The Threepenny Opera

Synopsis

The Threepenny Opera proclaims itself "an opera for beggars," and it was in fact an attempt both to satirize traditional opera and operetta and to create a new kind of musical theater based on the theories of two young German artists, composer Kurt Weill and poet-playwright Bert Brecht. The show opens with a mock-Baroque overture, a nod to Threepenny's source, The Beggar's Opera, a brilliantly successful parody of Handel's operas written by John Gay in 1728. In a brief prologue following the overture, a shabby figure comes onstage with a barrel organ and launches into a song chronicling the crimes of the notorious bandit and womanizer Macheath, "Mack the Knife." The setting is a fair in Soho (London), just before Queen Victoria's coronation. In this production, Weill champion HK Gruber led the Ensemble Modern in a performance of Weill's complete original score, the first time it had been heard in Germany in many years. This production was broadcast on German television (3sat).

Main Cast

Friedrich Karl Praetorius

Macheath, genannt Mackie Messer

Age : N/A | Popularity : 8%

Jürgen Holtz

Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum

Age : N/A | Popularity : 9%

Ingeborg Engelmann

Celia Peachum, seine Frau

Age : N/A | Popularity : 2%

Katherina Lange

Polly Peachum, seine Tochter

Age : N/A | Popularity : 2%

Axel Böhmert

Brown, Polizeichef von London

Age : N/A | Popularity : 0%

Dorothee Hartinger

Lucy, seine Tochter

Age : 53 | Popularity : 20%

Carola Regnier

Die Spelunken-Jenny

Age : N/A | Popularity : 26%

Wilfried Elste

Pastor Kimball

Age : N/A | Popularity : 4%

Crew

Department	Role	Name
Sound	Music	Kurt Weill Bertolt Brecht
	Conductor	H.K. Gruber
Writing	Book	Bertolt Brecht Elisabeth Hauptmann
Directing	Director	Hans Hollmann Barrie Gavin
Department	Role	Name

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