Word: brecht
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...chief problem in talking about the Three-penny Opera at Lowell House in the days to come will be the choice of adjectives. "Brilliant" pretty well covers the production, but no one word is enough. Kurt Weill and Bert Brecht's composition is also beautiful and funny and splendid. A greatness of the opera lies in the fact that it is contrapuntally ugly and sad and tawdry. It is the grinning beggar on the street who wants to amuse but gets a raw pleasure from turning his check to show scars or festering gashes...
Above all however, the Threepenny Opera can be entertaining and the Lowell House Musical Society underlines every entertaining aspect, still careful to preserve the work's artistry and social philosophy. For while Brecht could toy with the concept of opera, he would not yield on his ideas. His firmness and intensity spark both text and lyrics. He permits his audience to laugh, heartily and often, then growls at them harshly, "Honest folk may act like sinners, unless they've had their customary dinners." Whatever one thinks of Brecht's grievances of thirty years ago, he makes them compelling and troubling...
...Ballad of Survival" and "The Ballad of Dependency." Bronia Sielewicz, as the prostitute Jenny, will make even the most sentimental viewer forgive her for replacing the familiar German accent of Lotte Lenya. "The Pirate Jenny" and "The Solomon Song" are two of the best examples of Weill and Brecht's art and Miss Sielewicz gives them at least their due. Sara-Jane Smith plays Polly Peachum with a fine veneer of innocence and propriety barely covering Polly's lusty nature. Miss Smith, with the entire cast, seems completely to understand her role, and credit for this must go to director...
Though the ladies in the cast are all near-perfect, the men do not suffer from comparison. As Jonathan Peachum, Fred Kimball can carry along the Brecht text in those rare moments when it wants in wit. Plagued by throat trouble, Kimball's singing was only the more authentic for the part. Dean Gitter, as Mack the Knife, was amusing and sleazy on cue, and when called upon near the end to carry the whole production through several numbers, rose to the occasion with no strain. He was a fine Macheath. With principals so admirably in hand, Mr. Aaron might...
Many such productions, like "Saint Joan of the Stock Yards," and "The Rise of the City of Mahogany," were sharply cynical social criticisms. Mare Blitzstein translated one of these, "The Threepenny Opera," whose original script was by Brecht with score by Kurt Weill. This take-off on "The Beggar's Opera" employs such epic techniques as a blackout before songs, then a spot-light on one character who sings about the action and its implications. If the actor doesn't clarify the situation, there are placards on stage explaining what is being sung...