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5/13/03 CONTACT:
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The People’s Opera Los Angeles, CA -- Of the people, by the people, for the people: Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s classic musical, The Threepenny Opera, sings a fanfare to the common man on the State Playhouse stage at California State University, Los Angeles, Thursday through Saturday, May 22-24 and 29-31. Inspired by John Gay’s 18th century production, The Beggar’s Opera, and best known for its hit song, Mack the Knife, The Threepenny Opera is a dark comedy and commentary about social immortality and the power of the working class. The Threepenny Opera was an instant hit when it premiered in Berlin in 1928. Its 1954 run in Greenwich Village was a tremendous success and is regarded as the hallmark production that launched the Off Broadway cultural scene in New York City. Theresa Larkin, professor of Theatre Arts at Cal State L.A. and the play’s director, said that Brecht’s humorous allegorical railing against capitalism to Weill’s jazz-influenced score still rings true to 21st century audiences. “Recent world events have strangely echoed the subtle warnings Brecht ‘embedded’ in The Threepenny Opera, concerning war, man’s inhumanity against man, poverty, crime, corruption, greed, indolence, self-interest and waste, making it resonate vibrantly with our present historical moment,” she added. Kurt Weill’s widow, actress Lotte Lenya, wrote of the hit song, Mack the Knife, during the 1950s: “You hear it coming out of bars, jukeboxes, taxis, wherever you go. Kurt would have loved that. A taxi driver whistling the song would have pleased him more than winning the Pulitzer Prize.” The Threepenny Opera will open on May 22 through 31, running Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 8 p.m.
THE THREEPENNY OPERA
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