BWW Reviews: THREEPENNY OPERA at Villanova Goes Back to Brecht

In 1728, John Gay unleashed upon the world what would prove to be most likely the most popular piece of musical theatre ever written, THE BEGGAR'S OPERA. Relying on a mixture of everything from existing Scottish folk music to Handel, the show (the longest-running production in its day) told the story of Polly Peachum, her family, the royalty of London beggardom, and her lover, the clever thief Macheath.

When Bertolt Brecht discovered it and then unleashed it on Berlin in 1928, with music by Kurt Weill replacing the traditional score, it was not accepted immediately, but by 1933 when Brecht left Germany, it already had been translated into 18 languages.

But Brecht didn't merely take the dialogue into German and update the music and lyrics. Brecht was one of the geniuses of theatre as the airing of the political, and his version of the play, THE THREEPENNY OPERA, transforms the tale of Polly, Macheath, and an angry family from a Regency domestic drama of the criminal classes to a sweeping tale of Victorian political corruption, greed, cronyism, and Brecht's own nascent feminism.

And yet, if you ask the casual theatergoer, you may well receive a blank stare until you start mentioning Bobby Darin and "Mack the Knife," Many won't even know "Pirate Jenny," despite its coverage by Judy Collins and Nina Simone alike.

Fortunately for those casual theatergoers who need to increase their theatrical literacy, as well as those more devout among us who are thrilled by the refresher, Valerie Joyce and Villanova Theatre have revived it, with the superior translation by Marc Blitzstein, in a production that's as showy and every bit as controversial as Brecht would have wanted. Not only does it highlight Brecht's forthright socialism, but even the more capitalist who nonetheless dislike Walmart will resonate to "The powerful of the earth can create poverty but they can't bear to look at it" and such other lines as "What is a man dead on his back compared to a man alive on his knees?"

And as if this alone were not an embarrassment of riches in the depths of Brecht's musings, there are Brecht's female characters. Although the show, much like LES MISERABLES, appears to be the tale of the conflict between the "good" villain Macheath and the man who would bring him down. J.J. Peachum, the women in LES MISERABLES are cardboard stock figures who are there merely to decorate the plot, while in THE THREEPENNY OPERA they exist to motivate all events. Polly, who wants to marry Macheath, suddenly realizes his value to her if he is dead and she inherits his business. Jenny Diver, his former mistress, is only too happy to sell information on Macheath to Peachum as revenge for Mack's desertion of her. Lucy Brown, the Police Commissioner's daughter, finds Polly both her enemy and an equally offended victim of Macheath's careless behavior with women.

The whole is brought to us by Joyce with an air of delighted discovery of just how much can be mined from Brecht's fertile imagination, and populated with a cast that brings its own equal joy to the proceedings. As Macheath, Stephen Tornetta strides across the Villanova stage in a fashion wildly redolent of David Tennant - it's a similarity to Tennant's stage work and not the mere fact of a Doctorly pinstriped suit that creates the identity. Allyce Morrisey's Polly is gratifyingly self-aware, and quick to seize an opportunity when she realizes that Macheath needs to flee in order to save his life, when he hands her all of his financial records.

Mitchell Bloom's J.J. Peachum is alternately smarm, charm, and venom, a delight to watch in action. Meghan Winch as Mrs. Peachum is truly amusing while at the same time a fascinating character, both the agent of her husband and a woman with an agenda of her own. Watching their dismay at Polly's marrying Macheath - the marriage is only questionably legal under Victorian law, though Brecht doesn't address the fact - is a stern reminder that while daughters were a drain on the Victorian upper classes, they were a valuable cog in the family economic unit among the lower and working classes of the time. While the wealthy could barely wait to marry off daughters, the poor were dismayed when a working daughter, one who contributed financially to the family, would choose to leave home. These Peachums' anguish over her marriage, for multiple reasons, is palpable; the audience can almost feel the pain viscerally as well as intellectually.

But for all the delights of the cast, including Megan Rose as a disgruntled Jenny and Jill Jacobs as a near-desperate Lucy Brown (and John K. Baxter in a neat turn as Tiger Brown, Commissioner of Police and bosom Army companion of Macheath back in the day), special note must be made of John McGraw as Filch, the omnipresent evoker of comic relief. He may be milking everything for effect in his slightly over-the-top appearances, but they're intended to be over the top, and he has a deft hand with complete absurdity.

As one might expect, the opening "Ballad of Mack the Knife" and "Pirate Jenny" are outstanding - Morrissey is an absolute show-stopper with her turn at the vicious number - but there are several true crowd-pleasers in the production, including the "Army Song" of Commissioner Brown and Macheath, the "Tango Ballad" between Macheath and Jenny, and the "Jealousy Song" between Lucy and Polly. If the second act finale sounds familiar, blame either Tom Waits or the Pet Shop Boys, who recorded it as "What Keeps Mankind Alive?" But keep an ear open as well for Peachum's appearance at the beginning of the third act, also a fine moment.

It's hard to tell if Brecht did a nod to Gilbert and Sullivan at the end of the third act or if William Gilbert stole some of his best last-act sudden patriotic nods to the Crown from John Gay, but don't be surprised at a sudden burst of HMS PINAFORE patriotic glory suddenly righting all wrongs and restoring all hope in a deliriously silly and unconvincing but nonetheless satisfying manner.

And don't be surprised if you decide it's time to learn "Pirate Jenny" for yourself after you leave the show.

Closes April 26. At Villanova (Vasey) Theatre. Call 610-519-7474 for information and tickets, or visit theatre.villnova.edu.

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