression for Threepenny 17 Russia Edit In 1930 the work was premiered in Moscow at the Kamerny Theatre directed by Alexander Tairov It was the only one of Brecht s works to be performed in Russia during his lifetime Izvestia disapproved It is high time that our theatres ceased playing homage to petit bourgeois bad taste and instead turned to more relevant themes 18 Italy Edit The first Italian production titled L opera da tre soldi and directed by Giorgio Strehler premiered at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan on 27 February 1956 in the presence of Bertolt Brecht The cast included Tino Carraro Mackie Mario Carotenuto Peachum Marina Bonfigli it Polly Milly Jenny Enzo Tarascio it Chief of Police The conductor was Bruno Maderna Set designs were by Luciano Damiani and Teo Otto costume design by Ezio Frigerio 19 Hungary Edit The first Hungarian performance of the play was at the Comedy Theatre of Budapest Vigszinhaz on 6 September 1930 It was titled A koldus operaja which is a reference to Gay s original opera The play was translated by Jeno Heltai who mixed Weill and Pepusch s music and also Brecht and Gay s texts too The director was Erno Szabolcs the cast included Pal Javor Mackie Franciska Gaal Polly Gero Maly Peachum Ella Gombaszogi Mrs Peachum 20 Roles EditRoles voice types premiere cast Role Voice type Premiere cast 31 August 1928 21 Conductor Theo MackebenMacheath Mackie Messer Mack the Knife London s greatest and most notorious criminal tenor baritone Harald PaulsenJonathan Jeremiah Peachum the Beggar s Friend controller of all the beggars in London conspires to have Mack hanged baritone Erich PontoCelia Peachum Frau Peachum Peachum s wife helps him run the business mezzo soprano Rosa ValettiPolly Peachum the Peachums daughter after knowing Mack for only five days agrees to marry him soprano Roma BahnJackie Tiger Brown Police Chief of London and Mack s best friend from their army days baritone Kurt GerronLucy Brown Tiger Brown s daughter claims to be married to Mack soprano Kate KuhlJenny Spelunken Jenny Low Dive Jenny Ginny Jenny a prostitute once romantically involved with Macheath is bribed to turn Mack over to the police mezzo soprano Lotte LenyaFilch a misfit young man who approaches the Peachums in hopes of beggar training tenor Naphtali LehrmannStreet Singer Moritatensanger sings The Ballad of Mack the Knife in the opening scene baritone Kurt GerronSmith a constable baritone Ernst BuschWalter tenor Ernst RotmundMatthias tenor Karl HannemannJakob tenor Manfred FurstJimmie tenor Werner MaschmeyerEde tenor Albert VenohrBeggars gangsters whores constablesSynopsis EditOverview Edit Set in Victorian London the play focuses on Macheath an amoral antiheroic criminal Macheath Mackie or Mack the Knife marries Polly Peachum This displeases her father who controls the beggars of London and he endeavours to have Macheath hanged His attempts are hindered by the fact that the Chief of Police Tiger Brown is Macheath s old army comrade Still Peachum exerts his influence and eventually gets Macheath arrested and sentenced to hang Macheath escapes this fate via a deus ex machina moments before the execution when in an unrestrained parody of a happy ending a messenger from the Queen arrives to pardon Macheath and grant him the title of baron The details of the original 1928 text have often been substantially modified in later productions 22 A draft narration by Brecht for a concert performance begins You are about to hear an opera for beggars Since this opera was intended to be as splendid as only beggars can imagine and yet cheap enough for beggars to be able to watch it is called the Threepenny Opera 23 Prologue Edit A street singer entertains the crowd with the illustrated murder ballad or Bankelsang titled Die Moritat von Mackie Messer Ballad of Mack the Knife As the song concludes a well dressed man leaves the crowd and crosses the stage This is Macheath alias Mack the Knife Act 1 Edit The story begins in the shop of Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum the boss of London s beggars who outfits and trains the beggars in return for a slice of their takings from begging In the first scene the extent of Peachum s iniquity is