Photos courtesy of The Garage Theatre.
When The Threepenny Opera opened in Berlin 1928, the notion of what would come to be commonly known as “musical Theatre” was still relatively vague.
Threepenny, which was written by Bertolt Brecht with music by Kurt Weill, has become a bit of a black sheep of the musical Theatre family in the nearly 90 years since its creation. It is politically charged, socially conscious, bleak and funny all side by side. It avoids all easy definition. To this day manages to remain shocking in its frankness and pessimism, a sort of sarcastic Les Misarables that still seems to be years ahead of its time. Calling it a classic or an institution of the Theatre are both applicable, but neither of those words properly prepare you for what it’s like to experience a production of Threepenny. It is by turns one of the ugliest and most hypnotic pieces of Theatre I’ve ever seen. Something I return to again and again, though not a play I can outrightly say I love, nor one I may ever see something close to a definitive version of.
For all of its entrancing and frustrating eccentricities, however, it remains relevant and intriguing; therefore, it is never too long before another company offers up a new production. We can thank The Garage Theatre in collision with Alive Theatre for the latest. Their uneven but miraculous production offer us insight into both the challenges and the joys of the material and in their always resourceful and bohemian style, they have a few surprises up their sleeves for us as well.
In its plot, we follow Macheath (Mack The Knife), a robber, murderer, rapist and our not so humble protagonist, through a series of unfortunate events that begin with his decision to marry Miss Polly Peachum, and lead to his (near) timely death. Polly’s father runs a business that sells sympathy-inducing clothing and proper district permits to the beggars of Victorian London, yet he disapproves of Macheath’s courting his daughter. He sets out with his wife to bring Mack down and no blow is too low for him so long as he has his way. In fact, if it weren’t for a brilliantly satirical deus ex machina ending, Peachum would have been successful.
Almost all of the moments that add any sort of empathy to the characters of The Threepenny Opera come during its myriad of songs that, like in many great musicals, offer up more insight to the characters’ inner lives than anything they say to one another.
Many songs in the score have become classics. Besides The Ballad of Mack the Knife which became a surprise jazz hit about a hundred times over, Pirate Jenny, Barbara Song, The Tango Ballad, and What Keeps Mankind Alive have all been recorded by various artists both from and outside of the Theatre world. Threepenny’s score is at times atonal and brutal and at others hauntingly beautiful. It has hints of jazz and opera but never really sounds like either. It is an intricate, puzzling work and the band and cast here present it with a visceral and confident zeal.
Of all the times I’ve seen this show, this musical approach feels the most appropriate to the material. I often found myself in awe of the sound and polish both singers and musicians have mustered up for this production. Much, if not all of the band, doubles as performers in the play, a tactic that has become more popular since the Broadway revival of Sweeny Todd a few years back, yet one that I’ve rarely seen downplayed so charmingly. That there is no music director credited makes this success even more mind boggling.
The entirety of this production walks many fine lines between performer and musician, audience and cast, play and musical, and it’s these symbiotic factors that make it so special. I often felt as though I was in on a secret, theatrical party due to the performative camaraderie on display here, an often joyous and euphoric feeling. Other times however, the pace and tone got lost in this element, and I was reminded of the difficulties of the material.
Aside from many of them appearing in the orchestra, the cast is also excellent without instruments in their hands.
Robert Edward, back on stage again after wowing audiences in Night and Her Stars just months ago, delivers a delicious Macheath. His singing voice matches his eloquent speaking one and he manages to walk the line between ham and menace with grace.
Ashley Elizabeth Allen, as Polly Peachum, also makes an inspired return to The Garage’s stage after her startling performance in Sans Merci. Her Polly is both naive and coquettish with more than a little darkness under the surface. It’s hard to take one’s eyes off of her any time she is on the stage.
Mark Piatelli is tangibly smarmy as Mr. Peachum, adding an interesting weight to the production with his hypocritical social musings, and Ellen Warkentine is hilarious and dazzling as not only Mrs. Peachum but the orchestra’s piano/harmonium and clarinet player to boot.
The rest of the cast nearly follows suit and even some slight miscasting here and there does very little to damage the integrity of the show. What does hinder it a bit however is its sometimes infrequent tone and pacing.
Consistency of tone and pacing are two of the hardest things to tackle when staging The Threepenny Opera and every production I’ve seen struggles with these issues. Sometimes the songs come in close succession to one another and others are separated by long scenes of often realistic dialogue, an element that sharply contrasts the blatantly theatrical nature of Threepenny’s songs. In order to make sense of this, the pacing must be quick, or the audience begins to drift. Unfortunately, it is these moments that seem to need a little tightening in this current production. Some scenes fly by and others drag for no real reason, something that may improve as the show settles into its run.
On the opposite side of things, I often felt that while the songs sounded uniformly great throughout, their staging, especially of the solos and duets, often kept things moving too briskly to let their emotional weight truly settle in. While there were beautiful moments to be had (as when Polly suddenly became the mast of the pirate ship in the midst of singing Pirate Jenny) much of the song had her moving too quickly for us to follow the story she was telling. Likewise, though it was impressive to see Macheath and Jenny dance together during The Tango Ballad, it didn’t allow enough time for us to gain insight to the sordid and heartbreaking dynamic that lies just beneath the song’s surface.
This is not to say that these songs don’t leave an impact, or that the material doesn’t build to a satisfying finale, it is only to point out that with all of the wonderful things this production has going for it, if there was a bit more focus on these key elements, the ending results would be rendered even more powerfully.
In general Eric Hamme’s direction is a treat. The communal energy he conjures and the dollar store creativity he and the production’s set designers Staci Walters and Jeffery Eisenmann utilize are perfectly aligned with the aesthetic soul of the play’s history. In fact, in these fields, this production comes closer than any previous revival I have seen to what I feel The Threepenny Opera is at its core. For this, the whole creative team should be commended and should receive your money and amazement.
Now if only Pirate Jenny or The Tango Ballad sent a full on shiver up my spine the way the final tableaux did, we may have arrived at the impossible, definitive production of my dreams. As Bertolt Brecht himself said however;
“Don’t punish small wrong-doings too much.”
Indeed.
ThreePenny Opera is playing at The Garage Theatre, located at 251 E 7th St. It will be playing every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8PM. Tickets can be purchased here.