Theatre and Dance to present ‘The Threepenny Opera’

The Department of Theatre & Dance will present the first U.S. production of a new adaptation of “The Threepenny Opera” May 2-5 in the Drama Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The UB production is the first in the U.S. of a new adaptation written for and premiered by The National Theatre in London in 2016 by Tony and Olivier Award-winning playwright Simon Stephens. Nathan R. Matthews, associate professor and director of music theatre, will serve as director and music supervisor for UB’s full production with orchestra. The production will also feature choreography by John Fredo, a Buffalo director, choreographer and actor, and music direction by Alison D’Amato, lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Dance. 

Students in the BFA degree program in music theatre comprise the cast.

Considered a milestone of 20th-century music theater, “The Threepenny Opera” marked its 90th anniversary in 2018. A play with music by German playwright, poet and director Bertolt Brecht, with music by U.S. composer Kurt Weill, it is based upon John Gay’s 18th-century English ballad opera “The Begger’s Opera,” in collaboration with German writer Elisabeth Hauptmann. The new English adaptation is by Simon Stephens, who won both the Tony and Olivier awards for his play “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.”

“The Ballad of Mack the Knife,” the work’s opening number, continues to be one of the most popular songs of all time, and Weill’s music inspired such landmark shows as “Cabaret,” “Chicago” and “Urinetown.”

A gripping, macabre masterpiece, “The Threepenny Opera” is a criticism of capitalism and middle class morality set in a world of corrupt money and unpunished evil. It is one of the most produced works of music theater worldwide. Weill’s celebrated score parodies operatic conventions and embraces the musical styles of jazz, period dance music, and cabaret. 

Tickets are $20 for general admission and $10 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at the CFA box office and through Ticketfly.com.