Threepenny Opera Reviews — Page 2
#27
Posted: 4/20/06 at 4:45pm
I'm curious to see what the critics make of Nellie Mckay. I thought she was awful when I saw the show. She was really struggling through the songs (they seemed out of her range), and her acting was mechanical. She just struck me as being completely wrong for the part.
But I've heard from MANY people whose opinion I respect that she was VERY good when they saw the show... Maybe I saw her on an "off night"... But I was thoroughly unimpressed.
Brian Charles Rooney also seems to be polarizing people. I for one thought he was brilliant. Without a doubt the best performance by a male, and overall, second only to Cindy's amazing Jenny.
But, really...how can you NOT love Lucy's Aria?
But I've heard from MANY people whose opinion I respect that she was VERY good when they saw the show... Maybe I saw her on an "off night"... But I was thoroughly unimpressed.
Brian Charles Rooney also seems to be polarizing people. I for one thought he was brilliant. Without a doubt the best performance by a male, and overall, second only to Cindy's amazing Jenny.
But, really...how can you NOT love Lucy's Aria?
#28
Posted: 4/20/06 at 4:56pm
How can you not love Lucy, period!
And the other thing about the Phantom Lady was, Bert, she realized, in the city that never sleeps...
What did she realize, Kitten?
That all the songs she'd listened to, all the love songs, that they were only songs.
What's wrong with that?
Nothing, if you don't believe in them. But she did, you see. She believed in enchanted evenings, and she believed that a small cloud passed overhead and cried down on a flower bed, and she even believed there was breakfast to be had...
Where?
On Pluto. The mysterious, icy wastes of Pluto.
#29
Posted: 4/20/06 at 4:57pm
When I saw it Tuesday I thought she was fantastic, but I stage doored it last night and the people waiting said she was pretty bad.
#30
Posted: 4/20/06 at 4:59pm
"How can you not love Lucy, period!"
Amen to that!
Amen to that!
#31
Posted: 4/20/06 at 5:43pm
I'd say Linda Winer in Newsday is mixed to negative:
Things begin well enough. The actors clomp up the aisles in black, change costumes onstage and even help one another with their goth sad-clown makeup. Scene and song titles are projected, according to tradition, but on a modern hanging screen on Derek McLane's big, stark set. Jason Lyons' white lights glare at us with blinding accusations of complicity. If that were not enough message, Elliott later drags in a "Chorus Line" mirror to prove that, yes, they are us. We get it. We get it.
What we don't get is how Wallace Shawn, one of the most rigorously political, thoughtful and witty minds around, arrived with this plodding, often childish new translation from the German. Oh, well, bring on the drag queen.
And they do. In this evening's travesty, the role of Lucy Brown is played by a big guy, Brian Charles Rooney, in a chemise frock. Isaac Mizrahi appears to have had a grand time with the clothes, which trace stylish depravity from Elizabethan to disco, all with plenty of leather and skin.
But on to bigger news. Eccentric young pop singer McKay is utterly at home in her Broadway debut. As Polly Peachum, daughter of the rich people who run the beggar business for the enterprising poor, McKay has the vulnerable look of a silent-movie heroine and a diabolically subtle vocal style. As Mack's fake bride, she dominates the first act with a sweet and cruel voice of range and attitude.
Lauper, looking swell in a black merry widow and big silver hair, confidently takes over in the the second act as the whore Jenny - the role first played by Lotte Lenya in a sweet, high soprano and, years later, in her famous harsh, throaty contralto. Jim Dale, that pro, is good and slimy as Polly's father. Ana Gasteyer, late of "Saturday Night Live," has a dynamite voice and big, vulgar personality as Polly's mom...
...We would like to think he and Brecht would appreciate the irony of charging top dollar for their indictment of materialism. Although the actors, in strict pomposity, do not appear for their bow, the theater is peddling Cumming's line of beauty products in the lobby.
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/stage/ny-etthree4708991apr21,0,2330767.story?coll=ny-theater-headlines
Things begin well enough. The actors clomp up the aisles in black, change costumes onstage and even help one another with their goth sad-clown makeup. Scene and song titles are projected, according to tradition, but on a modern hanging screen on Derek McLane's big, stark set. Jason Lyons' white lights glare at us with blinding accusations of complicity. If that were not enough message, Elliott later drags in a "Chorus Line" mirror to prove that, yes, they are us. We get it. We get it.
