'Threepenny Opera'Gets Mixed Reception

Sunday, August 13, 2006

By MICHAEL FISCHER, Associated Press Writer

BERLIN — Klaus Maria Brandauer's much-awaited production of"Threepenny Opera"got a mixed reception, with cheers for German rock star Campino as Mack the Knife but scattered boos for the conventional staging.

Actor-director Brandauer, who starred in"Mephisto"and was nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in"Out of Africa,"had resisted questions about how his production of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's musical comedy about the criminal MacHeath would differ from earlier versions.

Some at Friday night's premiere apparently found it too conventional _ and there were boos after the curtain for Brandauer when he took his bow.

His production featured Mack the Knife in a three-piece suit and white gloves, stuck to Brecht's text, and avoided references to contemporary politics or issues.

"When one is opening a new house, like the one here, you've got to have an idea of how to stage Brecht,"said German actor Peter Lohmeyer, one of 1,700 in attendance at the newly restored Admiralspalast theater."This was nothing."

The production, which runs through Sept. 24, gave new life to the Admiralspalast, a short distance down Friedrichstrasse from where"The Threepenny Opera"received its premier in 1928.

Once a venue for cabaret and concerts in the decadent Berlin of the 1920s and 1930s, it had fallen into disrepair and had been closed since 1997.

Workers had to race to get renovations done, and city authorities gave the green light only on Thursday.

Campino, singer for the German rock band Die Toten Hosen, said he was not contemplating switching careers.

"I'm happy to go through life as a member of Die Toten Hosen and not as an actor,"he said.

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