Publication Date: Friday May 26, 2000

Viva Las Vegas

In the world of regional opera companies, devoting one production a year to a 20th century work is pretty fearless. Doing it the way West Bay Opera does is darn near reckless.

West Bay's new production of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny" (performed in English), features, for starters, the largest orchestra in the company's 44-year history. In addition to the regular ensemble, the production requires saxophones, guitars, banjo, bandoneon, and honky-tonk piano.

"To accommodate such a large group, and to put the action as close to the audience as possible, we will for the first time place the orchestra at the back of the stage, behind the singers," music director David Sloss said.

"Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny" premiered in Leipzig, Germany in 1930. It marked composer Weill's first collaboration with writer Brecht, and is a prime example of their aggressive, popular song style. Written during Hitler's rise in Germany, the musical was intended to be an exaggerated morality tale about social disintegration, according to Weill.

Mahagonny, the opera's setting, is a city where people can do anything as long as they have money. Created by three criminals on the run, it is a place where no one works and drinking, gambling and sex are regular activities. The opera explores scenarios of greed, gluttony, lust and a justice system where running out of money is the only capital crime.

"In 1930, Weill and Brecht had no idea that a city developed by mobsters and devoted to the sale of vulgar pleasures would actually sprout and flourish in the American desert," Sloss said. "So, in our version, Mahagonny comes to look more and more like Las Vegas as the show unfolds."

"Mahagonny" presents some unusual musical challenges to its performers, as it requires opera singers who can also handle jazz and folk. Weill's music is sufficiently grounded in the latter two genres that it has received its largest audience through recordings by Nina Simone ("Pirate Jenny"), Frank Sinatra ("September Song") and, of course, Bobby Darin ("Mack the Knife").

Jane Hammett, well-known for her roller-skating Olympia in West Bay's "Tales of Hoffmann," tackles the role of Jenny Smith, which was originally written for an operatic soprano but later transposed for Weill's famous wife, Lotte Lenya, who couldn't handle the high notes.

Singing the original soprano arrangement suits Hammett very well.

"It sits in a very comfortable part of my range," she said. "For that reason, and because it is a more intimate kind of singing, it doesn't require the kind of "getting into the voice" that my more usual opera repertoire does. Style-wise, the music is very direct, and much more emphasis is placed on the text."

Hammett described Jenny as a complex character, a prostitute who is "not jaded enough" to be very successful at it. She links up with a kindred spirit in Jimmy MacIntyre, a lumberjack from Alaska, but is unable to protect him from the corrupt world that surrounds them.

Playing Jimmy is Jay Fraley, a tenor who performs regularly with the Portland Opera. Sloss described the role as the toughest in the opera.

"The music is difficult," Fraley said. "This opera is an aerobic exercise set to Kurt Weill's music and I love it. 'Mahagonny' is kind of a dream come true for a tenor with a big voice, as there are ample opportunities to 'release the hounds.'"

"The most interesting challenge to Jimmy's character is that his mood is always on the move in a logical progression, as opposed to a psycho who is all over the place," Fraley said. "He is truly the lightning rod, as he becomes the source of hate for the bad guys and the focus of Jenny's love."

The extreme musical and technical demands of Mahagonny, coupled with the unusual emphasis placed on its libretto, prevent many companies from taking it on, Fraley said. The unifying force in West Bay's production is stage director Jonathan Field.

"(He) is putting together a real work of genius, a masterpiece," Fraley said. "It takes someone of tremendous ability, creativity and organization to pull together these elements and have it mean something. If opera companies could see what Jonathan has put together, I think they would seriously consider adding 'Mahagonny' to their repertoire.

What: West Bay Opera's "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny"

When: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. Additional performances on June 2 and 3 at 8 p.m. and June 4 at 2 p.m.

Where: Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto

Cost: Tickets are $33, with a special $17 youth ticket (for those under 18) for Sunday matinees only.

Info: Call (650) 424-9999 or visit www.wbopera.org. Tickets may also be purchased directly from the Holt Building, 221 Lambert St., Palo Alto. 

Back up to the Table of Contents Page