Happy 39th Anniversary to Threepenny Opera! Conductor Stanley Silverman on new Legends of Broadway series
The Threepenny Opera proclaims itself “an opera for beggars,” and it was in fact an attempt both to satirize traditional opera and operetta and to create a new kind of musical theater based on the theories of composer Kurt Weill and poet-playwright Bert Brecht. Raul Julia‘s somber portrayal of the infamous “Mack the Knife” made the strongest impression when the show opened at the Vivian Beaumont, 39 years ago today, on May 1, 1976. The conductor of this 1976 Joe Papp/Lincoln Center production Stanley Silverman discusses the show in our new legends of Broadway video below.
