Word: macheath
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...decades since he first appeared, Macheath--he of the white gloves, cane and jackknife--has become a stage favorite. The king of the underworld who's best friends with the chief of police strides through The Threepenny, Opera refusing to be judged. Women, of course, fall all over him, and he's married two (at least). Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum, the "king of the beggars," a less familiar character, acts as Brecht's mouthpiece to deliver the show's straight-forward message: don't condemn how others earn their next meal until you're faced with missing one yourself. Working, begging...
...cast fill their roles with 18th century gusto. Teresa Toulouse, for example, combines the vengefulness of Gilbert and Sullivan's jilted Katisha with the coarse bumptiousness of Eliza the Flower Girl in her characterization of Lucy Lockit, Polly Peachum's rival for the love of the unfaithful highwayman Macheath. Joanna Blum as Mrs. Peachum also plays her role to the hit. Unscrupulous and unmarried, she jerks around the stage, hands on hips, spitting out cynical asides to the audience...
...Cameron is less impressive as her gray bewigged, dandified husband, but his gentlemanly affectations provide an effective visual and aural contrast to the antics of his partner in crime, the hard-drinking, Scottish jailor, Mr. Lockit (Daniel Frank). While Lisa Popick looks just right as Macheath's favorite prostitute Jenny Diver, Meredith Birdsall is completely inadequate as his favorite wife, Polly. Awkward and artificial, she sports a perpetually perturbed countenance and her attempts at crying are laughable...
Birdsall's strong soprano voice, however, partially compensates for the weakness of her acting. Musically, in fact, the entire cast of The Beggar's Opera is unimpeachable. While Ben Cox's Macheath displays more world-weariness and self-parody than vigor, he sings in a melodious high tenor that does ample justice to Gay's ballads. Toulouse too has an outstanding, well-controlled soprano--although her duets with Polly would be more effective were she a contralto...
There are some wonderful moments in The Beggar's Opera--Master Kiely all grimaces and contortions as the Beggar/playwright, Macheath's gang lustily anticipating their booty, the prostitutes--each with a distinctive dress and a personality to match--swinging their way across the stage, mimicking lords and ladies and boasting gleefully of their conquests. Sharp characterizations of the prostitutes and gang members perfectly the rowdiness and vibrancy of the London underworld make these last scenes the most exciting in the production...