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re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse

Posted by: stan 01:39 pm EDT 03/19/14
In reply to: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse - allineedisthegirl 11:40 am EDT 03/19/14

I think Brecht (in 21st Century America, at least) is impossible to present. Look at the recent (in my opinion) horrible "Mother Courage" productions, the "Mahogany" operas, as well as those of "3 Penny". Even the Lincoln Center Production with Raul Julia was not very good. "Umberto Ui" with John Tuturro was. however, good. Actually, the plays still read very well. I'm going Sun Matinee.


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Good Person of Szechwan

Posted by: enoch10 12:16 am EDT 03/20/14
In reply to: re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse - stan 01:39 pm EDT 03/19/14

was done brilliantly at la mama and then the public so obviously brecht can be done in america in the 21st century .


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re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse

Posted by: schauspieler 04:45 pm EDT 03/19/14
In reply to: re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse - stan 01:39 pm EDT 03/19/14

I don't know if it was 'Brechtian' but I thought that the Kushner adaptation of Mother Courage at the Delacorte with Meryl Streep and songs by Jeanine Tesori was one of the greatest things I've ever seen. I take it you didn't?


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re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse

Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 03:45 pm EDT 03/19/14
In reply to: re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse - stan 01:39 pm EDT 03/19/14

"I think Brecht (in 21st Century America, at least) is impossible to present."

Interesting theory. Would you care to expound as to why?


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re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse

Posted by: singleticket 02:34 pm EDT 03/19/14
In reply to: re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse - stan 01:39 pm EDT 03/19/14

Even the Lincoln Center Production with Raul Julia was not very good.

The Richard Foreman production? Could you describe it a bit? I'm curious what it was like.


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re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse

Posted by: allineedisthegirl 01:58 pm EDT 03/19/14
In reply to: re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse - stan 01:39 pm EDT 03/19/14

I think "impossible" is over-stating it. Great plays are, almost by definition, difficult to get right. And by "right" I don't mean faithfulness to one or another orthodoxy, I mean getting the play to "happen." For every ten Shakespeare productions i see, maybe one or two are good. But those one or two I woulnd't want to miss.

Last week I saw Kathleen Turner do Mother Courage. It was a production full of "creative" embelishments (flying by Foy again, ala the Merryl Streep production). But thanks to a combination of felicitous casting and directoral point of view that wasn't at odds with the play, Mother Courage proved to remain very stage-worthy.

db


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re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse

Posted by: stan 02:08 pm EDT 03/19/14
In reply to: re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse - allineedisthegirl 01:58 pm EDT 03/19/14

that's good to hear. I think K. Turner is an absolutely fabulous actress. And it's "Mahagonny" (damn that spell check!)


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re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse

Posted by: allineedisthegirl 02:16 pm EDT 03/19/14
In reply to: re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse - stan 02:08 pm EDT 03/19/14

And Manhattan School of Music did a credible production of Mahagonny last spring. Glad I saw that too.

db


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re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse

Posted by: elmore3003 04:43 pm EDT 03/19/14
In reply to: re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse - allineedisthegirl 02:16 pm EDT 03/19/14

If you like the stupid conceit - I don't - of presenting the dialogue in English and lyrics in German.


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re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse

Posted by: allineedisthegirl 05:17 pm EDT 03/19/14
In reply to: re: Threepenny Opera at Atlantic -- we've had worse - elmore3003 04:43 pm EDT 03/19/14

No I didn't love that aspect of it, but it wasn't a deal breaker.

db


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