- Title Pages
- Dedication
- [UNTITLED]
- Introduction
- 1 The Boy from Philadelphia
- 2 Journeyman Years
- 3 Early Works (1924–1929)
- 4 Life with Eva, I (1929–1931)
- 5 From <i>is 5</i> (1929) to the Piano Concerto (1931)
- 6 Life with Eva, II (1932–1936)
- 7 Critical Writings (1931–1940)
- 8 From the <i>Serenade</i> (1932) to <i>The Chesapeake Bay Retriever</i> (1936)
- 9 <i>The Cradle Will Rock</i>, I (1936–1937)
- 10 <i>The Cradle Will Rock</i>, II
- 11 From <i>The Spanish Earth</i> (1937) to <i>Danton’s Death</i> (1939)
- 12 <i>No for an Answer</i> (1937–1940)
- 13 From <i>Valley Town</i> (1940) to <i>Labor for Victory</i> (1942)
- 14 To London and Back (1942–1945)
- 15 From <i>Freedom Morning</i> (1943) to the <i>Airborne Symphony</i> (1946)
- 16 From <i>Goloopchik</i> (1945) to <i>The Guests</i> (1949)
- 17 <i>Regina</i>, I (1946–1949)
- 18 <i>Regina</i>, II
- 19 <i>The Threepenny Opera</i> (1950–1954) and Other Adaptations
- 20 <i>Reuben Reuben</i> (1949–1955) and <i>This Is the Garden</i> (1956–1957)
- 21 More Music for Shakespeare (1950–1958)
- 22 <i>Juno</i> (1957–1959)
- 23 Final Years, I (1959–1961)
- 24 Final Years, II (1961–1964)
- 25 The Unfinished Operas
- Conclusion
- Abbreviations
- Index
The Threepenny Opera (1950–1954) and Other Adaptations
The Threepenny Opera (1950–1954) and Other Adaptations
- Chapter:
- (p.349) 19 The Threepenny Opera (1950–1954) and Other Adaptations
- Source:
- Marc Blitzstein
- Author(s):
Howard Pollack
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This chapter discusses Blitzstein’s work as director, translator, and adapter from 1950 to the end of his life. This includes his supervision of a production of J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan for which Leonard Bernstein had written the music; his adaptation of Benjamin Britten’s Let’s Make an Opera for American audiences; his adaptations of Verdi’s La Traviata, Offenbach’s L’îsle de Tulipatan, Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, and Brecht’s Mother Courage, among other works. The adaptation of The Threepenny Opera, which starred Lotte Lenya and Scott Merrill, enjoyed special success; by the time of its close in 1961, it had broken the record for New York’s longest-running musical, while one of its songs, “Mack the Knife,” proved one of the great hits of the time, with recordings by Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darin, and Ella Fitzgerald.
Keywords: Benjamin Britten, Giuseppe Verdi, La Traviata, Offenbach, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill, The Threepenny Opera, Mother Courage, Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald
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- Title Pages
- Dedication
- [UNTITLED]
- Introduction
- 1 The Boy from Philadelphia
- 2 Journeyman Years
- 3 Early Works (1924–1929)
- 4 Life with Eva, I (1929–1931)
- 5 From <i>is 5</i> (1929) to the Piano Concerto (1931)
- 6 Life with Eva, II (1932–1936)
- 7 Critical Writings (1931–1940)
- 8 From the <i>Serenade</i> (1932) to <i>The Chesapeake Bay Retriever</i> (1936)
- 9 <i>The Cradle Will Rock</i>, I (1936–1937)
- 10 <i>The Cradle Will Rock</i>, II
- 11 From <i>The Spanish Earth</i> (1937) to <i>Danton’s Death</i> (1939)
- 12 <i>No for an Answer</i> (1937–1940)
- 13 From <i>Valley Town</i> (1940) to <i>Labor for Victory</i> (1942)
- 14 To London and Back (1942–1945)
- 15 From <i>Freedom Morning</i> (1943) to the <i>Airborne Symphony</i> (1946)
- 16 From <i>Goloopchik</i> (1945) to <i>The Guests</i> (1949)
- 17 <i>Regina</i>, I (1946–1949)
- 18 <i>Regina</i>, II
- 19 <i>The Threepenny Opera</i> (1950–1954) and Other Adaptations
- 20 <i>Reuben Reuben</i> (1949–1955) and <i>This Is the Garden</i> (1956–1957)
- 21 More Music for Shakespeare (1950–1958)
- 22 <i>Juno</i> (1957–1959)
- 23 Final Years, I (1959–1961)
- 24 Final Years, II (1961–1964)
- 25 The Unfinished Operas
- Conclusion
- Abbreviations
- Index