What we don't get is how Wallace Shawn, one of the most rigorously political, thoughtful and witty minds around, arrived with this plodding, often childish new translation from the German. Oh, well, bring on the drag queen.
And they do. In this evening's travesty, the role of Lucy Brown is played by a big guy, Brian Charles Rooney, in a chemise frock. Isaac Mizrahi appears to have had a grand time with the clothes, which trace stylish depravity from Elizabethan to disco, all with plenty of leather and skin.
But on to bigger news. Eccentric young pop singer McKay is utterly at home in her Broadway debut. As Polly Peachum, daughter of the rich people who run the beggar business for the enterprising poor, McKay has the vulnerable look of a silent-movie heroine and a diabolically subtle vocal style. As Mack's fake bride, she dominates the first act with a sweet and cruel voice of range and attitude.
Lauper, looking swell in a black merry widow and big silver hair, confidently takes over in the the second act as the whore Jenny - the role first played by Lotte Lenya in a sweet, high soprano and, years later, in her famous harsh, throaty contralto. Jim Dale, that pro, is good and slimy as Polly's father. Ana Gasteyer, late of "Saturday Night Live," has a dynamite voice and big, vulgar personality as Polly's mom...
...We would like to think he and Brecht would appreciate the irony of charging top dollar for their indictment of materialism. Although the actors, in strict pomposity, do not appear for their bow, the theater is peddling Cumming's line of beauty products in the lobby.
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/stage/ny-etthree4708991apr21,0,2330767.story?coll=ny-theater-headlines
Updated On: 4/20/06 at 05:43 PM
#32
Posted: 4/20/06 at 5:47pm
Wow in that Newsweek review - I would say McKay got better notices than Lauper.
#33
Posted: 4/20/06 at 5:48pm
They bashed Alan for selling "Cumming" in the lobby! That is just harsh. :)
"The hallmark of aristocracy is responsibility. Oh brother, that got me, that did me in!"
#34
Posted: 4/20/06 at 6:03pm
NY1 is Positive:
"Lock your doors and hide your daughters - Mack the Knife is back in town. But even Mackie¹s friends and enemies may not recognize the charismatic killer with a knife up his sleeve. This Macheath looks more like a go-go dancer after a night of clubbing than Bertolt Brecht’s infamous gangster.
Garish, flashy and full of attitude, the new revival of “The Threepenny Opera” is anything but dull. With a cast of pop stars, Broadway veterans and enough transvestites to pack a Chelsea club, it achieves the unthinkable on Broadway: the thrill of rock concert, and the danger of a street fight.
_____________________________________________________________
Some audience members are bound to hate “The Threepenny Opera’s” sass and gender-bending antics. Brecht and Weill purists may also be horrified by the glam-rock makeover and its lack of Marxist politics.
It’s true that this version could take more political jabs at the audience as the authors intended, but there’s no denying the prodution’s theatrical gusto and visual excitement. In a Broadway scene almost entirely devoid of risks, this Threepenny dares to enrage, bewilder and offend. It turns out that ole Mackie hasn¹t lost his bite."
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=238&aid=58797
"Lock your doors and hide your daughters - Mack the Knife is back in town. But even Mackie¹s friends and enemies may not recognize the charismatic killer with a knife up his sleeve. This Macheath looks more like a go-go dancer after a night of clubbing than Bertolt Brecht’s infamous gangster.
Garish, flashy and full of attitude, the new revival of “The Threepenny Opera” is anything but dull. With a cast of pop stars, Broadway veterans and enough transvestites to pack a Chelsea club, it achieves the unthinkable on Broadway: the thrill of rock concert, and the danger of a street fight.
_____________________________________________________________
Some audience members are bound to hate “The Threepenny Opera’s” sass and gender-bending antics. Brecht and Weill purists may also be horrified by the glam-rock makeover and its lack of Marxist politics.
It’s true that this version could take more political jabs at the audience as the authors intended, but there’s no denying the prodution’s theatrical gusto and visual excitement. In a Broadway scene almost entirely devoid of risks, this Threepenny dares to enrage, bewilder and offend. It turns out that ole Mackie hasn¹t lost his bite."
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=238&aid=58797
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
#35
Posted: 4/20/06 at 6:07pm
I'd say it's more mixed than negative.
At least there are some new production photos.
(re: Newsday)
At least there are some new production photos.
(re: Newsday)
Updated On: 4/20/06 at 06:07 PM
#36
Posted: 4/20/06 at 6:07pm
are there any clips of the show? I just would like to hear the music. I guess I'll have to wait for Broadway.com's opening night video.
