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A CurtainUp Review
The Threepenny Opera
By Elyse Sommer
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So Listen Closely To Mack The Knife. The Bulging Pocket Makes The Easy Life. Now Once I Used To Think It Might Be Worthy To Be A Brave And Sacrificing Person. I Soon Found Out It Wasn't Reimbursin' Decided To Continue Being Earthy. The Noble Poor Are Nobly Underfed — MacHeath, "The Easy Life" |
Laura Osnes and Michael Park
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As Brecht and Weill adapted John Gay's Beggar's Opera, for their own satirical, anti-establishment objectives, so directors and performers have brought their own interpretations, some wonderful, some less so. Martha Clarke, best known for her stunningly original choreographed works like Garden of Earthly Delights (review ) and Vienna Lusthaus ( review), has gone all out to put her own stamp on the production now at the Atlantic Theater's main stage in Chelsea.
I'm happy to report that though shorter than any other Threepenny Opera I've seen this is a substantial and interesting piece— much closer to the imaginative works that have earned Clarke the reputation as a visionary artist than her recent Cheri ( review). Threepenny purists might take issue with Clarke's more painterly than overly edgy approach which conflates, re-arranges, re-names and re-assigns songs. But while not everything is perfection, there's enough here that's new and exciting. The distressing imbalance between our current society's haves and have-nots certainly makes this production more timely than ever.
Among the show's assets is a generously sized cast that includes 7 musicians and as many ensemble members— plus a four-legged performer named Romeo with impressive stage presence (my second such scene stealing cast member in two days, the other one in the new Broadway musical, Bullets Over Broadway).
Mary Beth Peil and F. Murray Abraham as Mr. and Mrs. Peachum
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The staging underscores the relevance of characters and plot to today's world. The Peachum parents, like the unscrupulous Macheath who their daughter has married, have pushed their way into the exploitative one per cent with their less than honorable enterprise. To get Macheath out of daughter Polly's life, the Peachums are not above bribing the authorities and indulging in whatever other dirty tricks are needed.
Michael Park is an aptly dashing Macheath and a seasoned singer (He appeared in the initial production of Violet which is currently being revived on Broadway, just before staring his long-running gig as Jack Snyder in As the World Turns). His bowler hat, pin-striped suit and spats make it easy to see him turn from housebreaking to banking. Any wish for a bit more menace (which applies to the overall production), is easily forgotten when watching his slick "Tango Ballad" with Sally Murphy's Jenny and his solo "Ballad of the Easy Life". Lili Cooper, another of Macheath's stable of female conquests, makes the most of the two songs she's given— the dour "Ballad of the Drowned Girl" and the terrific "Jealousy Duet" with Osnes.
The look of the production is a dark and shadowy London just before Queen Victoria's coronation, with grisaille palette for both scenery and costumes. Touches of purple brighten the costumes. Some of the hookers' costumes might have you wonder if you've accidentally walked into the current revival of Cabaret (Alan Cumming who reprises his Emcee in that production played a quite different Macheath in the 2006 Threepenny Opera).
In an interview with himself in 1933, Brecht asked himself "What in your opinion accounted for the success of 'Die Dreigroschenoper' ('The Three Penny Opera'). He responded with "I'm afraid it was everything that didn't matter to me: the romantic plot, the love story, the music." He answered his follow-up question "And what would have mattered to you?" with "The critique of society." While Martha Clarke hasn't abandoned the music and love story, I think he would be pleased with the way she's handled the part that mattered most to him.
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The Threepenny Opera Book and lyrics: Bertoldt Brecht Music: Kurt Weill English adaptation by Marc Blitzstein Directed and choreographed by Martha Clarke Cast: F. Murray Abraham (Mr. Peachum), Jon David Casey (Street Singer/Filch), Lilli Cooper (Lucy Brown), Rick Holmes (Tiger Brown), Sally Murphy (Jenny), Mary Beth Peil (Mrs. Peachum), Laura Osnes (Polly Peachum), Michael Park (Macheath), Romeo (Queen Victoria). Sophie Bortolussi, Timothy Doyle, John Kelly, Lindsey Dietz Marchant Cristina Spina, John William Watkins (Ensemble) Scenic design by Robert Israel Costume design by Donna Zakowska Lighting design by Christopher Akerlind Sound design by Clive Goodwin Musical direction by Gary Fagin Animal training by William Berloni Conductor: Fred Lassen Stage Manager, Johnny Miloni Running Time: 2 hours and 10 minutes, includes 1 intermission Atlantic Theater Company's Linda Gross Theater 336 West 20th Street From 3/12/14; opening 4/07/14; closing 5/04/14 Reviewed by Elyse Sommer at April 6th press matinee |
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Musical Numbers
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Act One
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Act Two
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Act Three
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Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. For a feed to reviews and features as they are posted add http://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com to your reader Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter Subscribe to our FREE email updates: E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message. If you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. |
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