Hi beth1983,
The disastrous Third Act - referred to as the Unhappy End to Happy End
is best described by Foster Hirsch in the Brooklyn College Magazine --
Fall 2001
A Biographer's Notes
http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/text/pubs/bcmag/bcm-fall01/notes.htm
"Happy End, a Brecht-Weill musical that premiered a year after The
Threepenny Opera, was a flop. It boasted a good score by Weill but had
a disastrous third act, which is described in this excerpt from Foster
Hirsch's Kurt Weill on Stage: From Berlin to Broadway (Knopf,
forthcoming)."
[edit]
"Laughter and applause were generous right from the beginning; Lenya
recollected that during the intermission following Act Two, Weill
called her backstage at her theatre, his voice vibrating with
excitement, to announce another hit. But that was before the
unfinished and soon-to-be-infamous Act Three had been performed. At
the end of the show, Helene Weigel as the Lady in Grey delivered a
ringing Communist manifesto. Did Weigel improvise her harangue on the
spot? Did she read explosive passages from a Communist Party pamphlet
calling for revolution? As a gesture of solidarity with his new fellow
travelers, had Brecht secretly embellished the speech during the
intermission following Act Two? All have been claimed, and each is
conceivable. [Producer Ernst] Aufricht recalled that during rehearsals
"a deputation of Communists came to Brecht, complaining that,
ideologically, the play was too feeble. This gave Brecht an idea, a
bad idea, and suddenly the weak third act became even weaker. . . .
Helene Weigel suddenly drew out a sheet Brecht had written during the
intermission and began to read a Communist pamphlet. A scandal broke
loose; our failure was sealed."
"Robbing a bank's no crime compared to owning one! The world belongs
to all of us let's march together and make it our own!" Weigel, a
fierce-looking firebrand, declared, introducing a political slant that
was out of phase with the essentially good-natured and sentimental
play. Her comments, and her challenging stance, angered Aufricht's
well-heeled audience. "Hosanna Rockefeller," a coda in the form of a
mock hymn to Saint Henry Ford, Saint John D. Rockefeller, and Saint J.
P. Morgan caricatures of the American millionaires appeared on giant
stained-glass windows further enflamed the crowd. In this single
sustained piece of musical irony in the show, the writers attacked
money and religion, sacred ground for the bourgeois spectators. At the
curtain call a barrage of jeers greeted the startled actors.
Although the score was well received, the play and the production were
derided. Not for the first time, Alfred Kerr, the dean of Berlin
critics and a staunch anti-Brechtian, accused the playwright of
plagiarism. Even Herbert Ihering, Brecht's great advocate among Berlin
critics, was negative. Poor reviews, as well as fear of riots, spelled
silence at the Schiffbauerdamm box office. Two days later, Aufricht
closed the show, which disappeared immediately from Brecht's resume
and was never to be produced again during the lifetimes of its
cocreators."
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http://www.jamesweggreview.org/Reviews_Theatre/Shaw_Festival_Happy_End.htm
"Set in 1919 Chicago the storyline (based on the book by the
non-existent Dorothy Lane ah the intrigues of backrooms, bedrooms and
leading ladies the plot pits unscrupulous mobsters against the
redemption-through-soup soldiers of the Salvation Army."
==============================================================================
Mississauga Library Reviews
http://mississauga.ca/library/reviews/theatre/happy_end.htm
"HAPPY END is a Mobster's Opera, just as THE THREEPENNY OPERA is a
20th century Beggar's Opera, being, in fact, an updating of Gay's
famous political satire. HAPPY END presents a cross-section of
characters from the worlds of crime, religion, and the law. It is
steeped in the myth of the American underworld and its allusions to
Big Business and American tycoons are a form of political criticism.
Brecht wanted to make people think about socio-political themes and
issues, and his parables were originally presented in anti-realistic
modes. Witty and energetic, HAPPY END is a fantastic parable of
Chicago of 1919, and it is drenched in the sleazy smoke and gin
atmosphere of Berlin cabaret of the period. It is full of singing
gangsters and fervent Salvationists, and its message is clear: blast
all the enemies of social justice, from the tycoons and crime bosses
to the exploitative traitors of the common man. Its optimism is for a
just society where no man will starve or be crippled by fear."
[edit]
"HAPPY END was a resounding flop on its German debut in 1929,
principally because Weigel's harshly provocative Marxist
interpolations in the Fly's final speech were taken as a rancid
diatribe by audiences and critics. Bradecki's production, however, is
a success--despite the reservations I have expressed above. The
director..."
Google Search:
Bertold Brecht's Happy End
Happy End Third Act
Best regards,
tlspiegel |
