Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera (l'Opera de Quat'Sous in French) is one of those works that became the hallmark of its era. Its sound, its look, and its cynicism are pure Weimar. However, during the 1928 Berlin premiere, early songs such as 'The Ballad of Mac The Knife' and 'Pirate Jenny' landed with a shrug, and it wasn't until the 'Canon Song,' halfway through the first act, that the audience became engaged. All of this to say that The Threepenny Opera is a complicated play whose virtues might not be immediately evident to the uninitiated. The production at Avignon's Opera Confluence, as directed by Jean Lacornerie, comes in at a swift two hours without intermission. While crammed onto an over-packed stage and breathlessly paced, Lacornerie still manages to keep the action moving with style.
New York City Opera has announced that it will produce the world premiere of the award-winning jazz composer/pianist Ted Rosenthal's DEAR ERICH. This new jazz opera, to be co-produced with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, will open Wednesday, January 9 and will play four performances only through Sunday, January 13 at the Edmond J. Safra Hall at 36 Battery Place, in lower Manhattan.
Bristol Old Vic today went on sale with its Winter/Spring 2019 programme, launching a new season of inspiring, cutting-edge and award-winning theatre, set to take Bristol by storm following its ground-breaking Year of Change.
Kneehigh today announced that Carl Grose will be become Deputy Artistic Director for the company working alongside Artistic Director and Founder Mike Shepherd.
Mount Gay Rum Distilleries, the makers of the world's oldest rum, unveils the first edition of the Master Blender Collection with the launch of XO The Peat Smoke Expression, a unique and unconventional limited edition blend crafted by Mount Gay Master Blender Allen Smith. The expression is a complex blend marrying the aromas of ripe bananas and toasted notes of Mount Gay XO, with the salty and smoky notes coming from peated whisky casks.
Wilton's Music Hall, the oldest grand music hall in the world, today announces its 2019 Spring season - a glorious collection of theatre, and music from some of the UK's most exceptional companies and artists.
Luxembourg has welcomed a variety of interesting shows over the last months, but it has been a while since the public had a chance to see something as great as this version of The Beggar's Opera. This famous masterpiece devised by John Gay and Johann Christoph Pepuschm, who some claim to have defined our modern understanding of musical theatre, is often subject to small adaptations, in order to better fit a certain decade or national context. In this version, Robert Carsen and Ian Burton made the choice to set the play in modern Britain, using 21st century costumes and writing references to today's social and political environment.
Following the huge success of Ubu Karaoke, indisputably this summer's most raucous and audience centric musical, and with Fup about to open at the Asylum ahead of a UK tour, Kneehigh is on a roll and thrilled to announce the return of their trail-blazing and much celebrated theatrical tour-de-force, Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs).
The Orchard Project is proud to announce the artists, teams, and ensembles participating in its twelfth summer theatre residency program. More than 30 artists and ensembles were selected for residencies this summer from nearly 600 theatre artists and companies who applied. The artists, teams, and companies will come to Saratoga Springs from across the United States and the world to accelerate projects at various stages of development. Throughout the program, the Orchard Project will also present a series of special events and cabarets for the public by OP residents and associated artists.
THE THREEPENNY OPERA is a 20th century classic that is rarely performed by a professional opera company. Boston Lyric Opera and Director James Darrah have brought together an ensemble of artists whose acting skills and stellar vocal talents distinctively portray the cast of memorable characters and beautifully render Kurt Weill's jazzy score.
Today the Edinburgh International Festival unveils its 2018 programme. The International Festival runs Friday 3 to Monday 27 August. The event welcomes 2,750 artists from 31 nations to perform in Scotland's capital city and attracts visitors from all over the world, with audiences expected to travel from over 80 nations to be part of Edinburgh's global celebration of culture.
The selection of The Threepenny Opera to inaugurate Street's 2018 season is one of the year's most eagerly anticipated theatrical events in Music City - thanks in part to the fact that it may well be the first home-grown staging of Brecht and Weill's parody of operetta that, in turn, skewers capitalistic society while touting socialist, even Troskyite, values in the guise of a rather farcical music hall diversion. Does it succeed? The answer is 'yes,' perhaps even an emphatic 'YES!' although one must pay close attention to the lyrics for the punch of the political set amidst a story that, on the surface, seems somewhat apolitical in tone, style and nature.
Central City Opera's 2018 Summer Festival, which runs from July 7 to August 5, 2018, features Mozart'sThe Magic Flute and Verdi's Il trovatore in repertory. Also performed in smaller venues throughout Central City are one-act productions of Handel's Acis and Galatea and the 40th Anniversary of Henry Mollicone's Face on the Barroom floor, a Central City Opera commissioned work.
Amnon Kabatchnik's celebrated Blood on the Stage series will grow by two volumes this Fall with the release of two new installments: Blood on the Stage: 1600-1800 and Blood on the Stage: 1800-1900. Published by Rowman & Littlefield, Blood on the Stage: 1600-1800 and Blood on the Stage: 1800-1900 will be available nationwide in late August 2017 and late September 2017 respectively.
Prop Thtr is debuting the comedy Alone, With Friends... on June 30, 2017. The play is written by Lee Peters and directed by Alexander St. John. Gay or straight, being dumped sucks. After his first serious relationship ends, Steven Hilton (Jonathan Rivera) seeks advice and comfort from his circle of friends. Through several humorous, revealing and honest moments, Steven realizes he may be looking for love in the wrong places. Along the way, he discovers that friends can be your true soulmates.
Boston Lyric Opera's Stanford Calderwood General & Artistic Director Esther Nelson announced today an eclectic 2017/18 Season designed to please die-hard opera fans as well as newcomers to the art form. Each of the Company's productions will be presented on a different area stage, starting October 13-22, 2017 with a new production of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca featuring the American debut of award-winning rising global star Elena Stikhina in the title role. The World Premiere of The Nefarious, Immoral but Highly Profitable Enterprise of Mr. Burke & Mr. Hare (a.k.a. Burke & Hare) by composer Julian Grant and librettist Mark Campbell follows November 8-12, 2017. From March 16-25, 2018, BLO presents Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's pivotal early-20th century work The Threepenny Opera. BLO closes its Season in May with Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti, paired with his Arias and Barcarolles, to mark the Lawrence, Mass.-born composer's centennial.
Trap Door Theatre will present The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, written by Bertolt Brecht and translated by George Tabori and Alistair Beaton. Directed by Victor Quezada-Perez, the production will run March 16 - April 22, 2017.
The Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center announce the special events lineup for the 26th annual New York Jewish Film Festival (NYJFF), January 11-24, 2017.
