Three Penny Opera- Page 2

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 5:26pm

if you have manners, change your posts.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 5:31pm

Any word on a Recording of this Revival? I'd buy it in a heartbeat!

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 5:36pm

That's unfortunate! Very Unfortunate!

[dirty rotten guy]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 5:45pm

I am seriously thinking about it. However, I will be front row center and it would be difficult to hide it.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 5:53pm

Muscle23ftl may love Wedding Singer and hate Sweeney, but he LOVES The Light in the Piazza...that should count for something, right?

[C is for Company]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 6:00pm

Go for it. I recorded Pacific Ovetures because I remember it took a while for an announcement to be made regarding making a cd. Then I saw the show and wish there wasn't a recording made! just kidding.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 6:05pm

There are recordings, but it seems as though every one has some big changes to it.
I have the OBC.

My School is doing it next year, so I'm excited about that!

[BluCat500]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 6:06pm

I meant "recordings"...

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 8:45pm

it will be a low down dirty rotten shame if this cast isnt recorded!!!!!

i wanna sing along with ana gasteyer as i do my housework!!!!

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 8:33am

I saw it yesterday and was confused to say the least. Could someone explain the acpects of the show to me? I will pick up the book but I highly doubt the book will answer these questions. Is there a plot? Why did the cast walk off each way in that weird way? Is that all Brechian(sp?) theory to state the scene towards the audience?

I enjoyed the music very much along with the lighting but the dialogue was very odd.
Any help would be appreciated.

[Luvinbroadway]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 9:51am

I saw half of it on tuesday night; in 25 years of going to broadway my partner and I decided it was one of the top 5 shows we hated most (granted we usually steer clear of notorious flops). Makes me re-think my long time Roundabout subscription as well (did the Roundabout think this was ok!?!?!)
The cast:
Jim Dale: A gem!
Nellie M.: interesting for a few minutes...completely threw away Pirate Jenny and then fizzled.
Ana G.: Funny but sooo shrill (was it the sound?)
Alan C.: the weakest link..neither sinister nor sexy; an Emcee regurge.
Cyndi: out on tuesday
Lighting: interesting
Orchestrations: sounded great!
A new and focused director could have made this show briliant!
Oh well...

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 9:52am

Yes, it's Brecht's Alienation Effect - that the audience should be emotionally distant from the characters so they can clearly understand the emotional commentary of the play. So the "actors" are raslly demonstrating the role, not playing it.

Actors announcing scenes, changing sets, breaking the fourth wall is all part of the Alienation effect.

Also "gestas" - the use of gestures. Brecht studied Charlie Chaplin's movements and used them to further alienate the audience. (Which is why I thought Jim Dale did such a great job. He had all these things down.)

As far as the actors walking off the stage without a curtain call - that's a director's decision.

The basic plot is that Macheath (the king of the thieves of London) wants to marry Polly Peachum. If this occurs, however, he could possibly gain control of Peachum's establishment - and Peachum controls the beggars.

In order to stop this, Peachum gives Macheath's whereabouts to the chief of police, Tiger "Jackie" Brown (who coincidentally is a good friend of Mackie's).

This is all set against the Queen's coronation, that Brown has to make sure goes well.

In order to catch Mack, Mrs. Peachum pays off low-dive Jenny to trick Mack. Jenny was a former lover of Mackie. Jenny does (The Tango) and the police arrest him.

Enter Lucy Brown, daughter of the chief of police, who was also a former lover of Mack, and helps Mack to escape from prison.

Peachum is upset and Brown says there isn't much he can do. Peachum threatens him by saying if nothing happens, all the beggars of London will unite and be waiting for the Queen on the special day. Brown realizes he has to do something - it's his job, after all! - and goes and (re)captures Mack.

The end is typical Brecht - deus ex machina - "God from the machine" - in which some "force" comes in and saves the day, making a happy ending. Something that also jolts the audience out of the story.

The songs are not plot advancing so much as they stop the story and pull us out of the emotion. They are usually song to the audience.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 10:13am

If the point is to alient the audience why did they bow after certain songs? See, it was my previous understanding that their goal was to separate aka alient us from the show so I was surprised when McKay and Dale bowed after their respected number. It seemed like a contradiction.

Thanks though!

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 10:21am

Because a character wouldn't bow after a song.

So it makes it more like a performer bowing after singing. So it's Jim Dale bowing, not JJ Peachum.

[BluCat500]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 10:31am

Now whatever does the mirror that comes down and reflects the audience mean?

Its such a deep, deep metaphor...I just can't crack it...

[luvliza89]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 11:26am

I'm seeing this the day before it closes and I'm very excited. I've been reading different reviews and such of the shows and gotten mixed results. For me anyway, I think I'll love it. Having spent some time studying both "Threepenny" and Alienation, Theatre of the Absurd, etc I can understand where this production is coming from. I'm just hoping my family will be able to take something out of it. We shall see, but all the same I'm still looking very forward to this.