“The Threepenny Opera,” May 5 through 8

Thursday, May 5, through Sunday, May 8

Augustana College's Brunner Theatre Center, 3750 Seventh Avenue, Rock Island IL

A bona fide musical-theatre classic serves as the final stage production in Augustana College's 2021-22 season at the Brunner Theatre Center, with Shelley Cooper directing and choreographing the May 5 through 8 run of The Threepenny Opera, a work revered for its score that boasts the unforgettable “The Ballad of Mack the Knife” and its legendary collaboration between author Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill.

Set in the impoverished back alleys of Victorian London and based on John Gay's 18th-century masterwork The Beggar's Opera, The Threepenny Opera follows underworld antihero Mack the Knife as he tries to woo Polly Peachum and elude authorities. Created in 1928 Berlin to speak out against capitalist corruption, this musical bluntly addresses issues that remain relevant today. Through epic theatre, theatrical movement, and progressive music, Brecht's, Weill's, and original translator Elizabeth Hauptmann's work has been widely discussed since its 1929 premiere, and has continually opened up difficult conversations about greed, oppression, and accountability within our society.

Says Cooper, “In The Threepenny Opera, Brecht argues that a capitalist system drives people to do anything to make money. They steal, kill, and sell their bodies, and none of these actions is out of the ordinary. These activities will arise naturally because the characters live in a system that rewards ruthless competition. The past two years have forced us to have some difficult conversations about accountability, economic injustice, inequality for women, inequities for the LGBTQ+ communities, racism, corporate greed, privilege, and more. I think, if we don’t address these important conversations head on, we will be doing a grave disservice, and the same stories will keep being told.”

A vocal coach, stage director, choreographer, and actor specializing in musical theatre, Cooper is an assistant professor of Theatre Arts at Augustana, and her performance credits have included Mary & Ethel: How I Learned to Sing and A Green River for the Mississippi Bend Players; La Divina: The Last Interview of Maria Callas for the Black Box Theatre; and Opera Quad Cities' The Pirates of Penzance. For the Rock Island college, she has directed stage works including Into the Woods, The Drowsy Chaperone, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and for the Mississippi Bend Players, she helmed Big River and Dames at Sea.

Assuming iconic roles among Cooper's Threepenny Opera cast are Benedict Wood (Macheath), Ezekiel Aurelius (Peachum), Amy Nicholson (Polly Peachum), Alyssa Frazier (Mrs. Peachum), Jacqueline Issacson (Jenny Diver), AJ Perez (Tiger Brown), and Maria Coulter (Lucy Brown). With Makupa Lungu enacting the show's Narrator, the ensemble is completed by Brooke Barlow, Maggie Caliendo, Anya Giordano, Ella Miller, and Hannah Wiyrick.

And with Lindsay Edwards and Synth Gonzales serving as assistant directors, additional members of The Threepenny Opera's creative team include stage manager Becca McNamar; assistant stage manager Natlie Hansen; lighting designer and technical director Mike Turczynski; sound designer Lindsey Edwards; music composer Maureen Holmes; instrument music director Michelle Crouch; scenic designer Cameron Strandin; costume designer Emily Bushá; run crew members Joe Burck and Chris Celius; and dramaturg (and Reader theatre reviewer) Roger Pavey Jr.

The Threepenny Opera will be staged in the Brunner Theatre Center May 5 through 8, with performances Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Admission is $5-15, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)794-7306 and visiting Augustana.edu/tickets.