'Threepenny Opera' steals audiences’ hearts

Reviewed by KATIE MATYAS
Collegian Staff Writer

Drag queens, cowgirls, roller skaters and double-jointed acrobats covered the stage in an impressive opening number for The Threepenny Opera on Saturday night.

Provocative costumes and jazzy music seduced the audience, taking it out of the staged New York City subway station and into a world of street performance -- a threepenny opera put on by beggars.

Outrageous street performers walked the stairs, singing alongside captivated audience members in an almost-full house at the Pavilion Theatre.

The University Resident Theatre Company's rendition of The Threepenny Opera modernized a classic production with colorful music, contemporary props and provocative acting.

Daniel Magill (graduate-fine arts) charmed the audience and cast with his smooth moves as the notorious anti-hero Mack the Knife, otherwise known as Macheath.

Macheath marries Polly Peachum, played by Christina DeAngelis (senior-theatre arts), daughter of the king of the beggars. The innocent flamenco dancer becomes head of her husband's gangster mob while he flees the police.

The beggar gangsters bopped around the stage, rapping in unison to Polly and Macheath's "Wedding Song," while the newlyweds ate dinner on a makeshift table in an empty stable.

"It's very much theater in the rough," director Cary Libkin said, describing the beggars' knack at improvising and creating sets for their opera.

Libkin himself drew audience members into the traditional play with his quirky ‘90s twists, including the presentation of Polly's wedding gift in a Victoria's Secret box.

Although married to a wife equipped with lingerie, Macheath is hardly faithful.

Polly and Lucy, Macheath's pregnant lover, played by Coco Medvitz (graduate-theatre arts), harmonized voices, enchanting a rapt audience with the "Jealousy Duet," a song about their competition for Macheath.

The beggars also enchanted audiences when they performed the "Second Threepenny Finale," a piece including faint beats from "Another One Bites the Dust," by Queen, in the background. Their dance moves were choreographed in a zombie-like rigid shuffle, straight out of Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

"I was totally into the music and dancing, especially the opening number," said Melissa Young (senior-hotel restaurant institution management).

The play will run from Dec. 1 to 5 and tickets are available at Eisenhower Auditorium.

• Nov. 20: URTC presents Brecht’s Threepenny Opera