#39
Posted: 4/20/06 at 6:14pm
Oh thanks. I didnt read through the thread yet, is it on there? i was just skimming. I'll read it tonight.
#42
Posted: 4/20/06 at 6:20pm
"Brecht and Weill purists may also be horrified by the glam-rock makeover and its lack of Marxist politics."
I wasn't horrified (and I quite like the "glam-rock makeover), but the "lack of Marxist politics" is my biggest squabble with the new production... Well, that, and the fact that I don't particularly like some of the new translation.
It's a fantastic show, though.
I'm REALLY surprised at the positive response Nellie McKay has gotten from critics so far... Maybe she DID have an "off night" when I saw the show...
I wasn't horrified (and I quite like the "glam-rock makeover), but the "lack of Marxist politics" is my biggest squabble with the new production... Well, that, and the fact that I don't particularly like some of the new translation.
It's a fantastic show, though.
I'm REALLY surprised at the positive response Nellie McKay has gotten from critics so far... Maybe she DID have an "off night" when I saw the show...
#43
Posted: 4/20/06 at 6:21pm
Well, Winer hates the translation and Elliot's direction, and pretty much only likes the source material and the cast - I'd definitely say she's mixed to negative.
NY1 review is nice, but I wanna know which Chelsea club is full of trannies - I think it's been a while since that reviewer hit the dance floor.
NY1 review is nice, but I wanna know which Chelsea club is full of trannies - I think it's been a while since that reviewer hit the dance floor.
Updated On: 4/20/06 at 06:21 PM
#44
Posted: 4/20/06 at 6:30pm
BSoBW2, I was there that night in the right mezz! Out of curiosity, were you at the stage door? Begging your pardon, but I'm from Delaware, so whenever I manage to get to New York, I always get a small kick out of meeting other BWWers.
Stop looking at my charisma.
#45
Posted: 4/20/06 at 6:33pm
I was at the stagedoor...
Did you have that cool OLD BROADWAY book....full of B&W photos?
I was front row, A5.
Did you have that cool OLD BROADWAY book....full of B&W photos?
I was front row, A5.
#46
Posted: 4/20/06 at 7:54pm
Broadway.com is Negative:
"Ouch! Broadway's new Threepenny Opera hurts—the eyes, the brain, and, at close to three hours, the ass. It's not so hard on the ears, as music director Kevin Stites makes Kurt Weill's prickly neo-classical score glitter and glare. But director Scott Elliott, using a showily crude and oddly spliced new translation by playwright Wallace Shawn, has turned Bertolt Brecht's 1928 play, about petit-bourgeois capitalists whose trades happen to be murder, fraud, and prostitution, into a dull hodgepodge of unfunny comedy sketches, and he's dressed it in the semi-contemporary drag of Isaac Mizrahi's pointedly ugly costumes. There's supposed to be shock value, I guess, in refashioning the lead gangster, Macheath (Alan Cumming), into a bisexual hustler and making over his gang as androgynous droogs out of Purple Rain or Rocky Horror. But the real shock is how boring and hollow the effort seems.
________________________________________________________________
But this Threepenny isn't just delivered with neon-sign quotation marks, as actors dress and put on make-up onstage and opera supertitles publish the names of scenes and songs; Elliott's production is nothing but a series of quotation marks—presentation ideas minus any compelling notion of what's being presented, how the ideas might fit together or spark some illuminating friction from their contrast.
________________________________________________________________
Nobody onstage seems to belong in the same play, decade or continent. We may savor a few music-hall moments with Jim Dale's Monty Python-esque Peachum, even if Shawn has unwisely excised most of the material that explains Peachum's exploitative begging/extortion racket. And we may luxuriate in Lauper's drunken-ostrich rendition of "Solomon Song." There's less pleasure to be had from Ana Gasteyer, who plays Mrs. Peachum as a brittle Long Island matron and belts her songs loudly and humorlessly, or from Brian Charles Rooney's tacky countertenor take on Lucy Brown. Ditto the motley cast of would-be misfits and miscreants, who are given precious little to wear by Mizrahi and still less to do by choreographer Aszure Barton.
