Weill's Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Weill's Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#0Weill's Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 11/14/05 at 12:06pm
I'd love to see this, but it's in LA, unfortunately. Oh well. It'll be interesting to see how how McDonald handles this music. It's a songspiel that Lenya did to perfection originally, but in recent years has been done mostly by opera singers -- notably Teresa Stratas. The role is very difficult, shifting frequently between most singers' chest and head registers, but given her training and all the amplification, McDonald should be fine.
From Playbill:
"Tony Award winners Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald, who most recently shared the stage in the Ravinia Festival's production of Anyone Can Whistle, will reteam for a production of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's opera The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.
LuPone, who recently received rave reviews for her portrayal of Mrs. Lovett in the hit Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd, told Playbill.com, "I am doing Mahagonny . . . with Audra [McDonald] with the L.A. Opera in 2007, directed by Tim Robbins, conducted by James Conlon." The opera, which features the classic tune "Moon of Alabama," will feature LuPone as Mrs. Begbick, a madame, and McDonald as Jenny, a prostitute.
The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny was originally presented in Leipzig in 1930. In 1931 Lotte Lenya, Weill's wife, starred in a production in Germany. The opera was subsequently banned by the Nazis and did not play Germany again until the 1950's."
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/96245.html
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 11/14/05 at 12:06 PM
Chrysanthemum62001
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/04
#1re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 11/14/05 at 12:21pm
I guess my question is: So who is Michael gonna play?! 
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL
SueleenGay
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/9/03
#2re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 11/14/05 at 12:25pm
My guess is that Michael will play the Billy Dee Williams role.
I can't WAIT to hear Audra sing "Do You Know Where You're Going To?"
PEACE.
#3re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 11/14/05 at 2:01pm
You gave me a scare and a huge laugh...
I actually pictured Audra in a musical version of the Diana Ross film... and LuPone playing the Billy Dee Williams part.
Oh, my nerves!
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#4re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 11/14/05 at 2:06pmPerhaps I should edit the thread title.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
#5re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 11/14/05 at 4:09pm
I never thought these words would cross my lips, but I wish I lived in LA...
#6re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 11/14/05 at 5:16pmI wish the MET would release their version of Mahagonny with Theresa Stratas. Lotte Lenya once called Ms. Stratas the greatest singing actress she knew.
rmposey
Stand-by Joined: 5/13/04
#7re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 11/16/05 at 11:28amI'd just like to say that I've recently developed a deep love for Kurt Weill. I'm working on "Somehow I Never Could Believe" from "Street Scene" and am loving it! Audra and Patti in "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogonny", very neato! One of my best friends lives near LA, perhaps it's time for a visit. =)
I should have eaten the saw and used the cake to bludgeon my way out - Alfred Hitchcock
touchmeinthemorning
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/3/04
#8re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 11/16/05 at 12:12pm
Why does Weill continuously have whores named Jenny?
I can't wait to plan a trip to LA for this one!
"Fundamentalism means never having to say 'I'm wrong.'"
-- unknown
#9re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 1/16/06 at 11:16pmYeah, I'll definitely be making visits in LA at the beginning of 2007!
yr ronin,
joey
joey
C is for Company
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/16/05
#10re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 1/16/06 at 11:20pmWhat CDs are available of any of Lotte's work?
#11re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 1/17/06 at 12:22amI am so excited that I am going to finally see Patti LuPone LIVE!!! I am already saving my money, since tickets at the LA Opera are sorta expensive. I am excited that a show and an actress I really want to see is are coming to Los Angeles.
#12re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 1/17/06 at 12:28amLotte Lenya called Stratas the greatest singer she knew because Stratas moved in with Lenya and took care of her. Stratas lost her singing voice after vocal chord surgery by the same surgeon who operated on Julie Andrews...
"It does what a musical is supposed to do; it takes you to another world. And it gives you a little tune to carry in your head. Something to take you away from the dreary horrors of the real world. A little something for when you're feeling blue. You know?"
StageWhore
Broadway Star Joined: 11/11/05
#13re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 1/17/06 at 12:45amWow, I'm happy to be living in California (for once). I really lucked out here- my friend gets free tickets to the Opera through her Conservatory. *Dances*
"`I grow old... I grow old... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.` What does that mean, Mr. Marlowe?"
"Not a bloody thing. It just sounds good."
He smiled. "That is from the `Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.` Here's another one. `In the room women come and go/Talking of Michael Angelo.' Does that suggest anything to you, sir?"
"Yeah -- it suggests to me that the guy didn't know very much about women."
"My sentiments exactly, sir. Nonetheless I admire T. S. Eliot very much."
"Did you say, 'nonetheless'?"
- The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#14re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 1/17/06 at 9:14am
I remember seeing the Met production with Stratas on PBS. so there's a video tape out there somewhere...
By the way, Stratas was freakin' amazing in RAGS- too bad she didn't do the cast recording. Julia Migenes' vibrato and sloppy diction drive me up the wall.
#15re: Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone
Posted: 1/17/06 at 10:04am
BB6, Stratas is 1 of the greatest singing actresses. Lenya from all accounts was very critical. I'm skeptical that she would call Stratas "the greatest..." simply because she moved in w/her to take care of her. Indeed, I've seen Stratas scores of times & her acting was magnificent even if her singing was impaired at the end.
Stratas (who lives across the street fr me) is famous for her good deeds, fr working w/Mother Teresa in India to even helping me, hands-on, take care of a mutual friend who was dying of AIDS.
Milla
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