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I was bored out of my mind.

Posted by: GabbyGerard 01:14 am EDT 03/16/14
In reply to: The Three Penny Opera - FinalPerformance 12:08 am EDT 03/16/14

It actually made the Roundabout production looked good. And that's saying something.


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re: I was bored out of my mind.

Posted by: enoch10 01:51 pm EDT 03/16/14
In reply to: I was bored out of my mind. - GabbyGerard 01:14 am EDT 03/16/14

>> It actually made the Roundabout production looked good. And that's saying something

ouch.


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I wasn't bored but I wasn't thrilled

Posted by: TomE 02:10 am EDT 03/16/14
In reply to: I was bored out of my mind. - GabbyGerard 01:14 am EDT 03/16/14

I saw it tonight, and I didn't think it came near either the high points or the low points of the Roundabout production; rather, tonight's show stuck to a competent but only occasionally exciting middle-ground.

I think part of the problem is the Blitzstein translation, which I've never been wild about. And in this production, which includes a fair amount of nudity, including a full-frontal few seconds, Blitzstein's punch-pulling, non-explicit approach came across as especially quaint and ill-fitting. The contrast between lyrics and visuals was especially pronounced during the Tango Ballad, which would have been much better if staged identically but with the far sharper lyrics from the Public Theater's version with Raul Julia.

Even the often clunky Wallace Shawn translation from the Roundabout production might have been preferable.


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re: I wasn't bored but I wasn't thrilled

Posted by: Captain 03:27 pm EDT 03/16/14
In reply to: I wasn't bored but I wasn't thrilled - TomE 02:10 am EDT 03/16/14

I can't understand why anyone uses the Blitzstein translation anymore. It it a royalty consideration? I'm not fond of the Willett one used in the Public production either.

The only translation I've seen/heard/read that I thought really works now, at least for productions going for contemporary brashness and sleaze, is Jeremy Sams' used in the '94 Donmar production.


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Translations

Posted by: AlanScott 05:51 pm EDT 03/16/14
In reply to: re: I wasn't bored but I wasn't thrilled - Captain 03:27 pm EDT 03/16/14

Yeah, but the Sams lyrics (which at the Donmar were used in combination with an older translation of the book, by Robert David MacDonald) are extremely free, to put it mildly. I'm not so sure that the Weill foundation would allow them to be used in a New York production.

You and most folks here probably already know this, but for those who don't I'll mention it again: the Blitzstein was considerably softened for the famous MGM cast recording. While even unexpurgated it's certainly less harsh than the other translations, even the old Bentley-Vesey translation, it's not as softened from Brecht as you'd think from that recording. There are many differences between what's on the recording and what's in the translation.


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