Sydney Theatre Co Presents The Threepenny Opera September 1-24

Sydney Theatre Company and Asteron present the Malthouse Melbourne and Victorian Opera production of Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera

Text by Raimondo Cortese. Lyrics by Jeremy Sams.

1 to 24 September 2011. Opening Night: 3 September 2011 at 8.00pm.
Sydney Theatre, 22 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay

Featuring an exceptional cast including Paul Capsis (as Jenny), Jolyon James (as Tiger Brown), Luke Joslin (as Filch), Lucy Maunder (as Polly), Amanda Muggleton (as Mrs Peachum), Eddie Perfect (as Macheath) and Grant Smith (as Mr Peachum) the Brecht-Weill musical masterpiece, The Threepenny Opera, is at Sydney Theatre from 1 to 24 September 2011, opening Saturday 3 September.

The most notorious anti-hero to storm a stage, Macheath - or Mack The Knife as he's known on the streets - is the original city criminal who's never met a law, a woman or a cop he couldn't break. That is until he challenges the supremacy of the Beggar King Peachum and his empire of manufactured woes. With Peachum and cunning cop Tiger Brown on his case the last thing Mack needs is a couple of molls competing for ownership of him. But when it comes to the ladies, this Lothario throws caution to the wind and leaps in head first.

Taking John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728) as the basis for a critique of the greed, lust, evil and corruption they considered to be at heart of bourgeois society, Brecht and Weill incorporated the danger and hedonism of 1920's Berlin music and cabaret to create a 20th Century milestone of musical theatre. At the heart of the Malthouse Melbourne and Victorian Opera co-production, directed by Michael Kantor and conducted by Richard Gill, is the raw, jazzy and intensely beautiful music.

Raimondo Cortese's vivid adaptation, featuring lyrics by Jeremy Sams, captures that spirit of the Weimar republic at its height, while superimposing the action onto recognisably Australian streets.

Sydney Theatre Company presents The Threepenny Opera as part of Berlin Sydney: a program of theatre, music, cabaret and exhibitions inspired by 20s and 30s Berlin held at leading arts venues across Sydney.

Director: Michael Kantor. Conductor: Richard Gill. Set Designer: Peter Corrigan. Costume Designer: Anna Cordingley. Lighting Designer: Paul Jackson. Choreographer Kate Denborough.

Cast: Johanna Allen, Paul Capsis, Jolyon James, Luke Joslin, Lucy Maunder, Amanda Muggleton, Eddie Perfect, Angela Scundi, Dimity Shepherd, Grant Smith, John Xintavelonis, Michael Whalley. Music performed live by Ensemble Weill

Box Office: 02 9250 1777. sydneytheatre.com.au Tickets: $40 - $130 (transaction fees may apply)

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