{"id":114128,"date":"2022-10-15T09:22:59","date_gmt":"2022-10-15T13:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=114128"},"modified":"2022-10-15T09:22:59","modified_gmt":"2022-10-15T13:22:59","slug":"the-threepenny-opera-at-muhlenberg-theatre-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=114128","title":{"rendered":"‘The Threepenny Opera’ at Muhlenberg Theatre & Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"

A ballad amidst the boxes
\n<\/strong>Iconic \u201cThreepenny Opera\u201d makes honest work out of corrupt capitalist systems in a rollicking musical theater production, Oct. 28 \u2013 Nov. 6 at Muhlenberg Theatre & Dance
\n<\/em>
\nAllentown, Pa. (Oct. 14, 2022) \u2014 \u201cThe Threepenny Opera\u201d comes to the stages of Muhlenberg College with an iconic score, powerful scenic design, and an anti-capitalistic diatribe. Director James Peck describes it as \u201c\u2018The Godfather\u2019 meets \u2018The Office.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has a cutting, hard-edged humor that I think is very appealing,\u201d Peck says. Underneath this humor though, is an unflinching look at capitalist systems and violence.<\/p>\n

The show follows the tension between crime gangs and the wealthy class in Victorian London. When Polly Peachum elopes with the ruthless gang leader Macheath, their marriage sets off a turf war with the elder Peachums for control of London’s lucrative underground.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe general aim of the show is to comment on these structures and effects that we experience from capitalism,\u201d says Joe Grisanzio \u201923, who plays Macheath. \u201cAnd how all of these horrible things that these characters do throughout the show are a product of a system that’s working against them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Threepenny Opera\u201d features a score by Kurt Weill, including the celebrated song \u201cMack the Knife,\u201d and book and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann. Only recently has Hauptmann been fully credited for her work on the book, lyrics, and translation of the piece. The first production debuted in 1928.<\/p>\n

The piece is adapted from John Gay’s 18th Century ballad opera “The Beggar’s Opera,” which Hauptmann translated.<\/p>\n

Peck directed \u201cThe Beggar’s Opera\u201d at Muhlenberg and musical director Vincent Trovato created new orchestrations for it. Both of them are working on \u201cThreepenny\u201d now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s almost 100 years old,\u201d director Peck says. \u201cAnd it feels like it was written last week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The design of the production goes beyond the aesthetics of Victorian London.\u00a0 Set designer You-Shin Chen designed the set as an Amazon warehouse in a distribution center, built out of industrial materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can put a price tag on everything; even humans can be up for sale,\u201d Chen says. \u201cWhen the characters are onstage, they are the goods coming from these shipping crates that also act as the architecture of their world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peck says that Chen\u2019s design is particularly pertinent to the Lehigh Valley, where distribution centers are one of the fastest-growing industries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn’t feel like we’re just trying to make these broad societal statements about the show and about the world we live in,\u201d Grisanzio says. \u201cBut we’re saying, \u2018Here’s a direct example of the message of \u2018Threepenny\u2019 happening in real life and in real-time, right in our area.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the set, the costumes comment on the themes of the production in bold, bright colors. Designer Rebecca Lustig says the costumes are inspired by the punk street fashion of Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth designers have taken street fashion and reinterpreted it into \u2018high fashion,\u2019\u201d Lustig says. \u201cEven rebel fashion becomes a commodity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show will feature Angela Baughman as sound designer, Kat Zhou as lighting designer, Lauren Koranda \u201923 as associate director, Samuel Reyes as choreographer, and Christine Zak \u201923 as production stage manager.<\/p>\n

Allison Mintz \u201923, who plays Mrs. Peachum, says she appreciates the irony of the production.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s so funny to think that things that we use on the show will even be ordered from Amazon,\u201d Mintz says. \u201cAnd as much as we can say we like to hate the structures and hate the way that people are treated, there are still things that we need to use, and it speaks to the fact that humans are kind of rotten, and that is something that comes up a lot in the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the show speaks to these serious themes, Peck says, at its heart it\u2019s a highly enjoyable evening of theatre \u2014 a raucous comedy with a jazzy, sophisticated score.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want people to enjoy themselves,\u201d he says. \u201cThe play is very funny. The songs are great. And it\u2019s a great story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Performances of \u201cThe Threepenny Opera\u201d Oct. 28 through Nov. 6: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., and Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. Performances are \u00a0in the Empie Theatre, in the Baker Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College.<\/p>\n

Tickets are $20 regular admission, $8 for youth, and $8 for Muhlenberg and LVAIC students, faculty, and staff. The production includes references to violence, including sexual assault. It is recommended for ages 17 and up. Tickets are available online at\u00a0muhlenberg.edu\/seeashow<\/a>\u00a0or by phone at 484-664-3333.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About the Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance Department<\/strong>
\nMuhlenberg offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theatre and dance. The Princeton Review ranked Muhlenberg\u2019s theatre program in the top twelve in the nation for eight years in a row, and Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theatre and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States. Muhlenberg is one of only eight colleges to be listed in Fiske for both theatre and dance.
\n<\/em>
\nAbout Muhlenberg College<\/strong>
\nFounded in 1848, Muhlenberg is a highly selective, private, four-year residential, liberal arts college offering baccalaureate and graduate programs. With an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Muhlenberg College is dedicated to shaping creative, compassionate, collaborative leaders through rigorous academic programs in the arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences; selected preprofessional programs, including accounting, business, education and public health; and progressive workforce-focused post-baccalaureate certificates and master\u2019s degrees. Located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, approximately 90 miles west of New York City, Muhlenberg is a member of the Centennial Conference, competing in 22 varsity sports. Muhlenberg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Information Provided By:
\nScott Snyder
\nMarketing Manager
\nMuhlenberg College Department of Theatre & Dance<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A ballad amidst the boxes Iconic \u201cThreepenny Opera\u201d makes honest work out of corrupt capitalist systems in a rollicking musical theater production, Oct. 28 \u2013 Nov. 6 at Muhlenberg Theatre … Continue reading ‘The Threepenny Opera’ at Muhlenberg Theatre & Dance<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114129,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5716,69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-allentown","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/threepenny-opera.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114128"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/114129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}