Warbling and wobbling touchingly atop this shipwreck is Nellie McKay, who plays the twisted ingénue Polly with an otherworldly abandon that might have been star-making in a better vehicle. As it is, McKay's oddball histrionics just happen to be the most interesting thing about this impoverished Threepenny."
http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=527874
"Ouch! Broadway's new Threepenny Opera hurts—the eyes, the brain, and, at close to three hours, the ass. It's not so hard on the ears, as music director Kevin Stites makes Kurt Weill's prickly neo-classical score glitter and glare. But director Scott Elliott, using a showily crude and oddly spliced new translation by playwright Wallace Shawn, has turned Bertolt Brecht's 1928 play, about petit-bourgeois capitalists whose trades happen to be murder, fraud, and prostitution, into a dull hodgepodge of unfunny comedy sketches, and he's dressed it in the semi-contemporary drag of Isaac Mizrahi's pointedly ugly costumes. There's supposed to be shock value, I guess, in refashioning the lead gangster, Macheath (Alan Cumming), into a bisexual hustler and making over his gang as androgynous droogs out of Purple Rain or Rocky Horror. But the real shock is how boring and hollow the effort seems.
________________________________________________________________
But this Threepenny isn't just delivered with neon-sign quotation marks, as actors dress and put on make-up onstage and opera supertitles publish the names of scenes and songs; Elliott's production is nothing but a series of quotation marks—presentation ideas minus any compelling notion of what's being presented, how the ideas might fit together or spark some illuminating friction from their contrast.
________________________________________________________________
Nobody onstage seems to belong in the same play, decade or continent. We may savor a few music-hall moments with Jim Dale's Monty Python-esque Peachum, even if Shawn has unwisely excised most of the material that explains Peachum's exploitative begging/extortion racket. And we may luxuriate in Lauper's drunken-ostrich rendition of "Solomon Song." There's less pleasure to be had from Ana Gasteyer, who plays Mrs. Peachum as a brittle Long Island matron and belts her songs loudly and humorlessly, or from Brian Charles Rooney's tacky countertenor take on Lucy Brown. Ditto the motley cast of would-be misfits and miscreants, who are given precious little to wear by Mizrahi and still less to do by choreographer Aszure Barton.
Warbling and wobbling touchingly atop this shipwreck is Nellie McKay, who plays the twisted ingénue Polly with an otherworldly abandon that might have been star-making in a better vehicle. As it is, McKay's oddball histrionics just happen to be the most interesting thing about this impoverished Threepenny."
http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=527874
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
#47
Posted: 4/20/06 at 8:03pm
I am suprised how pissy some critics are being about the fact that it was updated. What do they think would be the point if it was just the same as any other production?
I am also stunned that most critics find McKay to be the highlight. Dont get me wrong, I loved her performance, but I feel that Lauper, Dale, and Gastayer were all stronger than McKay. Let me reiterate though that I thought the entire cast was fantastic.
I am also stunned that most critics find McKay to be the highlight. Dont get me wrong, I loved her performance, but I feel that Lauper, Dale, and Gastayer were all stronger than McKay. Let me reiterate though that I thought the entire cast was fantastic.
"The hallmark of aristocracy is responsibility. Oh brother, that got me, that did me in!"
#48
Posted: 4/20/06 at 8:13pm
The major consensus from my industry friends has been that the show is a train wreck but Nellie McKay is the highlight, which is different than the buzz here but consistent so far with the reviews. I look forward to making up my own mind about the production next week.
#49
Posted: 4/20/06 at 8:20pm
The broadway.com opening sentence annoys me the most.
It wasn't bad like that - the reviewer obviously just did not like the plot/subjects - which is no one's fault. Now if they had any real problems or concerns, I'd like to hear them...
*I hope they still record it because I thought it was incredible*
It wasn't bad like that - the reviewer obviously just did not like the plot/subjects - which is no one's fault. Now if they had any real problems or concerns, I'd like to hear them...
*I hope they still record it because I thought it was incredible*
And the other thing about the Phantom Lady was, Bert, she realized, in the city that never sleeps...
What did she realize, Kitten?
That all the songs she'd listened to, all the love songs, that they were only songs.
What's wrong with that?
Nothing, if you don't believe in them. But she did, you see. She believed in enchanted evenings, and she believed that a small cloud passed overhead and cried down on a flower bed, and she even believed there was breakfast to be had...
Where?
On Pluto. The mysterious, icy wastes of Pluto.
#50
Posted: 4/20/06 at 8:21pm
Honestly, if this does not get recorded it will be a terrible shame.
"The hallmark of aristocracy is responsibility. Oh brother, that got me, that did me in!"
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