Subject:

Comments:
: : : In America the play was preformed many times. In 1933 a version translated by Gifford : : Cochran and Jerrold Krimsky was preformed in New York City, the script to this production has : : long sense been lost. American's were not ready for theater in this style, but critics praised : : Weill's music and he became one of the leading composers of Broadway. In Illinois, Desmond : : Vesey's translation was preformed in 1945, 1948, and in a dual translation with Eric Bently, 1954 : : and 1956. 1954 and 1955 also saw opening of Marc Blitzstein's translation on the New York City : : stage. Blitzstein's shows ran a smashing six years. It established the play as a popular favouret, : : but it is an adaptation and at the time changes had to be made to suite the America of the : : Eisenhower era. After a 16 year lull Joseph Papp commissioned a new translation by Ralph : : Manheim and John Willett. Because of the stage censorship, Blitzstein's lyrics were softened and : : thus changed many of Brecht's meanings around. The new translation had to be faithful to : : Brecht, abrasive and unsparing. In Blitzstein's version of the Ballad of Mack the Knife he neglects : : to even mention the crime of the "Ghastly fire in Soho". The late Raul Julia preformed as : : Macheath in this version with the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1976. : : A jazzy version of Weill's Ballad became popular. It's beginnings are from the opening night in : : August, 1928. As Kurt Gerring was singing and cranking the hand organ, the organ failed to : : work. Not until the song's second verse did the Lewis Ruth Band spring to action an accompany : : the singing to music. The moritat hides it's complexity, and thus it's appeal to the jazz musicians. : : Dance elements from the blues tradition are fused with it's 16 measure melody. After the : : first two stanzas, altered instrumentation, rhythmic patterns, dynamics, and countermelodies piece : : together new musical attire. : : The moritat's real fame came from the vocals of Louis Armstrong and the lyrics from Blitzstein's : : adaptation. Armstrong has a deep, raspy, southern black man's voice. He sings slowly of the : : murders and a list of the s names but makes no mention of the or fire that left seven : : dead. The song is a catchy tune, and perfect for the American public of the 1940's with : : it's cleaned lyrics. This was a time in American history when the thought of murder visualized by : : a black males voice was enough to send shivers across one's skin. : : In 1959 Bobby Darin re-recorded this song. A popular rock and roller already, he succeeded in : : bringing this jingle into the white public's acceptance. Darin's youthful style is louder, faster, and : : has more flash. One almost overlooks the criminal lyrics and is caught up in the upbeat tempo of : : the music and casual singing. But it wasn't until the 1980's that this tune truly became a : : "commercial" song. McDonald's fast food company created the character "Mac Tonight" to sell : : it's "Big Mac" hamburgers. Mac Tonight is a suave rock star/lounge singer. His head is a crescent : : moon and he wears black sungles as he soars through the night sky playing the piano. He : : seems the essence of cool with his white dress shirt, red tie, and black satin jacket. This strayed : : far away from Brecht's intentions, but unlike the ThreePenny Movie, Mac Tonight was : : unsuccessful and McDonalds dropped it's campaign after only a year or so. : : Others have tried to cash in on the movie of ThreePenny Opera. In 1962 a re-make called The : : Three Penny Opera (Note the space between Three and Penny). This little known movie starred : : Sammy Davis, Jr. It wasn't terribly successful. Nor was the 1989 film Mack the Knife. This film was : : filled with stars. Raul Julia again took the part as Mac. Roger Daltrey, the former singer from the : : rock group "The Who", Played the street singer. The famous Irish actor Richard Harris also : : appears in this film. This film, directed by Menheim Golan, is more like a re-make of Pabst's : : ideas about the story rather than Brecht's. There is too much singing, and way too much : : dancing. The set is elaborate and expensive, submersing the viewer into the Victorian English : : underworld. The music is still Weill's with Blitzstein's translations, but is arranged to sound more : : like flashy Broadway show tunes. This film is so rare that it must be ordered from the company at : : a price of almost a hundred dollars. : : Bobby Darin and Roger Daltrey are not the only Rock musicians to be seduced by the : : charming Macheath in ThreePenny Opera. In 1989, the Grammy winning Sting, former lead : : singer of "The Police", ironically took the role of the infamous murder Mack the Knife on the stage. : : Sting had previously sung The Ballad of Mack the Knife on a 1985 album remembering the works : : of Kurt Weill called Lost in the Stars. He also sang a rendition of The Ballad with the Hamburg : : State Orchestra in 1987. This 1989 revival claims to be the closest to Brecht and Weill's : : intentions than any American production has been. It comes closer than even the original 1928 : : Berlin show because Lucy's Aria was cut from the original production due to the actresses' : : leaving of the cast. The Aria was included in the 1989 production. Sting stated, "One of : : Macheath's basic messages to the audience is that you can't judge people morally until they're : : fed, until they're equals." : : Macheath has found his place in popular culture. From his English birth two hundred years ago : : he has been continually updated to fit in the place and time he has been brought. From his : : German transformation, he was written to fit a Marxist role to fit Moscow's needs. America found : : him to be to harsh at first and he was made less cruel, but as America became less puritanical, : : Mackie returned to his character of the German production. He has entered theater, film, : : literature, popular music, and commercials. But as Sting said, "If people are coming [To see : : ThreePenny Opera] expecting to hear Bobby Darin or Louis Armstrong, They'll get a nasty : : shock." : And no mention of Blitzstein's friendship with : Brecht from when he'd seen Threepenny Opera while in Europe? : Perhaps you could pick up the 1999 Tim Robbins film "Cradle Will Rock", with Hank Azaria as Marc Blitzstein (and Steven Skybell as Brecht). : Oh, and have you never heard of spellcheck? : p.s. : F U C K WHAT OFFENDS CONGRESS!! THEY OFFEND THE PEOPLE MUCH MORE!! OFTEN WITH THEIR VERY PRESENCE, LET ALONE WITH THEIR ACTIONS!!!!!!!!

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL: