The Threepenny Opera (The Donmar Warehouse Production) [Original Cast Recording]

by Threepenny Opera / O.C.R.

Overview

In his sleeve notes to this cast recording of the production of The Threepenny Opera that opened at the small Donmar Warehouse theater in London on December 8, 1994, musical director Gary Yershon points out several musical alterations to the original score, most of which have to do with transposing keys lower to make the songs easier to sing. But he does not mention the major change that will be noticeable immediately to anyone familiar with the show. In every other production of The Threepenny Opera, the first song is what authors Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht called "Moritat von Mackie Messer" in the original German, which Marc Blitzstein, in the best-known English translation, rendered as "The Ballad of Mack the Knife." The song is sung by a character known as the street singer. But there is no such character in the Donmar Warehouse production, and the song, here called "The Flick Knife Song (Moritat)," is moved to the middle of the show, where it is sung by the character of Jenny. That should be some indication of the liberties taken by this version of The Threepenny Opera. In an English translation by Robert David MacDonald with "new lyric translations" by Jeremy Sams, the show has had its setting moved from the 19th century to a "not-too-distant future" (as Yershon puts it) in London when Prince William is about to be crowned king. Thus, the translation is anything but faithful. In fact, it is shot through with contemporary references (the ice skaters Torville and Dean, the Marks & Spencer department store, etc.) and British slang. For example, "John was a squaddie and Jim was a toff/And both of them behaved like wankers" is the opening of "Squaddies Song (Cannon Song)," which in the original German reads, "John war darunter und Jim war dabei/Und George ist Sergeant gewarden" (literally, "John was among them and Jim was there too/And George became a sergeant"), and which Blitzstein translated as, "Johnny joined up and Jimmy was there/And George got a sergeant's rating." Not surprisingly, this is also the most vulgar translation since the 1976 Broadway revival, nearly matching that version in scatological references and far exceeding it in use of the ever-popular "F" word. The cast performs this text in pronounced lower class British accents, with a particular tendency toward the Scottish, especially in Sharon Small's portrayal of Polly Peachum. (In a rare instance of fidelity to the original production, this is the first version of the show in memory to return "Pirate Jenny" to Polly.) They are not particularly strong singers, but they attack the songs with enthusiastic venom. The result may well be a production that played forcefully in the fringe theater of 1994 London, but that would have difficulty being appreciated fully in any other time and place. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	02/18/1997
Label:	Jay Records
UPC:	0605288124426
Rank:	1027

Tracks

1. Overture
2. Peachum's Morning Song (Morning Chorale)
3. Kids Today
4. Gang Song (Wedding Song)
5. Pirate Jenny
6. Squaddies Song (Cannon Song)
7. Love Duet
8. Barbara Song
9. Life's a Bitch (Dreigroschenfinale)
10. Melodrama/Polly's Song
11. The Ballad of Sexual Imperative
12. Knocking Shop Tango
13. The Flick Knife Song (Moritat)
14. Easy Life (Ballade)
15. Jealousy Duet
16. What Keeps a Man Alive? (II Dreigroschenfinale)
17. What's the Point? (Lied. 17)
18. The Socrates Song (Solomonsong)
19. A Call from the Grave
20. Ballad in Which Macheath Begs All Men for Forgiveness
21. Act III Finale
22. Act III Finale

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sharon Small   Primary Artist,Vocals
Simon Dormandy   Primary Artist,Vocals
Tom Hollander   Primary Artist,Vocals
Natasha Bain   Primary Artist,Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Tom Mannion   Primary Artist,Vocals
Bertolt Brecht   Primary Artist
Tara Hugo   Primary Artist,Vocals
Kurt Weill   Primary Artist
Beverly Klein   Primary Artist,Vocals
The Orchestra   Primary Artist
Caroline Hall   Clarinet,Keyboards,Saxophone,Choir/Chorus
Gary Yershon   Director,Conductor,Musical Director,Musical Direction
Jeremy Harrison   Vocals,Double Bass,Banjo,Guitar
Ben Albu   Flute,Vocals,Clarinet,Saxophone
Simon Walter   Vocals,Accordion,Keyboards
Amanda Edwards   Vocals,Clarinet,Saxophone
Kevin Davy   Clarinet,Keyboards,Saxophone,Choir/Chorus
Dawn Michael   Clarinet,Keyboards,Saxophone,Choir/Chorus
Kate Edgar   Clarinet,Keyboards,Saxophone,Choir/Chorus
Terence Maynard   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Paul F. Girbow   Clarinet,Keyboards,Saxophone,Choir/Chorus
Phyllida Lloyd   Director

Technical Credits

Caroline Hall   Performer
Sharon Small   Composer,Performer
Simon Dormandy   Performer
Tom Hollander   Composer,Performer
Natasha Bain   Performer
The Orchestra   Performer
Jeff Foster   Engineer
John A. Yap   Producer,Executive Producer
Jeremy Sams   Composer,Translation
Gary Yershon   Arranger,Liner Notes,Vocal Arrangement
Jeremy Harrison   Performer
Vicki Mortimer   Design
Paul Arditti   Engineer
Robert David MacDonald   Translation
Ben Albu   Performer
Simon Walter   Performer
Amanda Edwards   Performer
Bertolt Brecht   Book,Composer,Lyricist
Kevin Davy   Performer
John Yap   Producer,Executive Producer
Rick Fisher   Lighting
Tara Hugo   Performer
Kurt Weill   Composer,Orchestration
Kate Edgar   Production Director
Terence Maynard   Performer
Paul F. Girbow   Performer
Mark Douet   Photography
Beverly Klein   Performer
Tom Mannion   Performer