Threepenny Opera questions

I'm fairly familiar with "Threepenny" (just got the LP of the NYSF version with Raul Julia off ebay!) but have some questions:

1) "Pirate Jenny" - I have seen a couple of versions where Polly sings it during the Wedding scene and others where Jenny sings it in Act 2 before the Tango with Mack - which is correct, which is more common? I dont like Polly singing it, she gets to show her sinister side with "Barbara Song".

3) "Ballad of Mack the Knife" - in different versions it is presented first by the Street Singer, but also some versions have Jenny sing it (in place of "Pirate Jenny" when Polly sings it earlier) - which is preferable? I like Jenny singing it, gives her character more of a presence, but I dont like sacrificing "Pirate Jenny" for it.

2) modern versions - what are the overall thoughts on putting it into a modern setting? I like the Donmar version, but dont know if the visuals detracted too much. And the recent Bway revival looked interesting (from pics) but dont know how the translation worked?

3) film versions - obviously the 1931 German black and white is great, but is the 1990 "Mack the Knife" worth watching?

4) is the Alan Cumming, Cyndi Lauper version ever going to be commercially released on CD? I would be very interested in hearing how Wallace Shawn brought a new interpretation to the lyrics. From what I gather, Scott Ellis sort of messed up the show, but if anyone has the vocals for download I would be VERY interested.

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one of them still ****ed up threepenny.

I like Polly singing Pirate Jenny. Well, really I'm just used to her singing it. I saw the Roundabout revival and Nellie McKay was just wonderful.

I know in the Roundabout revival Jenny sang Mack the Knife at the beginning, in the Donmar revival she sang it in Act Two.

Unfortunately The Roundabout production never got recorded. It's the one album I wish I had more than anything. I loved the show. I guess it might've been messed up by Elliot, but I can't believe the chance went by to preserve a new adaptation performed by a supercast: Alan, Nellie, Ana, Jim and Cyndi (as well as Brian Charles Rooney singing legit soprano!)

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Jon's right. Scratch what I said about 18th century.

And what about the out-of-town production with Betty Buckley and Jesse L. Martin - was that more successful than the recent Broadway revival?

What are your thoughts on interpolating other Weill songs (i.e. Bilbao Song, Surabaya Johnny, or even September Song) into a production of 3PO?

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I'm not sure that she played Polly (as I wrote). I think it may be that she later played Lucy rather than Polly. The more I think about it, the more I think it was Lucy.

At one time there was a long, very interesting thread here on Threepenny recordings, but I think it got lost in the crash. There are couple of shorter ones still here, not as interesting.

Updated On: 2/26/09 at 07:58 PM

The mind is the first thing to go Kringas.

The Barbara/Bilbao mix in the Theatre de Lys version sounds nutty.

I don't really think songs should be shuffled around or interpolated. The show is great the way it was originally written...cept I still like Polly singing Pirate Jenny, it's gives the character a bit more edge.

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"The show is great the way it was originally written...cept I still like Polly singing Pirate Jenny, it's gives the character a bit more edge."

And that's the way it was originally written.

ack, sorry, this thread's making the "who sings Pirate Jenny" thing kinda confusing.

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Because when Polly sings it, she's not singing about herself, nor is she singing it about Mack's Jenny.

Sometimes (or perhaps most of the time) Polly sings both "Pirate Jenny" and "Barbara Song" (and I would like to know why it is called that too!)

We did it at UNT...I was Filch...and our Jenny sang "Pirate Jenny" during the wedding scene...there was a "freeze" and she walked on, sang it and left. We did the 1994 Domnar Version and the score actually had the street singer sing "Mack the Knife" at the beginning...so I am not sure why their Jenny sang it when she did.
Also, our "Socrates Song" was sung by Lucy after the Polly/Lucy Scene in Lucy's Room.

Lenya definitely sings "Pirate Jenny" (or "Seeräuber Jenny") in the Pabst film.

Personally, given the circumstances under which she sings it, I don't think giving Polly "Pirate Jenny" necessarily gives her a harder edge. If anything, it might sort of do the opposite.

"As it has been mentioned, 'Pirate Jenny' was written to be song by Polly. It's been awhile since I saw the 1931 movie, but I seem to recall Lenya singing the song. The first time the song was sung by Polly in a New York production was in 1989."

According to the song list on ibdb, Polly sang it in the first New York production. And I wouldn't be surprised if she sang it in some earlier production before the Dexter productions, some Off-Off Broadway productions.