immediately exposed Filch a new beggar is obliged to bribe his way into the profession and agree to pay over to Peachum 50 percent of whatever he made the previous day he had been severely beaten up for begging within the area of jurisdiction of Peachum s protection racket After finishing with the new man Peachum becomes aware that his grown daughter Polly did not return home the previous night Peachum who sees his daughter as his own private property concludes that she has become involved with Macheath This does not suit Peachum at all and he becomes determined to thwart this relationship and destroy Macheath The scene shifts to an empty stable where Macheath himself is preparing to marry Polly once his gang has stolen and brought all the necessary food and furnishings No vows are exchanged but Polly is satisfied and everyone sits down to a banquet Since none of the gang members can provide fitting entertainment Polly gets up and sings Seerauberjenny a revenge fantasy in which she is a scullery maid turning pirate queen to order the execution of her bosses and customers The gang becomes nervous when the Chief of Police Tiger Brown arrives but it s all part of the act Brown had served with Mack in England s colonial wars and had intervened on numerous occasions to prevent the arrest of Macheath over the years The old friends duet in the Kanonen Song Cannon Song or Army Song In the next scene Polly returns home and defiantly announces that she has married Macheath by singing the Barbarasong Barbara Song She stands fast against her parents anger but she inadvertently reveals Brown s connections to Macheath which they subsequently use to their advantage Act 2 Edit Polly warns Macheath that her father will try to have him arrested He is finally convinced that Peachum has enough influence to do it and makes arrangements to leave London explaining the details of his bandit business to Polly so she can manage it in his absence Before he leaves town he stops at his favorite brothel where he sees his ex lover Jenny They sing the Zuhalterballade Pimp s Ballad one of the Villon songs translated by Ammer about their days together but Macheath doesn t know Mrs Peachum has bribed Jenny to turn him in Despite Brown s apologies there s nothing he can do and Macheath is dragged away to jail After he sings the Ballade vom angenehmen Leben Ballad of the Pleasant Life another Villon Ammer song another girlfriend Lucy Brown s daughter and Polly show up at the same time setting the stage for a nasty argument that builds to the Eifersuchtsduett Jealousy Duet After Polly leaves Lucy engineers Macheath s escape When Mr Peachum finds out he confronts Brown and threatens him telling him that he will unleash all of his beggars during Queen Victoria s coronation parade ruining the ceremony and costing Brown his job Act 3 Edit Jenny comes to the Peachums shop to demand her money for the betrayal of Macheath which Mrs Peachum refuses to pay Jenny reveals that Macheath is at Suky Tawdry s house When Brown arrives determined to arrest Peachum and the beggars he is horrified to learn that the beggars are already in position and only Mr Peachum can stop them To placate Peachum Brown s only option is to arrest Macheath and have him executed In the next scene Macheath is back in jail and desperately trying to raise a sufficient bribe to get out again even as the gallows are being assembled Soon it becomes clear that neither Polly nor the gang members can or are willing to raise any money and Macheath prepares to die He laments his fate and poses the Marxist questions What s picking a lock compared to buying shares What s breaking into a bank compared to founding one What s murdering a man compared to employing one These questions did not appear in the original version of the work but first appeared in the musical Happy End another Brecht Weill Hauptmann collaboration in 1929 they may in fact have been written not by Brecht but by Hauptmann 24 Macheath asks everyone for forgiveness Grave Inscription Then a sudden and intentionally comical reversal Peachum announces that in this opera mercy will prevail over justice and that a messenger on horseback will arrive Walk to Gallows Brown arrives as that