Threepenny Opera Help!

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 3:06pm

I hear that my University is going to be putting this on next year since we DO get to do a musical next year. I don't know anthing about it, but I want to start to do my research starting with getting the best cast recording!

Which do you guys recommend?
Updated On: 2/17/06 at 03:06 PM

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 3:07pm

You need to find out which translation they're using.

Edited: And I always get flack for this, but my vote goes to the 1994 Donmar Warehouse production (translation by Jeremy Sams).

Updated On: 2/17/06 at 03:07 PM

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 3:11pm

My vote goes for the 1954 Off-Broadway cast recording with Lotte Lenya and Bea Arthur. Lotte Lenya was Kurt Weill's wife so she was an expert singing Weill's songs, and Bea Arthur has always been a fabulous actress. I wish Jerry Orbach was part of this recording.
I also recommend you do research on Brecht and Brechtian shows.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 3:11pm

This is the classic recording:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004X09T/qid=1140207059/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-6093671-9513631?s=music&v=glance&n=5174

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 3:16pm

If you can find a copy of the 1976 revival recording with Raul Julia and Ellen Greene, snap it up. It was never released on CD, but I've seen LPs of it floating around online from time to time, usually at a reasonable price.

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 3:18pm

The biggest problem with that 1954 recording is that it's so sanitized. still maintain that Blitzstein's lyrics have the least bite. I was told they were cleaned up for the album, which may be the case, but I've yet to get my hands on the performance lyrics. I've noted some of the differences here. The Blitzsten lyrics sounds like they come from a different show.

Take "Tango-Ballad" (Known also as "Ballad of Immoral Earnings" and "Knocking Shop Tango") for example.

Translation by Ralph Manheim and John Willett:

Once I was pregnant, so the doctor said
So we reversed positions on the bed
You thought your weight would make it premature
But in the end we flushed it down the sewer
That could not last, but what would I not give
To see that whorehouse where we used to live?

Translation by Jeremy Sams (1994):

We had the baby, but it didn't last long
When I fell pregnant it was festive for a day
But then we felt it best to wash it all away
The drunken doctor told us what to do
We took the mess and flushed it down the loo
And for a while a smile was rarely seen
Around that knocking shop in Bethnel Green

Translation by Mark Blitzstein:

Now sleeps for the night for they say
It ain't bad by day
So then I had my fill, so I wouldn't stir
It looked soon I might be taking care of her
You'd think a woman had a right to have one gripe
You left me flat, Well I just ain't the working type
We locked the door and each commenced to roam
Goodbye sweet two by four that we called home

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 3:54pm

Do you think there will be a recoring of the Revival?

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 4:27pm

I have no idea, but I really hope so. It's got a new translation (by Wallace Shawn) and a really great cast. I'm not really that keen on Alan Cumming, but I'm really excited to see Cyndi Lauper, Ana Gasteyer and Nellie McKay. Plus, in this production the character of Lucy Brown is male, and I'm really curious to see what they do with that.

[children&art]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 5:06pm

whoa? what? Lucy is male? Do you mean they turned the character into a guy or is it a man playing a woman? what will that do to the jealousy duet with polly? ooh, so mack swings both ways in this new production, eh??? knowing that makes me excited about the new translation, definitely has to be as good or better than the donmar (which i agree was the best so far).

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 5:08pm

Lucy will be played as a male by a male.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 6:29pm

I saw that on ibdb.com that the part was being played by a male and I hope this director, who is always hip to NY theatre, does the same because that's a part I could see myself getting.

[toomeytwopiece]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 7:46pm

if you can sing a soprano A then you can play her... "Lucy's Aria" is RANGY...

The original German production in 1928... Lucy sang the jealousy duet and "Lucy's Aria" - which was cut because the woman playing Lucy left the show 3 days before they opened and the woman who replaced her couldn't sing the song.

Polly also sang "Pirate Jenny" and "The Barbara Song" (or "The No Song") -- when the revival was done in the 50s with Bea Arthur, Lotte Lenya (who had played Polly in the original German production), played Jenny, so the song "Pirate Jenny" was given to the character Jenny. Bea Arthur sang the Jealousy duet on the lower harmony and DOWN the octave... an option not afforded ANY production by the Weill estate. Bea also sang "The Barbara Song" down the octave (normally a Polly song)... that is also not allowed now by the Weill estate...

I would warn your director to be VERY careful about what he is allowed to do with the show - as the estate is VERY careful about what is allowed.

before you decide that that is a role you could play, see the revival when it opens

Updated On: 2/17/06 at 07:46 PM

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 7:49pm

I think Ellen Greene also got to sing "Pirate Jenny" when she played Jenny in the 1976 production.

Good point about the Weill estate, toomey. I know they are notoriously sticky about the piece. I was actually surprised they allowed the sex change for Lucy to begin with.

