Martha Clarke's THREEPENNY OPERA at Atlantic- Page 3

[darquegk]

Posted: 3/17/14 at 12:03pm

Who sings "The Drowned Girl," and when? Are they using "Lucy's Aria" and the poisoning scene, or not?

SPOILERS:
Lots has been insinuated about the nudity and the bulldog being standout features of this production. What exactly do these entail? I won't be getting up to see the show, but all the mention of these "twists" have me curious.

[AC126748]

Posted: 3/17/14 at 12:12pm

Spoilers, obviously. Read at your own risk.

"Ballad of the Drowned Girl" is performed by Lucy Brown (Lilli Cooper) immediately following the wedding scene. "Lucy's Aria" is not used in this production.

The production opens with a woman lying on the ground, skirt hiked up. The dog is licking her thigh. Macheath enters and shoos the dog away, then prods the woman with his walking stick.

The dog reappears in the wedding scene, jumping up on a chair and eating food off the banquet table.

There is nudity and simulated sex in Jenny's brothel. A whore is shown completely nude. Jenny wears a see-through top that clearly shows her breasts. Jenny is then shown simulating sex (him taking her from behind in a picture-window above the stage) with a customer, while Mrs Peachum sings a reprise of "The Ballad of Sexual Dependency".

The dog returns one last time in the coronation scene, as Queen Victoria. It's placed in a wagon in a crown and cape and paraded around the stage.

The whole dog bit struck me as the idea of a third-year directing major who thinks she's much more clever than she actually is, not an established and renowned director.

Updated On: 3/17/14 at 12:12 PM

[Sauja]

Posted: 3/17/14 at 12:42pm

Saw this last night and found it solid if slightly uninspired. Threepenny is an incredibly challenging show to stage, and Clarke's take is respectful and respectable. But I agree with others here that it lacked a spark somehow, and I can't quite put my finger on why. The performers range from adequate to very strong. The design is relatively simple but generally effective. Other than the sound design still needing some tweaking and lyrics being a touch muddy at present, there was nothing about it that I would say was bad or wrong. I suppose it just lacked a certain bite. In terms of the last couple NY productions, this was about six miles ahead of the monstrosity performed at Studio 54 a couple years back, but I think I preferred the Robert Wilson production at BAM which certainly wasn't everyone's cup of tea but to me had a mix of acidity and irony that benefits the play. Again, this is a good Threepenny happening now. It just hasn't reached greatness. At least not yet.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 11:22pm

Just got out. Sparknotes review for now. Lots of gratuitous nudity, jokes aren't landing, Mary Beth and Sally are entertaining but all in all it's pretty awful.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 11:22pm

Just got out. Sparknotes review for now. Lots of gratuitous nudity, jokes aren't landing, Mary Beth and Sally are entertaining but all in all it's pretty awful.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 6:05pm

Has anyone won this lottery? I'm curious if it's a real thing or just some ruse to get people to download that app.

[charliebrown5]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 9:02pm

I saw a tweet yesterday from Scott Heller with the NY Times (@hellerNYT) saying that Martha Clarke was inspired by "Deadwood" for this production. I don't watch the show but I can see the inspiration from pictures. Anyone watch Deadwood? I've linked new 3PennyOpera production pictures below.


Photo Flash: First Look at Atlantic Theater's THE THREEPENNY OPERA

[abbagirl]

Posted: 3/26/14 at 12:23am

Clyde - The lottery is real, I finally won it after many tries this past Sun. :) A great pair of row C seats for 6 cents altogether!

[StageStruckLad]

Posted: 3/26/14 at 10:20am

Anyone who has seen the show recently, has the sound improved?

[theatregoer3]

Posted: 3/26/14 at 10:22am

I saw it this weekend. The sound was pretty bad. I don't want to write a long explanation, but this production was awful. Sadly, it was the first time my guest was seeing a production of Threepenny Opera.

I recommend avoiding this.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 3/31/14 at 3:28pm

Saw this on Saturday afternoon, the sound was fine. There were some prop issues ("locked" door popped open was one of them), including one where F. Murray had to break character and explain to the audience that the drawer was supposed to open and told us what was inside). He did it very smoothly, most impressive.

More nudity in the show than I've seen on/off Broadway in the past 4 years combined.

Really liked the presentation. I'm not a fan of the ending, but I guess that can't really be changed

[ellie1819]

Posted: 4/2/14 at 12:26pm

This poster is right. It has gotten better--Martha Clarke herself said so at the talkback after last Wednesday's performance. I have seen every Threepenny since the Raul Julia/Joseph Papp production in the 70s and grew up with the German recording of the original Berlin production (which my father saw). I really think this is the best version I have ever seen. It is so true to Brecht and Weill. The orchestrations are spot on. The cast is terrific (Mack the Knife seems a little too well-fed for his role, but he projects the proper menace). I didn't know what to expect from Martha Clarke--a dance play? No, it turns out to be a very faithful recreation of the spirit of Weimar Germany, with visual references to Georg Grosz and other painters. There is a lot of dance movement, but it is a very authentic version.