messenger and announces that Macheath has been pardoned by the queen and granted a title a castle and a pension The cast then sings the Finale which ends with a plea that wrongdoing not be punished too harshly as life is harsh enough Musical numbers EditPrelude Edit 1 1 Ouverture1 2 Die Moritat von Mackie Messer The Ballad of Mack the Knife Street singer Act 1 Edit 1 3 Morgenchoral des Peachum Peachum s Morning Choral Peachum Mrs Peachum 1 4 Anstatt dass Song Instead of Song Peachum Mrs Peachum 1 5 Hochzeits Lied Wedding Song Four Gangsters 1 6 Seerauberjenny Pirate Jenny Polly b 1 7 Kanonen Song Cannon Song Macheath Brown 1 8 Liebeslied Love Song Polly Macheath 1 9 Barbarasong Barbara Song Polly c 10 I Dreigroschenfinale First Threepenny Finale Polly Peachum Mrs Peachum Act 2 Edit 11 a Melodram Melodrama Macheath 11a Polly s Lied Polly s Song Polly 12 a Ballade von der sexuellen Horigkeit Ballad of Sexual Dependency Mrs Peachum d 13 a Zuhalterballade Pimp s Ballad or Tango Ballad Jenny Macheath 14 a Ballade vom angenehmen Leben Ballad of the Pleasant Life Macheath 15 a Eifersuchtsduett Jealousy Duet Lucy Polly 15b Arie der Lucy Aria of Lucy Lucy 16 a II Dreigroschenfinale Second Threepenny Finale Macheath Mrs Peachum Chorus e Act 3 Edit 17 a Lied von der Unzulanglichkeit menschlichen Strebens Song of the Insufficiency of Human Struggling Peachum 17a Reminiszenz Reminiscence 18 a Salomonsong Solomon Song Jenny 19 a Ruf aus der Gruft Call from the Grave Macheath 20 a Grabschrift Grave Inscription Macheath 20a Gang zum Galgen Walk to Gallows Peachum 21 a III Dreigroschenfinale Third Threepenny Finale Brown Mrs Peachum Peachum Macheath Polly Chorus Reception EditOpera or musical theatre Edit The ambivalent nature of The Threepenny Opera derived from an 18th century ballad opera but conceived in terms of 20th century musical theatre has led to discussion as to how it can best be characterised According to critic and musicologist Hans Keller the work is the weightiest possible lowbrow opera for highbrows and the most full blooded highbrow musical for lowbrows 25 The Weill authority Stephen Hinton notes that generic ambiguity is a key to the work s enduring success and points out the work s deliberate hybrid status For Weill The Threepenny Opera was not just the most consistent reaction to Richard Wagner it also marked a positive step towards an operatic reform By explicitly and implicitly shunning the more earnest traditions of the opera house Weill created a mixed form which incorporated spoken theatre and popular musical idioms Parody of operatic convention of Romantic lyricism and happy endings constitutes a central device 3 Mack the Knife Edit The work s opening and closing lament Die Moritat von Mackie Messer was written just before the Berlin premiere when actor Harald Paulsen Macheath threatened to quit if his character did not receive an introduction this creative emergency resulted in what would become the work s most popular song later translated into English by Marc Blitzstein as Mack the Knife and now a jazz standard that Louis Armstrong Bobby Darin Ella Fitzgerald Sonny Rollins Frank Sinatra Peggy Lee Michael Buble Robbie Williams and countless others have covered In 2015 the Library of Congress added the recordings of Mack the Knife by Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin to the National Recording Registry Pirate Jenny Edit Pirate Jenny is another well known song from the work which has since been recorded by Nina Simone Judy Collins Tania Tsanaklidou and Marc Almond among others In addition Steeleye Span recorded it under the alternate title The Black Freighter Recently the drag queen Sasha Velour has made an adaptation by the same name for an installment of One Dollar Drags an anthology of short films 26 The Second Threepenny Finale Edit Under the title What Keeps Mankind Alive this number has been recorded by the Pet Shop Boys on the B side of their 1993 single Can You Forgive Her and on two albums Tom Waits covered it on two albums and William S Burroughs performed it in a 1994 documentary Revivals EditGermany Edit After World War II the first theater performance in Berlin was a rough production of The Threepenny Opera