ThreePenny Opera and Bare Breasts

For you non-theater people, here is something for you to enjoy. Once again, there is too much hooplah over boobs.

As for the rest of you, as promised, here is my review of ThreePenny Opera:

First, the show has a complicated history. The show originally premiered in Germany in 1928, based on John Gay’s famous Beggar’s Opera of 1728. The story has always been a seedy, noir, anti-bourgeois satire. This production has stayed true to the plot and simply updated the script with a fresh and biting translation by Wallace Shawn. His contribution is, in my opinion, the best part of the show. While overall I would call it a well-done production, I felt there were many near-misses. Most importantly was the casting. (Jim Carnahan, what happened?? You always do such an incredible job!) Lately Broadway producers have been in need of casting well known recording artists and television and/or film actors to ensure maximum ticket sales. I have never been a fan of this tactic, but from time to time am suckered into watching a certain production out of a voyeuristic curiosity. The cast is a talented bunch, but no match for Kurt Weill’s challenging musical score. Nellie McKay, in particular, should stick to songwriting. Not only did she fail to move the material forward with her performance, she brought it backward to her weak vocal level. Listening to her speak-sing the complicated and exciting music took much away from my experience. Ana Gasteyer, on the other hand, has a very powerful voice -and one that I rather enjoy listening to. However I did not feel that she was appropriately cast in this role either. She would belt out an impressive array of notes, yet it wasn’t the right technique for the songs she was singing or the moment she was creating. As for Alan Cumming, whom I wrote of previously as an expected shoe-in for a Tony nod, he could not bring the same commanding presence to this role that he did as Emcee in Cabaret. Once again, I have to insist he was not vocally strong enough. Incidentally, Jim Dale was a pleasant surprise and very deserving of his nomination. I also was delighted to watch Brian Charles Rooney as Lucy Brown. But the production overall had a large disconnect. Director Scott Elliot has no musical directing credits in his bio, and I think hiring him for this job was the first of many errors on the Roundabout’s part. As I mentioned earlier, the show is not a simple one musically, and I would expand that statement to say it is a wholly complicated piece. There are numerous acts, hidden political agendas in the script, and countless fourth-wall breaches. To have someone at the helm who is unaccustomed to storytelling with musical interludes is unacceptable for such a delicate circumstance. Furthermore, production values were incongruous, with costumes from contrasting eras and similar confusion among the sets and props. I am all for utilizing anachronistic tools to easily send a point across to an audience, but this production went in so many directions it was unclear what the message actually was. One was forced to concentrate so as not to miss anything, but likely did regardless. Also, somehow even with my extra focus I found the timing dragged. I have no doubt that the production directors are top notch. But without proper unification the efforts were overshadowed. There was no uniformity in the characterizations either. Some actors used a New York dialect and some high Brittish, some were Scottish and some were cockney. Sure, it is possible that these characters were in the same geographic location with a different upbringing. Yet with all the other discontinuities, the mismatched dialects added to a general sense of chaos. I could go on about this production all day, but I’ll end by reiterating that I do not feel this was a bad show. I wouldn’t ask for my money back or even tell people not to go. But with top names in the cast, Isaac Mizrahi doing costumes, similarly successful set and lighting designers, and a backing from the Roundabout Theater, it could have been –perhaps it SHOULD have been- an incredible theatrical experience. Better luck next time.

postscript: incidentally, I found a review with similar opinions but much better grammar here