The Threepenny Operatic Tragedy

Tonight I went to the show that I had been waiting to see all season. "The Threepenny Opera" at the legendary studio 54. Was it because I had been so excited that I was left feeling so cold by this bizarre production? Quite possibly, but I also think that yet again it just reiterates the point that I talked about when I saw "The Wedding Singer" and "The Drowsy Chaperone".

The state of musical theater is such a mess right now that even with a piece that could be (and has been before) so stunning and powerful, the powers that be are messing it up. Instead of allowing any hint of subtlety or nuance to exist in the show the point is constantly being spelled out and hammered into your brain. People don't present puzzle pieces in mass entertainment anymore, they just present a prepackaged answer.

We understand from the beginning of this show that it is about corruption. It asks us to think about who REALLY are the corrupt people in society? The criminal underworld or the seemingly harmless elite? Has TV and pop culture spawned all humans into creatures that cannot put 2 and 2 together but instead must have the answer flashed in neon in front of them? I certainly hope not. I would rather leave a show slightly confused about its meaning than confused because it was being pushed so hard. Corruption exists everywhere, it did back when this show was written in 1928 Germany and it does in 2006 New York. If you didn't know it already then let us parade corporate logos across the stage in a kick line to show you just how screwy things are.

Screwy is a good word to describe the evening. Like any of the reviews I have read state, it is almost a crime how under-used and/or misdirected the cast is. Nellie McKay (one of my current favorite people) basically plays herself; an aloof young woman particularly malleable to the hands of the people around her. While her Judy Garland-ish sing song speech and warbley voice are distinct it all becomes a little one-note by the end of the three hours. And speaking of misused talent....Cindy Lauper barely exists in the show. She comes onstage for about thirty minutes total and makes a good impression but never really gets the chance to go anywhere with it. Her voice is a bizarre powerful instrument but most of the time she just squints her eyes and basks in the glow of her teased hair and pushed up tits because that is what she has been directed to do.

Sexuality is one of the controversial things about this production. Wallace Shawn has taken the original text and done a new translation. It seems more though that he just spruced it up by throwing "fuck", "vagina" and "dick" wherever he possibly could. Is this to prove to us that sex has such an illusive power over the world? That it in itself presents the seeds of corruptions by being essentially the seed of life? I have no fucking clue. Ah there I go Wallace Shawn-ing my own sentence. Because once again, it is a fairly empty gimmick. By the time a go-go boy comes floating down on a neon horse throwing glitter at the end I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

As much as I gripe about it I still found much of it to be enjoyable. Particular moments had some inspired staging but most of those moments for me came when the cast sang in unison and stood still. Nothing was being driven in at that point but the material. Cory asked me today why I spend so much money going to shows. I told him its because it makes me happy and I have always loved it. The money is an unfortunate expenditure but I suck it up and fork it over. Why then am I second guessing myself so much lately? My faith is slowly diminishing in Broadway today and nothing so far this year seems to be proving me wrong. The culture we have created seems to (here is my Johnathan Franzen rant of the day) be dumbing us down. The creative team behind some of these shows that are being created MUST know better right?! Oh well, I will just go put some Sondheim on and go to sleep.