at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm Wolf Von Eckardt described the 1945 performance where audience members climbed over ruins and passed through a tunnel to reach the open air auditorium deprived of its ceiling In addition to the smell of dead bodies trapped beneath the rubble Eckardt recollects the actors themselves were haggard starved and in genuine rags Many of the actors had only just been released from concentration camp They sang not well but free 27 France Edit The Pabst film The Threepenny Opera was shown in its French version in 1931 In 1937 there was a production by Aufricht at the Theatre de l Etoile which failed though Brecht himself had attended rehearsals The work was not revived in France until after World War II 17 United Kingdom Edit In London West End and Off West End revivals include Royal Court Theatre 9 February to 20 March 1956 and Aldwych Theatre from 21 March 1956 Directed by Sam Wanamaker With Bill Owen as Macheath Daphne Anderson as Polly 28 Prince of Wales Theatre and Piccadilly Theatre opening 10 February 1972 With Vanessa Redgrave Diana Quick and Barbara Windsor 29 30 National Theatre Olivier Theatre 13 March 1986 New translation by Robert David MacDonald directed by Peter Wood With Tim Curry as Macheath Sally Dexter as Polly and Joanna Foster as Lucy 31 32 Donmar Warehouse 1994 Translation by Robert David MacDonald book and Jeremy Sams lyrics With Tom Hollander as Macheath and Sharon Small as Polly This production released a cast recording as was nominated for Best Musical Revival and Best Supporting Performance in a Musical for Tara Hugo as Jenny at the 1995 Laurence Olivier Awards National Theatre Cottesloe Theatre and UK Tour February 2003 Translation by Jeremy Sams lyrics and Anthony Meech book directed by Tim Baker 33 National Theatre Olivier Theatre 18 May to 1 October 2016 New adaptation by Simon Stephens directed by Rufus Norris With Rory Kinnear as Macheath Rosalie Craig as Polly Nick Holder as Peachum Haydn Gwynne as Mrs Peachum nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical at the 2017 Laurence Olivier Awards Sharon Small as Jenny Peter de Jersey as Brown 34 This production was broadcast live to cinemas worldwide through NT Live on 22 September In 2014 the Robert David MacDonald and Jeremy Sams translation previously used in 1994 at the Donmar Warehouse toured the UK presented by the Graeae Theatre Company with Nottingham Playhouse New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich Birmingham Repertory Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse 35 United States Edit In 1946 four performances of the work were given at the University of Illinois in Urbana and Northwestern University gave six performances in 1948 in Evanston Illinois 36 In 1952 Leonard Bernstein conducted a concert performance of the work at the Brandeis University Creative Arts Festival in the Adolph Ullman Amphitheatre Waltham Massachusetts to an audience of nearly 5 000 Marc Blitzstein who translated the work narrated 37 At least five Broadway and Off Broadway revivals have been mounted in New York City In 1956 Lotte Lenya won a Tony Award for her role as Jenny the only time an Off Broadway performance has been so honored in Blitzstein s somewhat softened version of The Threepenny Opera which played Off Broadway at the Theater de Lys in Greenwich Village for a total of 2 707 performances beginning with an interrupted 96 performance run in 1954 and resuming in 1955 Blitzstein had translated the work into English and toned down some of its acerbities Over the course of its run the production featured Scott Merrill as Macheath Edward Asner as Mr Peachum Charlotte Rae later Carole Cook billed as Mildred Cook then Jane Connell as Mrs Peachum Jo Sullivan Loesser as Polly Bea Arthur as Lucy Jerry Orbach as PC Smith the Street Singer and Mack John Astin as Readymoney Matt Matt of the Mint and Jerry Stiller as Crookfinger Jake 38 A nine month run in 1976 77 had a new translation by Ralph Manheim and John Willett for Joe Papp s New York Shakespeare Festival at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center directed by Richard Foreman with Raul Julia as Macheath Blair Brown as Lucy and Ellen Greene as