Music Still Shines in Lackluster ‘Threepenny’

As the program states, Theatre West’s wan production of “The Threepenny Opera” is “based on the famous off-Broadway production at New York’s Theatre de Lys.” The director is Charles Rome Smith, who appeared in that celebrated 1954 sensation.

The Marc Blitzstein adaptation of the 1928 landmark work by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht--well, Brecht and various uncredited collaborators--has since been bettered by other versions in English. But it’s still stage-worthy. Brecht’s credited source, John Gay’s 1728 lark “The Beggar’s Opera,” provided a sound structure.

Allow me a massive generalization. The typical let-you-entertain-me American theatergoer is happier with a less acrid brand of musical entertainment than “Threepenny.” An audience made up largely of this type of theatergoer will stare at it, irritated and itchy, wondering when that swingin’ version of “Mack the Knife” they remember so fondly via Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Armstrong or Bobby Darin is going to arrive.

It’s a tough show to get even half-right. Less than half is what you get at Theatre West. This is a dispirited, dispiriting effort. It feels hogtied to director Smith’s memories of the ’54 version. It goes through the motions, rather than energizing the material.

A few performers transcend the general ennui. Molly Reynolds’ Polly at least has the vocal chops, and Stephen Reynolds’ J.J. Peachum--despite some desperately overscaled mugging--knows how to get a line out without giving birth to it.

Most of the time, though, you settle for the aching, sneering brilliance of Weill’s score, heard here on solo piano, performed by musical director Sanya Henderson. It is amazing theater music, and it deserves better.

* “The Threepenny Opera,” Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends June 10. $25. (323) 851-7977. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes.

Patrick Tracy: MacHeath

Suzzy London: Jenny

Stephen Reynolds: J.J. Peachum

Susan Morgenstern: Mrs. Peachum

Molly Reynolds: Polly

Christopher Thomas: Tiger Brown

Music by Kurt Weill. Original text by Bertolt Brecht. English adaptation by Marc Blitzstein. Directed by Charles Rome Smith. Musical director Sanya Henderson. Scenic design by Geoff Ross. Lighting by Joe Morrissey. Costumes by Royce Herron.