Reviews & News Releases
USI Theatre presents Brecht
and Weill's famed musical, "The Threepenny Opera"
Evansville,
Ind. (April 2, 2008) – USI Theatre
presents
The Threepenny Opera, with book and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht and
music by Kurt Weill, at the Mallette Studio Theatre on the lower level
of the Liberal Arts Center at University of Southern Indiana. The
production, directed by Lenny Leibowitz, runs April 10 – 20.
Heralded as “one of the most powerful
creations” of the 20th century for managing “in one fell swoop to change
the nature of musical theatre and of opera,”
The Threepenny Opera is
set in London’s Soho just before the coronation of Queen Victoria and
reflects Brecht’s delight in exposing corruption and skewering social
conventions with humor and insouciance. John Jeremiah Peachum is the
boss of London’s beggars, setting each one up with a
story and a street corner in return for a share of their take. The
Peachums fear their business will suffer when their lovely daughter,
Polly, leaves the fold to marry Macheath, the boss of a criminal gang
that benefits from Macheath’s old friendship with the police chief. They
have Mack arrested in spite of his connections by threatening to unleash
all the beggars at once, just before the Queen’s coronation. Mack
prepares for his execution, but at the last moment, he is granted a
reprieve.
Proclaimed by
Newsweek’s Jack Kroll as “the greatest musical of all time,”
The Threepenny Opera ran
off-Broadway from 1954 to 1961. Its cast album sold in record numbers,
and its most famous song, Mack the Knife, became a standard. According to Lenny Leibowitz,
assistant professor of theatre at USI and the director of the
production, he selected the piece because, “It is the granddaddy of all
conceptual musicals like Cabaret
and Chicago.
It is a pungent mixture of high culture and low farce; a strange
compendium of opera, jazz, melodrama, and social effrontery.”
In addition to Leibowitz, the artistic team
includes USI theatre faculty members Craig A. Young as scenic designer
and Shan Jensen as costume designer, and USI students Sean Nicholl as
lighting designer and Ryan Nash as sound designer. The acting company
includes USI students Jeni Ahlfeld, Kensington Blaylock, Jeremy
Brailsford, Amelia Dalto, Dinetia Dean, Brandon Eck, Preston Harris-
Dunlap, Joshua K. Lenn, Jonathon Lutz, Jasmine Ruckriegel, Rachel
Schenk, Paige Scott, Joshua Smith, Meredith Woodard, and Robert Wright.
The Threepenny Opera runs April 10 - 13 and April 15 - 20 in the
Mallette Studio Theatre on the lower level of the Liberal Arts Center at
USI. Performance times are at 7:30 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays,
and at 2 p.m. on Sundays. Ticket prices are $12 for adults, $10 for
non-USI students and for seniors 60 and over, and $6 for USI students.
The Threepenny Opera
contains adult language and themes. Tickets may be purchased by calling
the USI Theatre
box office at 812-422-3970 or at the door. The box office opens one hour
before each performance.
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