Jenny The production rescinded some of Blitzstein s modifications Critics were divided Clive Barnes called it the most interesting and original thing that Joe Papp has produced whilst John Simon wrote I cannot begin to list all the injuries done to Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill s masterpiece 16 A 1989 Broadway production billed as 3 Penny Opera translated by Michael Feingold starred Sting as Macheath Its cast also featured Georgia Brown as Mrs Peachum Maureen McGovern as Polly Kim Criswell as Lucy KT Sullivan as Suky Tawdry and Ethyl Eichelberger as the Street Singer The production was unsuccessful 16 Liberally adapted by playwright Wallace Shawn the work was brought back to Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre Company at Studio 54 in March 2006 39 with Alan Cumming playing Macheath Nellie McKay as Polly Cyndi Lauper as Jenny Jim Dale as Mr Peachum Ana Gasteyer as Mrs Peachum Carlos Leon as Filch Adam Alexi Malle as Jacob and Brian Charles Rooney as a male Lucy Included in the cast were drag performers The director was Scott Elliott the choreographer Aszure Barton and while not adored by the critics the production was nominated for the Best Musical Revival Tony award Jim Dale was also Tony nominated for Best Supporting Actor The run ended on June 25 2006 The Brooklyn Academy of Music presented a production directed by Robert Wilson and featuring the Berliner Ensemble for only a few performances in October 2011 The play was presented in German with English supertitles using the 1976 translation by John Willett The cast included Stefan Kurt as Macheath Stefanie Stappenbeck as Polly and Angela Winkler as Jenny The Village Voice review said the production turn ed Brecht and Weill s middle class wake up call into dead entertainment for rich people His gelid staging and pallid quasi abstract recollections of Expressionist era design suggested that the writers might have been trying to perpetrate an artsified remake of Kander and Ebb s Cabaret 40 Regional productions include one at the Williamstown Theatre Festival Massachusetts in June and July 2003 Directed by Peter Hunt the musical starred Jesse L Martin as Mack Melissa Errico as Polly David Schramm as Peachum Karen Ziemba as Lucy Brown and Betty Buckley as Jenny The production received favorable reviews 41 42 43 16 Film adaptations EditGerman director G W Pabst made a 1931 German and French language version simultaneously a common practice in the early days of sound films Another version was directed by Wolfgang Staudte in West Germany in 1963 starring Curd Jurgens Gert Frobe and Hildegard Knef Scenes with Sammy Davis Jr were added for its American release 44 In 1989 an American version renamed Mack the Knife was released directed by Menahem Golan with Raul Julia as Macheath Richard Harris as Peachum Julie Walters as Mrs Peachum Bill Nighy as Tiger Brown Julia Migenes as Jenny and Roger Daltrey as the Street Singer 45 Radio adaptations EditIn 2009 BBC Radio 3 in collaboration with the BBC Philharmonic broadcast a complete radio production of the Michael Feingold translation directed by Nadia Molinari with the music performed by the BBC Philharmonic 46 The cast included Joseph Millson as Macheath Elen Rhys as Polly Whore Ruth Alexander Rubin as Mrs Peachum Whore Zubin Varla as Mr Peachum Rev Kimball Rosalie Craig as Lucy Whore Ute Gfrerer as Jenny Conrad Nelson as Tiger Brown and HK Gruber as the Ballad Singer Recordings EditRecordings are in German unless otherwise specified Die Dreigroschenoper 1930 on Telefunken Abridged incomplete Lotte Lenya Jenny Erika Helmke Polly Willy Trenk Trebitsch Macheath Kurt Gerron Moritatensanger Brown and Erich Ponto Peachum Lewis Ruth de Band conducted by Theo Mackeben Released on CD by Teldec Classics in 1990 The Threepenny Opera 1954 on Decca Broadway 012 159 463 2 In English Lyrics by Marc Blitzstein The 1950s Broadway cast starring Jo Sullivan Polly Peachum Lotte Lenya Jenny Charlotte Rae Mrs Peachum Scott Merrill Macheath Gerald Price Street Singer and Martin Wolfson Peachum Bea Arthur sings Lucy normally a small role here assigned an extra number Complete recording of the score without spoken dialogues Conducted by Samuel