Review: Theo Ubique is just the theater to put on a fresh and lively ‘Threepenny Opera’
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“What is the robbing of a bank compared to the founding of a bank?” had an especially amusing ring to it Sunday night at Evanston’s Theo Ubique Theatre, as Bertolt Brecht’s “The Threepenny Opera” proved its pithiness once again. This 1928 composition, a collaboration between Brecht and the composer Kurt Weill, really never goes out of style, and as long as corruption, hypocrisy and virtue signaling remain a constituent part of human behavior, it never will.
Given that the piece is about, in essence, the London equivalent of the Chicago mob mixed with Chicago machine politics, the show has a long and apt history in this toddlin’ town. These days, though, you rarely see a decent Chicago “Threepenny,” which is technically quite difficult to sing. I last reviewed “Threepenny Opera” in Chicago all the way back in 2008, in a lively production by a now-defunct theater company known as The Hypocrites, under the direction of Sean Graney, at the now-defunct Steppenwolf Garage. That was a cleverly conceptual affair with less focus on the nuances of Weill’s musical interpretation.
But Fred Anzevino, the founding artistic director of Theo Ubique, a Weill aficionado of long standing and a refreshing stickler for excellent singing, has put together a fresh and lively take on a tricky, not-for-all-tastes show that, when done well, always reminds you that a whole lot of what theater people now think of as fresh and radical, Brecht was already doing in the 1920s.
“Threepenny” is best known for the song “Mack the Knife,” famously recorded by everyone from Louis Armstrong to Bobby Darin to, in a delicious bit of irony, Frank Sinatra, but there are other gems in its score, including “Pirate Jenny,” which always feels to me like it could have been written by John Kander and Fred Ebb. That’s the thing about this show: it’s a kind of satiric socialist uber text, the first musical to make the case that criminality and corruption are separated only by the power of the perps and the precursor to much of what would happen in American musical theater over the succeeding 100 years.
This production is anchored dramatically by Thomas M. Shea, who offers a deep and unstinting dive into Peachum, a nasty piece of work, and musically by Megan Elk, who plays his missus. Then you’ve got the beating hearts of Polly Peachum, essayed sans guile but with craft by Chamaya Moody, and old Lucy Brown, rather deliciously played by Nathe Rowbotham. Carl Herzog is a decent, if conventional, Macheath, but the show is directed to showcase the ensemble and there are little gems all over the place.
Anzevino, collaborating here with the musical director Ryan Brewster, pulls off the show in an intimate gaslit cabaret setting with just a lone pianist. The piece is long but it zips along here very nicely and its internal integrity never flags.
I’d argue that some of the more emotional scenes could use more definition; the show feels much of a piece, aesthetically, whereas so much about Brecht ideally involves exploiting sharp contrasts between aching hearts and public role playing a la Grand Guignol. You know, just like life today.
But this show is still a return to musical form at Theo Ubique, a theater traditionally known for its singing, its conceptual ideas and showcasing of young talent. Brecht, Weill and maestro Anzevino all are most welcome back.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
Review: “The Threepenny Opera” (3 stars)
When: Through April 30
Where: Theo Ubique Theatre, 721 Howard St., Evanston
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Tickets: $45-$55 at 773-939-4101 and theo-u.com