[Jon]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 8:57pm

I believe the Blitzstein version is the only one available for amateur production un the U.S.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/17/06 at 9:43pm

I ordered the 1954 Broadway Cast Recording.

So Lucy goes that high? I see what you wrote about Bea Arthur and I was going to say I can't believe that she could sing it then. I would say Bea is/was a Mezzo at best, if not an alto.

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 12:51pm

I've wondered that too, children&art.

I once checked out a cd of Threepenny in German from the library. The song was called "Pirate Jenny" or "Dreams of a Kitchen Maid" (I've also seen it translated as "Song of a Little Bar Maid,"). My guess was that perhaps the song was not originally called "Pirate Jenny," at all.

You know, even as I write that, it doesn't make 100% sense, either. Regardless of what the song was called, when Polly asks the wedding guests to play the part of the customers egging her on, she has them refer to her (as the bar maid) as Jenny.

At any rate, I was thinking that perhaps it was never referred to as "Pirate Jenny" until it was given to Jenny to sing. Obviously it was given to Lenya to fill out her character, as she only had "Tango-Ballad" and "Solomon Song" without it. I saw something somewhere on the web that Lenya was actually the original Polly in 1928, but it's been a while since I've read anything on Lenya and I can't vouch at the moment that that is 100% true, either.

My theory about the name of the song changing when it changed characters is clearly wrong and the fact is, independent of Jenny Diver and Pirate Jenny, the name Jenny Towler is mentioned in "Mack the Knife," so it could just be that Brecht couldn't get enough of the name. At any rate, most times when the character of Jenny is referred to as "Pirate Jenny" it's a misnomer, as the song in its original context has nothing to do with her.

As for Buckley singing it when she played Jenny, you could very well be right. I'm pretty sure that Ellen Greene sang it when she played Jenny in 1976.

Whether sung by Polly or Jenny, my personal opinion is that "Pirate Jenny" is the best song in the show (though it's a tough call to make, as the show itself is one of my all time favorites).

Updated On: 2/20/06 at 12:51 PM

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 12:57pm

Ellen Greene sang it in the 1976 production, and she sang the hell out of it.

Betty Buckley did sing it at the Williamstown production in 2003. She was brilliant. And frightening. Although, she looked like Jesse Martin's grandmother.

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 12:58pm

Ellen Greene sang it in the 1976 production, and she sang the hell out of it.

I bet she did. Man, I wish that version would be released on cd.

Although, she looked like Jesse Martin's grandmother.

I think the same thing when I see pictures of Lenya and Scott Merrill from the 1954 version.

Updated On: 2/20/06 at 12:58 PM

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 1:06pm

Interestingly, of the seven productions of this show listed on IBDB, only two have Polly singing "Pirate Jenny." Whether or not she sings it in the revival remains to be seen.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 1:22pm

According to Ute Lemper, Polly is singing "Pirate Jenny" in the revival, which was one of the main reasons she turned the part down.

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 1:26pm

Thanks, MEF! I figured since it was a new translation they'd go back to the original song format, but I'm glad to have confirmation. I cannot wait to see it.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 1:58pm

What can you tell me about Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum?

He seems like a younger guy, right?

Where as Macheath is an older guy? I'm just guessing about all of this. Keep in mind, it's a university show, so everyone will be younger.

BTW!
Where can I go to read a good synopsis of the musical?

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 2:04pm

Peachum is Polly's father. Jim Dale's playing him in the revival, so there you go. Of course, Ana Gasteyer is playing his wife and there's a good 35 years between their ages right there.

I don't believe Polly's given an age, but I imagine she's in her late teens. You'd assume Peachum is in his 40s at the very youngest.

There's a plethora of information about it on the net, so the more the time you have the more you're likely to find. You should also be able to get a copy of the script at the library. Even if it's not the translation you're using, you'll get the general gist.


Edited for clarity.

Edited again. Dale's older than I thought and Gasteyer's younger than I thought.

Here's one synopsis

Updated On: 2/20/06 at 02:04 PM

[children&art]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 2:25pm

i really like the way the 1994 Donmar version was structured - modern, in an abandoned theatre, with a translation that is the rawest with bite i've heard.

in it polly sang "pirate jenny" and "barbara song" (both great pieces of music) and jenny sang "tango" and "socrates" but got to sing "moritat" which occured in the middle rather than the fun opening number.

check it out if you like this show.

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 2:37pm

Yeah, the Donmar translation is really love it or hate it, from what I can tell. I really love it, but I understand why it riles a lot of people up, I guess.

I love that version of "Moritat" as well. I love Tara Hugo's Jenny and Sharon Small's Polly. Both women has tremendously expressive voices, particularly Small.

In all fairness, though, if his school is doing the Blizstein translation, it would be in his best interest to familiarize himself with that album.