The Threepenny Opera - Soulpepper's Young Center
The Threepenny Opera - Soulpepper's Young Center For the Performing Arts, Toronto, ON
hmm... I know it's a "classic" musical (it is not, in fact, and opera), and it's about the down and dirty, things I generally like, but, uh. I didn't get it. Decent production (At least reviews were better than the recent Roundabout production on Broadway (starring Alan Cummings and Cyndi Lauper), including a favourable review from Variety). Still, I didn't get it. Or I did, but didn't think it was all that revolutionary or edgy.
It was basically just a love triangle set amongst the poor beggers.
Okay. I know it was revolutionary in the 1920's and "Mack the Knife" is still a great song, but everything else? Yawn...
Or maybe I'm still on a Spring Awakening high. Probably. (Doesn't help that the last things I saw were Spring and the new revival of Company, two of some of the best things I have ever seen).
Albert Schultz was actually pretty good though as Macheath. Funny since he just played Conrad Black in the Canadian biopic Shades of Black co-starring Lara Anorexic Flynn Boyle. Doesn't Conrad Blacks' trial start tomorrow? FRY HIM! (Okay, I really don't know what he did but I'm all for taking down the rich white guys... hmm... okay, maybe I get The Threepenny Opera a little bit more now).
2 comments:
Yeah, you have to think of Threepenny as an opera about class, not about a love story. The love story is just a vehicle for Brecht and Weill to talk about socialism vs capitalism, and the oppression of the lower classes/corruption of the upper classes, etc. Plus, come on, some of those songs are classic! (And not just Mack the Knife.)
Yeah, I seriously think I need to see/hear it again. I kinda knew that walking out. In that, I could appreciate the piece but I didn't love it. I knew it must have been cutting edge at the time, but I think Cabaret and Urinetown have surpassed it. (Of course, didn't help that the actor playing Mr. Peachum overacted like he was in Urinetown and the sets they used in this production gave a similar feel). Plus again, I'm on a Spring Awakening high. It's been nonstop on my CD players, iPod, EVERYWHERE for me.
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