Lotte Lenya News

Filled with colorful criminals, biting social satire and a brilliant score, The Threepenny Opera opens International City Theatre's 2009 Season at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Jules Aaron directs Michael Feingold's translation of the trailblazing musical by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill that became one of the most influential plays of the 20th Century. Darryl Archibald is musical director and Kay Cole choreographs the five-week run February 20 through March 22; low-priced previews begin February 17. First performed in 1928, Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera was a revolutionary musical theater masterpiece that mocked the bourgeois political movement of pre-Hitler Germany. Brecht's brittle, sardonic tale of beggars, thieves and prostitutes, adapted from the 1728 play The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, was a fierce social and political critique, and Weill's innovative score that fused American jazz with German cabaret captured the ironic tone of the lyrics. Part acid social criticism, part bittersweet romance, the now eighty-year old saga of 'Mack the Knife' and his entourage of criminals and whores has never lost its theatrical punch. 'It's a satire on capitalism and corruption told from the viewpoint of the 'little people',' notes Aaron. 'If there was ever time to revive this show, it's now. Michael [Feingold]'s translation is earthy, gritty and very funny. I think it's going to strike a chord with audiences.'

On March 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m., The Collegiate Chorale appears with The New York City Opera Orchestra at the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall in a performance of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin's 1945 Broadway operetta The Firebrand of Florence. The performance, led by guest conductor Ted Sperling, stars baritone Nathan Gunn, soprano Anna Christy, baritone Terrence Mann, and soprano Victoria Clark. Krysty Swann, David Pittu and Patrick Goss complete the cast, and narration will be provided by Stage Director Roger Rees. Boasting a score by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by playwright and screenwriter Edwin Justus Mayer, The Firebrand of Florence had a short run on Broadway in 1945. The work was subsequently not heard for over a half-century until three presentations - Ohio Light Opera (1999), the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London (2000) and the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna (2000) - shed new light on the relatively obscure work. The performances were not only accepted, but widely acclaimed, thus giving hope for a new life in a new century. Variety's theater critic Steven Suskin says 'I have long believed that Firebrand in concert should be a dazzling delight.' Benvenuto Cellini, the great Florentine artist, is sentenced to hang, but he is pardoned when the duke realizes that he has not completed a previously commissioned sculpture. Freed, he is able to turn his attention to his favorite model (and object of his affections), Angela. The Duke also is interested in Angela. In a typical operetta plot, Cellini swashbuckles around the stage, keeping the Duke away from Angela, keeping himself away from the Duchess, and escaping yet another death sentence by fleeing to Paris, as the end of the show recapitulates the beginning.

Filled with colorful criminals, biting social satire and a brilliant score, The Threepenny Opera opens International City Theatre's 2009 Season at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Jules Aaron directs Michael Feingold's translation of the trailblazing musical by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill that became one of the most influential plays of the 20th Century. Darryl Archibald is musical director and Kay Cole choreographs the five-week run February 20 through March 22; low-priced previews begin February 17. First performed in 1928, Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera was a revolutionary musical theater masterpiece that mocked the bourgeois political movement of pre-Hitler Germany. Brecht's brittle, sardonic tale of beggars, thieves and prostitutes, adapted from the 1728 play The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, was a fierce social and political critique, and Weill's innovative score that fused American jazz with German cabaret captured the ironic tone of the lyrics. Part acid social criticism, part bittersweet romance, the now eighty-year old saga of 'Mack the Knife' and his entourage of criminals and whores has never lost its theatrical punch. 'It's a satire on capitalism and corruption told from the viewpoint of the 'little people',' notes Aaron. 'If there was ever time to revive this show, it's now. Michael [Feingold]'s translation is earthy, gritty and very funny. I think it's going to strike a chord with audiences.'

Variety is reporting that two-time Tony Winner Donna Murphy has landed a recurring role on the TNT series TRUST ME. In 1994, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Fosca in Stephen Sondheim's and James Lapine's Passion. In 1996, she appeared as Anna Leonowens in the Broadway revival of The King and I alongside Lou Diamond Philips. The role earned her another Tony for Best Actress in a Musical.She also appeared in a revival of Wonderful Town (from 2003 to 2005) and in Lovemusik (2007) as Lotte Lenya, opposite fellow Tony winner Michael Cerveris as Kurt Weill. She also appeared in the recent presentation of Follies by Encores and in the BC/EFA Benefit concert of Pamela's First Musical. Murphy's recent film roles include The Nanny Diaries as Scarlett Johansson's mother and Spider-Man 2 as Rosalie Octavius, wife of Dr. Otto Octavius, the movie's villain. Murphy is perhaps best known to film viewers for her role as Anij in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) as the love interest of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Gloria Deluxe is a musical group fronted by Cynthia Hopkins: a versatile composer, graceful lyricist, and accomplished performer on piano, accordion, guitar, saw, and of course, vocals. Wrapped in a weary, country twang with a raspy undertone, Hopkins's delicate yet emotionally forceful voice has been compared to a wide range of vocalists including Billie Holiday, Natalie Merchant, and Lotte Lenya; her lyrics evoking dark humor and sparkling intelligence in equal measure.