Matlowsky Die Dreigroschenoper 1955 on Vanguard 8057 with Anny Felbermayer Hedy Fassler de Jenny Miller Rosette Anday Helge Rosvaenge Alfred Jerger Kurt Preger de and Liane Augustin Vienna State Opera Orchestra conducted by F Charles Adler Die Dreigroschenoper 1958 on CBS MK 42637 Lenya who also supervised the production Johanna von Koczian Trude Hesterberg Erich Schellow Wolfgang Neuss and Willy Trenk Trebitsch Arndt Chorus Sender Freies Berlin Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Bruckner Ruggeberg Complete recording of the score without spoken dialogues Die Dreigroschenoper 1966 conducted by Wolfgang Rennert on Philips With Karin Hubner Edith Teichmann de Anita Mey de Hans Korte Dieter Brammer de and Franz Kutschera The Threepenny Opera 1976 on Columbia PS 34326 Conducted by Stanley Silverman In English new translation by Ralph Manheim and John Willett Starring the New York Shakespeare Festival cast including Raul Julia Macheath Ellen Greene Jenny Caroline Kava Polly Blair Brown Lucy C K Alexander Peachum and Elizabeth Wilson Mrs Peachum Die Dreigroschenoper 1968 on Polydor 00289 4428349 2 CDs Hannes Messemer MM Helmut Qualtinger P Berta Drews MsP Karin Baal Polly Martin Held B Hanne Wieder J Franz Josef Degenhardt Mor Conducted by James Last The only recording up to the present that contains the complete spoken dialogue Die Dreigroschenoper 1988 on Decca 430 075 Rene Kollo Macheath Mario Adorf Peachum Helga Dernesch Mrs Peachum Ute Lemper Polly Milva Jenny Wolfgang Reichmann Tiger Brown Susanne Tremper de Lucy Rolf Boysen de Herald RIAS Berlin Sinfonietta John Mauceri 47 Die Dreigroschenoper 1990 on Koch International Classics 37006 Manfred Jung Macheath Stephanie Myszak Polly Anelia Shoumanova Jenny Herrmann Becht Peachum Anita Herrmann Mrs Peachum Eugene Demerdjiev Brown Waldemar Kmentt Street Singer Bulgarian Television and Radio Mixed Choir and Symphony Orchestra Victor C Symonette The Threepenny Opera 1994 on CDJAY 1244 In English Donmar Warehouse London production Translated by Robert David Macdonald lyrics translated by Jeremy Sams Conducted by Gary Yershon With Sharon Small Polly Peachum Tara Hugo Jenny Natasha Bain Lucy Brown Tom Hollander Macheath Simon Dormandy Tiger Brown Beverley Klein Mrs Peachum and Tom Mannion Mr Peachum Die Dreigroschenoper 1997 on Capriccio Conducted by Jan Latham Konig with Ulrike Steinsky Gabriele Ramm Jane Henschel Walter Raffeiner de Rolf Wollrad and Peter Nikolaus Kante Die Dreigroschenoper 1999 BMG 74321 66133 2 Ensemble Modern HK Gruber conductor Mr Peachum Max Raabe Macheath Sona MacDonald Polly Nina Hagen Mrs Peachum Timna Brauer Jenny Hannes Hellmann de Tiger Brown See also Edit Opera portalThreepenny Novel 1934 Story adapted to Brazilian scenario by Chico Buarque having Rio instead of London as opera do Malandro 1979 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume III CenturyNotes Edit The word threepenny refers to a coin in Britain s pre decimal currency which was discontinued in 1971 after the decimalization of sterling In the original version Pirate Jenny is sung by Polly during the wedding scene but is sometimes moved to the second act and given to Jenny In the 1956 Off Broadway production starring Lotte Lenya Polly sang a version of the Bilbao Song from Brecht s and Weill s Happy End in the first act wedding scene Sometimes e g in the 1989 recording it s sung by Polly in the first act and by Jenny in the second act between song 13 and 14 according to the list above In the Marc Blitzstein adaptation this song was moved to the second act and sung by Lucy Brown The 2016 adaptation by Simon Stephens at the National Theatre London included Surabaya Johnny from the Brecht Weill play Happe End sung by Jenny In the 2016 National Theatre London adaptation this song was moved after the Tango Ballad as the finale to act one and sung by Mrs Peachum Macheath and Chorus References Edit Thomson amp Sacks 1994 pp 108 109 a b Thomson amp Sacks 1994 p 108 a b Hinton 2013 Brook 1996 pp 471 472 Taruskin 2010 p 535 Hinton 1990 p 161 Ross 2008 p 192 Hinton 2009 p 56 incomplete short citation Thomson amp Sacks 1994 p 111 Chamberlain Jane H Threepenny Politics in Translation PDF ATA Source 45 20 31 Archived