BEA ARTHUR The Threepenny Opera-"Pirate Jenny"

On Dec. 18, 2000, Donald Saddler staged a reunion concert version of "The Threepenny Opera" with four members of the original 1954 off-Broadway cast (Bea Arthur, Charlotte Rae, Jo Sullivan, and William Duell) and on the same stage where this legendary off-Broadway revival of "Threepenny" played for six years, the Theater de Lys (later re-dubbed the Lucille Lortel Theater).
Bea Arthur played Lucy in the original '54 cast of this revival. For this concert, Arthur switched roles and took on Lotte Lenya's part of Jenny; Donna McKechnie was Lucy.
Robert Cuccioli was Macheath, and George S. Irving was Peachum.

[@ryebread9299]

I’m obsessed recently with threepenny

[@runkles]

Yes. Me too. I listened to the 1954 English soundtrack with Lotte Lenya and I thought, oh geez this must have really influenced Cabaret. Then I was interested to learn that Lotte Lenya was Fräulein Schneider in the original Broadway cast of Cabaret. I thought about it more and it occurred to me that "It Couldn't Please Me More" (the pineapple song from Cabaret) sounds like a faster "Mack the Knife."

[@bluedlodlo]

Bea Arthur is a marvelous performer. I’m so glad I was able to see her one-woman show twice!

[@haplessasshole9615]

And, even if it was verbatim the same script, it was a different show both times. Yep, she's a theater legend, quite aside from her well-deserved TV accolades.

[@marrisapayton943]

She is the one of the best actress i could have

[@lucianaborinato2993]

@Daniel Lopez ❤

[@bluedlodlo]

@@lucianaborinato2993 nice to see you here. ::: hugs:::

[@lucianaborinato2993]

@@bluedlodlo I love Bea too, but it makes me look like I'm your stalker 😂 Hugs back at you xxx

[@trinelangohr6661]

She's perfect for Brecht. Absolutely perfect. Similar to Lotte Lenya, but angrier. I saw her sing in "Golden GIrls" and thought: she would be perfect for the Threepenny opera. And apparently she got cast for it, so other people think the same as me :)

[@KellyLincoln]

she was cast in the off-broadway production in 1954 as Jenny

[@keikekaze]

@@KellyLincoln Actually the great Lotte Lenya played Jenny in the 1954 production, which ran for nearly seven years off-Broadway. But the great Bea Arthur was in that production too--as Lucy.

[@marjoriemalca6794]

Spectacular interpretation. I've seen many with Nina Simone, Lotte Lenya, Anne Kerry and some others. The piece is definitely a master piece of music and lyrics and each one makes it their own but I stay with Bea's interpretation forever. The modulation on her voice, the gestures, the highs and downs, the surprise, the witt, the madness, the fear and the strength in one breath of Bea is amazing. /R.I.P. my sweet Bea.

[@jahnaviwen4434]

I wholeheartedly agree! ❤

[@jahnaviwen4434]

That was AMAZING ❤🔥

[@marrisapayton943]

Bravo!😁 bea i love that peformance i love ur singing and anything else about u rip bea

[@biav]

love this so much

[@haplessasshole9615]

"There we go," I said. "That's gonna be in my key." Let's hear it for the female tenors. We contraltos are generally the evil witches, so it's fun to get a little love.

[@afreezaphorogiancossack2194]

Would be remiss to not add the obvious "everyone here, kindly step to the rear, and let a [female] tenor lead the way" but anyway ... it's really a tenor thing, not a lady tenor thing. :-)

[@luvmenow33]

In my humble opinion the female voice type which I absolutely love the most and literally melt over is Alto/counteralto. That Fiona Apple , Etta James , Toni Braxton , Tina Turner voice. Yum

[@haplessasshole9615]

@@luvmenow33 Oh, yeah. We can blues it up far better than sopranos. I mean, I gather you like blues, given that all the women you named are R&B or just straight B artists. I love that the Obamas chose "At Last" for their first dance as POTUS and FLOTUS, and Beyonce really delivered the goods.

[@SmirkingValet]

I named my cat after this character! Specially the way Bea performs it!

[@lagousi]

Stunning !! She was such a splendid Person. Thank you for sharing your Talents with us Bea Arthur ! And thank you aurora spiderwomen for uploading this piece of art !

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

You are very welcome---thanks for the comment.

[@HFritzson]

Wonderful

[@tmtb80]

Fearless!

[@kathleenmorgen5620]

Chilling!

[@mggentry]

You know she was in the US Marines… it shows ❤

[@stationarywanderer7910]

Fighting the Nazis! Amazing woman!!

[@hanschristianbrando5588]

Didn't Bea Arthur sing her own song ("Barbara Song," a personal favorite)?

[@janettucker3196]

A feminist manifesto if there ever was one.

[@tatianalyulkin410]

" Pirate Jenny " fits my mood like 200 %. " Kill them now! "

[@marrisapayton943]

And remember no actress is better then u

[@Jarchiporz]

I cannot avoid seeing here an imitation of Lotte Lenya's performance from when she was older. It is good, but still...