Cabaret Scenes Theatre Review - The Three Penny Opera

The shark's teeth may be pearly white, but at Studio 54, The Threepenny Opera is dark, dissembled, and deceptive. Wallace Shawn's current translation for The Roundabout Theater Company takes the drama and ideology in Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's bizarre street opera, and punches it up with sophomoric street shock and gender bending that is ultimately boring. How can the story of Macheath, an evil sociopath with nary a dab of fascination, get so tiresome? Despite Brecht and Weill's intense, jazzy songs, Derek McLane's harsh, stylish staging, and Isaac Mizrahi's wildly theatrical costumes, the result is a lot of melodrama but little wit or imagination.

A great hit in pre-1930's Europe as a satirical judgment on the post-World War I era, The Threepenny Opera was based on John Gay's 1727 The Beggar's Opera. Though its message spoke to 1920's Berlin, the plot concerned the oppressed classes in Victorian England. In 1955, Marc Blitzstein translated the first successful off-Broadway production of the show at New York's Theatre de Lys. Kander and Ebb, years later, successfully adapted its dark ambience for Chicago and Cabaret.

Currently, director Scott Elliott showed hints of social statement but then stressed shock value, overwhelming the point of the story. The show is jolting and disjointed. It seems to be taking place in a madhouse, with blinding lights and neon messages and cast members often stopping the action to announce what is coming up.

In addition, much of the star-studded cast is mismanaged. Alan Cummings, as Macheath (Mack the Knife), is creepy rather than evil. There is no indication of charm; with his Mohawk haircut, he looks like a cardboard caricature. Everyone is supposed to be afraid of Macheath's underworld evilness, yet Cummings does not project the dangerous sociopath he is supposed to be. He is just a thug.

His bride, Polly Peachum is played by Nellie McKay, who has a lovely, lyrical pop voice but try as she might, she does not inhabit the robust spirit of the songs. This is particularly obvious in her rendition of the seductive musical narrative "Pirate Jenny."

As her disapproving father, and what father would not cringe at his daughter marrying Macheath, Jim Dale cannot be faulted. He moves gracefully and his lyrics are all distinct and evincive. Ana Gasteyer plays his distraught wife and projects a belting vocal tone that needs no amplification, particularly with her forceful diatribe on the treatment of women in "The Ballad of the Overwhelming Power of Sex."

Cyndi Lauper (Jennie), hooker and Mack's former lover who later betrays him. She is garbed much like her familiar pop star image, which is very appropriate here; her haunting sound with its edgy vibrato settles neatly into this show. She brings the company together to introduce the tale of "Mack The Knife," a song that later became swinging super hits for Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin. Lauper speaks with her trademark Queens' accent, but then again, all the characters speak in assorted accents, Cummings is Scottish, Gasteyer is New York, Dale is British -- perhaps a hint of universality?

The blame for this show has to fall on director Scott Elliott, who seems to have no concept for the story, which bumps and clashes along. The gritty tale has never been upbeat, but there was black humor in the original satire that is lacking here. The provocative music and harsh lyrics of the original Brecht/Weill opera for the masses remains, but the intent of urban corruption is buried under mounds of city refuse. The result is sleazy, too obvious and onerous to spend even one penny for three hours of vulgar repetition.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
April 27, 2006
www.cabaretscenes.org

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes



	The Threepenny Opera Studio 54 New York, NY
The shark's teeth may be pearly white, but at Studio 54, The Threepenny Opera is dark, dissembled, and deceptive. Wallace Shawn's current translation for The Roundabout Theater Company takes the drama and ideology in Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's bizarre street opera, and punches it up with sophomoric street shock and gender bending that is ultimately boring. How can the story of Macheath, an evil sociopath with nary a dab of fascination, get so tiresome? Despite Brecht and Weill's intense, jazzy songs, Derek McLane's harsh, stylish staging, and Isaac Mizrahi's wildly theatrical costumes, the result is a lot of melodrama but little wit or imagination. A great hit in pre-1930's Europe as a satirical judgment on the post-World War I era, The Threepenny Opera was based on John Gay's 1727 The Beggar's Opera. Though its message spoke to 1920's Berlin, the plot concerned the oppressed classes in Victorian England. In 1955, Marc Blitzstein translated the first successful off-Broadway production of the show at New York's Theatre de Lys. Kander and Ebb, years later, successfully adapted its dark ambience for Chicago and Cabaret. Currently, director Scott Elliott showed hints of social statement but then stressed shock value, overwhelming the point of the story. The show is jolting and disjointed. It seems to be taking place in a madhouse, with blinding lights and neon messages and cast members often stopping the action to announce what is coming up. In addition, much of the star-studded cast is mismanaged. Alan Cummings, as Macheath (Mack the Knife), is creepy rather than evil. There is no indication of charm; with his Mohawk haircut, he looks like a cardboard caricature. Everyone is supposed to be afraid of Macheath's underworld evilness, yet Cummings does not project the dangerous sociopath he is supposed to be. He is just a thug. His bride, Polly Peachum is played by Nellie McKay, who has a lovely, lyrical pop voice but try as she might, she does not inhabit the robust spirit of the songs. This is particularly obvious in her rendition of the seductive musical narrative "Pirate Jenny." As her disapproving father, and what father would not cringe at his daughter marrying Macheath, Jim Dale cannot be faulted. He moves gracefully and his lyrics are all distinct and evincive. Ana Gasteyer plays his distraught wife and projects a belting vocal tone that needs no amplification, particularly with her forceful diatribe on the treatment of women in "The Ballad of the Overwhelming Power of Sex." Cyndi Lauper (Jennie), hooker and Mack's former lover who later betrays him. She is garbed much like her familiar pop star image, which is very appropriate here; her haunting sound with its edgy vibrato settles neatly into this show. She brings the company together to introduce the tale of "Mack The Knife," a song that later became swinging super hits for Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin. Lauper speaks with her trademark Queens' accent, but then again, all the characters speak in assorted accents, Cummings is Scottish, Gasteyer is New York, Dale is British -- perhaps a hint of universality? The blame for this show has to fall on director Scott Elliott, who seems to have no concept for the story, which bumps and clashes along. The gritty tale has never been upbeat, but there was black humor in the original satire that is lacking here. The provocative music and harsh lyrics of the original Brecht/Weill opera for the masses remains, but the intent of urban corruption is buried under mounds of city refuse. The result is sleazy, too obvious and onerous to spend even one penny for three hours of vulgar repetition. Elizabeth Ahlfors Cabaret Scenes April 27, 2006 www.cabaretscenes.org Elizabeth Ahlfors Cabaret Scenes

The Threepenny Opera

Studio 54 New York, NY

Studio 54
New York, NY