As an audience member, you will love this production – or hate it.
Written in 1928, “The Threepenny Opera” has music by Kurt Weil and adaptation and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht (translated from German). This decadent mass of broken, downtrodden characters comes to life in a roller coaster production with more than a dozen songs satirizing the lives of the have and have nots. The best known song is “Mack The Knife,” which introduces the dastardly vile Mackheath (superbly played by Johnny Moreno), who romps his way through the times with murder, theft, rape and is somehow, somewhat irresistible, surviving on guts, arrogance and bluster.
Kenneth Kelleher moves his stellar cast at a breakneck speed that leaves no room for catching your breath. They move from one scene to the next without a break in a clever, simple set, with props by Giulio Perrone, video productions by Garland Thompson Jr., lighting by Maurice Vercoutere and sound by John Koss. Musical Director Richard Marriot brings in the music with a well-balanced, six-piece band, and Marybeth Cavanaugh’s choreography moves well. Given the simplicity and size of the theatre, the presentation is imaginative and well-detailed.
“The Threepenny Opera” is not for everyone, but if you have a mind for the edge of what some lives were at the time – and possibly could be now – it might be for you.
Camille Bounds is the Theatre and Arts editor for Sunrise Publications.
Not for children
Where: The Stage, 490 S. First St., San Jose
Through: March 30
Tickets: $25-50
Details: (408) 283-7142 or visit www.thestage.org
