The Threepenny Opera

The chief problem in talking about the Three-penny Opera at Lowell House in the days to come will be the choice of adjectives. "Brilliant" pretty well covers the production, but no one word is enough. Kurt Weill and Bert Brecht's composition is also beautiful and funny and splendid. A greatness of the opera lies in the fact that it is contrapuntally ugly and sad and tawdry. It is the grinning beggar on the street who wants to amuse but gets a raw pleasure from turning his check to show scars or festering gashes.

Above all however, the Threepenny Opera can be entertaining and the Lowell House Musical Society underlines every entertaining aspect, still careful to preserve the work's artistry and social philosophy. For while Brecht could toy with the concept of opera, he would not yield on his ideas. His firmness and intensity spark both text and lyrics. He permits his audience to laugh, heartily and often, then growls at them harshly, "Honest folk may act like sinners, unless they've had their customary dinners." Whatever one thinks of Brecht's grievances of thirty years ago, he makes them compelling and troubling. Marc Blitzstein's fine translation never abates Brecht's wrath or his humor.

Brilliance and Understanding

The Musical Society's performance is true to the authors in all respects. The seventeen-piece orchestra, including banjo, accordion, and harmonium, gave each of Weill's melodies the rich, lively treatment it deserved. Howard Brown's entire musical direction seemed devoted to finding just the right expressions within Weill's jazz idiom and successfully capturing them.

The singers were equally right and equally impressive. "Brilliant," again, is the only word for Elisabeth Hubbard as Mrs. Peachum. Not only is her voice magnificent, but her acting is equal to the rigorous demands of Weill's music. Her cruelty and cynicism give added dimension to numbers like "The Ballad of Survival" and "The Ballad of Dependency." Bronia Sielewicz, as the prostitute Jenny, will make even the most sentimental viewer forgive her for replacing the familiar German accent of Lotte Lenya. "The Pirate Jenny" and "The Solomon Song" are two of the best examples of Weill and Brecht's art and Miss Sielewicz gives them at least their due. Sara-Jane Smith plays Polly Peachum with a fine veneer of innocence and propriety barely covering Polly's lusty nature. Miss Smith, with the entire cast, seems completely to understand her role, and credit for this must go to director Stephen Aaron. Each character is brought out and paraded in his turn and then kept in sharp focus. Simone Perkelis, for example, who is so winning as Lucy Brown, does not enter upon the scene until late with "The Barbara Song" but she is unmistakeable from then on, even without her padding.

Epic Staging in the Dining Hall

Though the ladies in the cast are all near-perfect, the men do not suffer from comparison. As Jonathan Peachum, Fred Kimball can carry along the Brecht text in those rare moments when it wants in wit. Plagued by throat trouble, Kimball's singing was only the more authentic for the part. Dean Gitter, as Mack the Knife, was amusing and sleazy on cue, and when called upon near the end to carry the whole production through several numbers, rose to the occasion with no strain. He was a fine Macheath. With principals so admirably in hand, Mr. Aaron might look to The Gang, which seemed to me a little rough in the first act. Since the opera is obviously staged by perfectionists, these edges will, no doubt, be smoothed by the next performance.

The Epic staging, so highly vaunted of late, meets every expectation and is a neat solution when faced with a dining hall that isn't a theatre. I suspect many people could not read the legends flashed on a high screen but with the clarity on stage below, this should have caused no confusion. John Ratte's settings were unusual, even for the College, where good sets have been the rule in most productions. Leslie Van Zandt's costumes also added to the general aura of professional quality. General Manager Thomas Merriam, Stage Manager Ricardo de la Espiriella, and Technical Director Donald Tashjian all deserve mention as well. Hard work had clearly gone into the production, combined with the genuine talents mentioned above.

The Threepenny Opera was written, and is now staged, by gifted people. Regardless of your musical taste, it is a production to see.