from the original PDF on 2013 08 09 Newsletter of the literary division of the American Translators Association Summer 2009 Weill Kurt November 1997 Kurt Weill Lotte Lenya Speak Low When You Speak Love The Letters of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya p 159 ISBN 9780520212404 Hinton 1990 p 72 Bertolt Brecht The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht A Study from Eight Aspects p 30 Reed Philip 1995 Philip Reed On Mahler and Britten Essays in Honour of Donald Mitchell on His Seventieth ISBN 9780851156149 Hinton 1990 p 81 a b c d The Threepenny Opera in America The Threepenny Opera website accessed 19 September 2016 a b Hinton 1990 p 63 Hinton 1990 pp 64 65 L opera da tre soldi 1955 56 photos costumes poster Piccolo Teatro di Milano accessed 27 June 2015 Koldusopera bemutato a Vigszinhazban Hirek Theater Online Casaglia 2005 Hinton 1990 pp 50 77 Hinton 1990 p 1 Hinton 1990 pp 28 29 Hinton 1990 p 146 House of Velour 2018 05 03 Sasha Velour s One Dollar Drags Pirate Jenny retrieved 2018 05 20 Von Eckardt Wolf Gilman Sander 1975 Bertolt Brecht s Berlin ISBN 978 0 385 05501 7 Hinton 1990 pp 71 72 The Prince Of Wales Theatre Coventry Street London W1 Formerly The Prince s Theatre www arthurlloyd co uk Retrieved 2016 09 11 Hinton 1990 p 74 Hinton 1990 pp 75 76 National Theatre Threepenny Opera London Theatre Record 30 March 12 1986 Meech Anthony 2011 01 01 Brecht s the Threepenny Opera for the National Theatre A 3p Opera In Baines Roger Marinetti Cristina Perteghella Manuela eds Staging and Performing Translation Cultural Criminology Palgrave Macmillan UK pp 126 138 doi 10 1057 9780230294608 8 ISBN 978 1 349 31003 6 The Threepenny Opera National Theatre www nationaltheatre org uk 2 March 2016 Retrieved 2016 09 11 The Threepenny Opera Graeae Theatre Company www graeae org Retrieved 2016 09 25 Hinton 1990 pp 97 99 Hinton 1990 p 104 Hinton 1990 pp 108 115 Threepenny Opera Debauchery Updated by Jeff Lunden NPR 15 April 2006 Feingold Michael The Threepenny Opera Enters the Dead Zone Robert Wilson whips out his embalming fluid at BAM The Village Voice October 12 2011 Sommer Elyse A CurtainUp Berkshire Review The Three Penny Opera curtainup com June 28 2003 Portantiere Michael Berkshires Review The Threepenny Opera theatermania com June 30 2003 Brantley Ben The Fine Art Of Slumming It The New York Times July 4 2003 Die Dreigroschenoper 1963 at IMDb Mack the Knife 1989 at IMDb The Threepenny Opera Drama on 3 BBC Radio 3 Haas amp Uekermann 1988 Bibliography EditBrockett Oscar G and Hildy Franklin J History of The Theatre Allyn and Bacon 2002 9th Edition ISBN 0 205 35878 0 Brook Stephen ed 1996 Opera A Penguin Anthology London Penguin Books ISBN 978 0 14 026073 1 Casaglia Gherardo 2005 Die Dreigroschenoper 31 August 1928 L Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia in Italian Haas Michael Uekermann Gerd 1988 Zu unserer Aufnahme Booklet accompanying the 1988 recording Cat 430 075 London Decca Record Company Hinton Stephen 1990 Kurt Weill The Threepenny Opera Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 33026 8 Hinton Stephen 2013 Dreigroschenoper Die The New Grove Dictionary of Opera Oxford Music Online Ross Alex 2008 The Rest is Noise London Fourth Estate ISBN 978 1 84115 475 6 Taruskin Richard 2010 Music in the Early Twentieth Century Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 538484 0 Thomson Peter Sacks Glendyr eds 1994 The Cambridge Companion to Brecht Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 42485 1 Warrack John and West Ewan 1992 The Oxford Dictionary of Opera Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 869164 5External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Threepenny Opera Threepenny Opera at the Internet Broadway Database The Threepenny Opera at the Internet Off Broadway Database The Threepenny Opera Website historical information audio files quotes and quizzes requires Adobe Flash Information on The Threepenny Opera English version marc blitzstein org Mack the Knife 1989 at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Threepenny Opera amp oldid 1153144390, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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