Gloria Deluxe is a musical group fronted by Cynthia Hopkins: a versatile composer, graceful lyricist, and accomplished performer on piano, accordion, guitar, saw, and of course, vocals. Wrapped in a weary, country twang with a raspy undertone, Hopkins's delicate yet emotionally forceful voice has been compared to a wide range of vocalists including Billie Holiday, Natalie Merchant, and Lotte Lenya; her lyrics evoking dark humor and sparkling intelligence in equal measure.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, This multi-award winning musical returns to San Francisco for the holidays plays the Orpheum Theatre beginning Wednesday, November 26 through Sunday, January 4.

Casting has been announced for the international smash hit, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. This multi-award winning musical returns to San Francisco for the holidays and will play the Orpheum Theatre beginning Wednesday, November 26 through Sunday, January 4.

SAN FRANCISCO (November 6, 2008)…Casting has been announced for the international smash hit, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. This multi-award winning musical returns to San Francisco for the holidays and will play the Orpheum Theatre beginning Wednesday, November 26 through Sunday, January 4.

Vocalist Ute Lemper performed Kurt Weill's Seven Deadly Sins on Wednesday, October 1, and Thursday, October 2, in Toronto Roy Thomson Hall with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. And will perform it at Carnegie Hall tonight Saturday, October 4, 2008.

On Sunday, November 9, the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, and 75 years since Adolf Hitler's rise to power, the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and The Royal Conservatory of Music, Canada, will launch 'Music in Exile-Emigré Composers of the 1930s,' a five-day series of concerts, talks, and a music-theater piece celebrating the music of Jewish composers forced to flee the Third Reich and German composers who resisted the Nazi regime.

Renowned performer delivers a tour de force in new WWII dramatic musical.

The Tony Award-winning Manhattan Theatre Club (Peter J. Solomon, Chairman of the Board; Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) dedicated its Broadway theatre the 'Samuel J. Friedman Theatre' on Thursday, September 4. The ceremony began at the theatre (261 West 47th Street at 8th Avenue) . MTC previously announced that it was renaming its Broadway home, until now known as the Biltmore Theatre, the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in recognition of the pioneering Broadway publicist.

The Tony Award-winning Manhattan Theatre Club (Peter J. Solomon, Chairman of the Board; Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) will dedicate its Broadway theatre the 'Samuel J. Friedman Theatre' on Thursday, September 4.

The Tony Award-winning Manhattan Theatre Club (Peter J. Solomon, Chairman of the Board; Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) will dedicate its Broadway theatre the 'Samuel J. Friedman Theatre' on Thursday, September 4.

On Sunday, November 9, the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, and 75 years since Adolf Hitler's rise to power, the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, in association with Canada's Royal Conservatory of Music, will launch 'Music in Exile-Emigre Composers of the 1930s,' a five-day series of concerts, talks, and a music-theater piece celebrating the music of Jewish composers forced to flee the Third Reich and German composers who resisted the Nazi regime.

The Tony Awardâ-winning Manhattan Theatre Club (Peter J. Solomon, Chairman of the Board; Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) today announced it will rename its Broadway house, the landmarked Biltmore Theatre, the 'Samuel J. Friedman Theatre' in recognition of the pioneering Broadway publicist.

Award-winning showbiz entertainers, Corky Hale and Charlotte Rae, will perform in a show emceed by Carl Reiner, with Jeff Lass serving as Music Director. The show, 'A Festive Evening For Westside Center for Independent Living,' is a benefit for WCIL.

Ute Lemper sings Kurt Weill's SEVEN DEADLY SINS in concert with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in October. Two performances at Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto followed by a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York.

The legendary director/ producer Harold Prince has won an astounding 21 Tony Awards for his body of work. He returned to Broadway last year as the director of the new musical Love Musik, about the relationship of Lotte Lenya and Kurt Weill. Here he talks about the musical and working with Lenya on the original production of Cabaret.