Albums

The Beggar’s Opera (Original London Cast Recording)

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Credits

Orchestrated by Benjamin Pearce-Higgins

Produced for records by Norman Newell

Script adapted for recording by Toby Robertson

CAST:

Richard Durden (The Beggar), James Cossins (Mr. Peachum), Hy Hazell (Mrs. Peachum), Jan Waters (Polly Peachum), Peter Kenton (Filch), Peter Gilmore (Captain Macheath), David Calder (Matt of the Mint), Tony Robinson (Nimming Ned), Gordon Reid (Ben Budge), Adam Deane (Jemmy Twitcher), Peter Forest (Crook-fingered Jack), Kenneth Shanley (Wat Dreary), Angela Richards (Jenny Diver), Carol Gillies (Mrs. Coaxer), Marjorie Keys (Dolly Trull), Jessie Barclay (Mrs. Vixen), Margaret Blay (Betty Doxy), Pamela Miles (Mrs. Slammekin), Suzanne Heath (Suky Tawdry), Vivian Brooks (Molly Brazen), Guy Pierce (Drawers and Constables), Alan Tennock (Drawers and Constables), John Cater (Mr Lockit), Frances Cuka (Lucy), Hy Hazell (Mrs. Trapes), Peter Forest (Turnkey)

Artists

Harold Prince

About

Richard Pillbrow and Harold Prince’s production of The Beggar’s Opera opened September 1968 at the Apollo Theatre in London. Starring Peter Gilmore, James Cossins and Jan Waters, the production was first performed at the Cambridge and Edinburgh Festivals and later for London Weekend Television. The story of Macheath and his band of beggars and thieves (and the basis for Kurt Weill’s more frequently performed The Three Penny Opera), John Gay’s classic eighteenth century ballad opera still delights audiences centuries later.