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“Harlot, hussy, whore, skank.” “Highwayman, gambler, vagabond, prick.” Those were the first sung lines that greeted the standing room-only audience in Baustian Theatre for the Sunday matinee performance of John Gay’s Beggar’s Opera staged by KU’s School of Music. Highbrow art here, clearly.

Gay’s opera from 1728, one of the longest-running productions in British history, brutally satirized Italian opera conventions. Everyone is ignoble, abhorrent, and presented in hysterical caricature. Instead of da capo aria after da capo aria, melodies of popular and folk songs, hymns, and other opera arias were used with new lyrics to broaden the appeal of these clever bastardizations. More sung play than opera, there are numerous tunes, many of which only one get one verse, interspersed with the spoken narrative.

Beggar’s Opera is a great story of unrepentant crime and lack of punishment. Jeremiah Peachum (Brad Walker), a fence and his wife (Kristian Bucy) discover their daughter, Polly (Julia Geisler), has married the highwayman, Captain Macheath (Chris Cobbett). Macheath has already impregnated the jailer’s daughter, Lucy Lockit (Katie Bieber).The jailer, Lockit (Michael Austin), throws Macheath in jail for his crimes and it later emerges that not only is Lucy pregnant, but numerous other women as well. To make the story a moral one, Macheath must be hanged, but upon the audience’s pleading, the Beggar (Dominic Johnson), the titular playwright, agrees to spare Macheath’s life so that he may properly wed Polly.

Gender stereotypes, cutting jokes about marriage, wanton women, well-endowed men, and all manner of substance abuse fly fast and furious. The students relished these moments and took mischievous glee in calling their classmates sluts, hussies, pimps, and other such derisive variations on derogatory slurs. With a script more spoken than sung and campy to the extreme, the cast excelled at physical comedy. The background players all managed to bring unique personalities to bear, whether as a snuff addict or buxom floosy.

Walker, Geisler, and Cobbett were the strongest cast members in terms of singing and acting. Walker’s bass-baritone was delightfully smarmy and powerfully filled the black box. Geisler’s warm and even mezzo showcased great diction and luscious timbre. Cobbett’s easy, unforced voice would be at home in any Gilbert and Sullivan or operetta production. Their spoken lines were also the most clearly delivered, even through the thick, low-class British accents, and they displayed the most appropriate comedic timing. These are three to watch. Featured players Demi Renault and Etta Fung were also noteworthy; Renault for her fine singing and Fung for completely embodying Betty Doxy, lady of gin, with her inebriated dancing and uproarious Chinese rant.

Ron Megee’s direction was strong and visceral. The larger set pieces, among them a wildly creative carriage ride, were spectacular. The pacing was brisk, but momentum lagged during the jail sequences. Megan Turek’s costumes were fantastic, slutty faux-Victorian fetishware. Those for the Beggar (a Burton-esque ringleader), Mrs. Peachum (a lady tuxedo with top-hat and revealing skirt), and Polly (an early-’80s-Madonna meets Sex and the City-season-three-Carrie) were the most inspired.

Spending a Sunday afternoon with these raucous rapscallions was certainly worth the drive to Lawrence.

REVIEW:
KU School of Music and KU Opera
The Beggar's Opera
November 17–21, 2011 (Reviewed Sunday, November 20)
Robert Baustian Theatre
1530 Naismith Drive, Lawrence, KS
For more information, visit http://www.music.ku.edu

Top Photo: Kristian Bucy as Mrs. Peachum (center)

By Lee Hartman

Editor-in-Chief; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Lee Hartman holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (D.M.A., M.M.) and the University of Delaware (B.M.). At the University of Delaware, he received a Dean's Scholar position enabling him to pursue an individually designed academic program combining music education and composition. At the University of Missouri-Kansas City he served for three years as the Assistant Director to Musica Nova, the conservatory's new music ensemble, while teaching a variety of composition classes.

In 2007 he was invited to both the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík, Iceland and the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China to give lectures and master classes in composition. In the summer of 2009, Hartman served as an orchestra manager for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Aspen Opera Theater Center for various performances. He serves on the National Executive Committee of the Society of Composers, Inc. as Submissions Coordinator. His primary composition instructors include James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Paul Rudy, John Beall, and Jennifer Margaret Barker. He currently teaches music theory at the University of Central Missouri and general music classes at Park University having previously taught at UD (2007–08) and UMKC (2006–07).

His compositions can be found at http://www.leehartmanmusic.com