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The Threepenny Opera [a] (Die Dreigroschenoper [diː dʁaɪˈɡʁɔʃn̩ˌʔoːpɐ]) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, The Beggar's Opera, [1] and four ballads by François Villon, with music by Kurt Weill. Although there is debate as to how much, if any, contribution ...
A beggar whom Peachum enlists as help after Peachum makes him pay up for illegally pleading for money on his territory. Filch feels guilty taking money from other people, which is his chief means of generating income. A list of all the characters in The Threepenny Opera. The Threepenny Opera characters include: Macheath, Peachum, Polly.
Lenya, Lotte (1898–1981) Austrian-born actress and singer who originated the role of Jenny in the Kurt Weill - Bertolt Brecht musical, The Threepenny Opera. Name variations: Lotte Lenja. Born Karoline Wilhelmine Charlotte Blamauer on October 18, 1898, in Vienna, Austria; died on November 27, 1981, in New York; daughter of Franz Blamauer and ...
In the play The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht, Jenny works as a prostitute together with some colleagues in a London brothel in Wapping. She is about 25 years old and is nicknamed Ginny Jenny. However, she is not to be confused with the pirate Jenny, who does not appear in the play itself, but is merely sung about in a song (Act 1, Scene 2).
- Overview
- Performance History
- Synopsis
- Recordings
- Film Adaptations
Set in Victorian London, the play focuses on Macheath, an amoral, antiheroiccriminal. Macheath Messer ("Mackie," or "Mack the Knife") marries Polly Peachum. This displeases her father, who controls the beggars of London, and he endeavours to have Macheath hanged. His attempts are hindered by the fact that the Chief of Police, Tiger Brown, is Machea...
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2012)Playbill of the premiere performance at Theater am Schiffbauerdamm Berlin, 31 August 1928. The name of Lotte Lenya, who played Jenny, was omitted by mis...
Prologue
A street singer entertains the crowd with the illustrated murder ballad or Bänkelsang, titled "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" ("Ballad of Mack the Knife"). As the song concludes, a well-dressed man leaves the crowd and crosses the stage. This is Macheath, alias "Mack the Knife".
Act 1
The story begins in the shop of Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum, the boss of London's beggars, who outfits and trains the beggars in return for a slice of their takings from begging. In the first scene, the extent of Peachum's iniquity is immediately exposed. Filch, a new beggar, is obliged to bribe his way into the profession and agree to pay over to Peachum 50 percent of whatever he made; the previous day he had been severely beaten up for begging within the area of jurisdiction of Peachum'sPROTE...
Act 2
Polly warns Macheath that her father will try to have him arrested. He is finally convinced that Peachum has enough influence to do it and makes arrangements to leave London, explaining the details of his bandit "business" to Polly so she can manage it in his absence. Before he leaves town, he stops at his favorite brothel, where he sees his ex-lover, Jenny. They sing the "Zuhälterballade" ("Pimp's Ballad") about their days together, but Macheath doesn't know Mrs Peachum has bribed Jenny to t...
Recordings are in German, unless otherwise specified. 1. Die Dreigroschenoper, 1930, on Telefunken. Incomplete. Lotte Lenya (Jenny), Erika Helmke (Polly), Willy Trenk-Trebitsch (Macheath), Kurt Gerron(Moritatensänger; Brown), and Erich Ponto (Peachum). Lewis Ruth Band, conducted by Theo Mackeben. 2. The Threepenny Opera, 1954, on Decca Broadway 012...
There have been at least three film versions. German director G. W. Pabst made a 1931 German- and French-language version simultaneously (a common practice in the early days of sound films). Another version wasDIRECTED by Wolfgang Staudte in West Germany in 1962 starring Curd Jürgens, Gert Fröbe, and Hildegard Knef. Scenes with Sammy Davis Jr. were...
Lotte Lenya, who played Jenny Diver in the 1928 German premiere of The Threepenny Opera, won a Tony for her performance of the role, in English, in 1956.Above: Lenya performs as Jenny at the Theater de Lys (now the Lucille Lortel Theater) in Greenwich Village (photo c. 1954).
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Synopsis. The Threepenny Opera is a biting satire of the post-war rise of capitalism, wrapped up in Weill's jazzy score, and the tale of Macheath (Mack the Knife), a debonair crime lord on the verge of turning his illegal empire into a legitimate business. When Macheath marries young Polly Peachum, her father is enraged.
