Media and Reviews
for The Threepenny Opera
Sunrise (video): Michael was interviewed about Threepenny Opera on Sunrise on TV3.
ConcertFM (radio): Jennifer was interviewed on Upbeat on Concert FM: "I haven't been involved in, had that sort of theatrical process in a long time. I found it really refreshing. I mean, obviously I've been married to Michael for a long time, but I really watched him at work and thought, wow, you're just absolutely in your element. He brings such intellectual rigour to his productions."
Metro: " . . . a mesmerising, ambitious production of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's classic that feels freshly minted, an instant classic that sets a high benchmark for theatre this year. . . . a production that has all the qualities of a musical spectacular. . . . It is only June, but if I had money on it, The Threepenny Opera is already the theatre experience of the year."
New Zealand Herald: "Silo's production. . . opens with Jennifer Ward-Lealand, in Amy Winehouse mode, delivering a tortured Mac the Knife . . . The effect is absolutely electrifying - setting the tone for an edgy production, full of dangerous surprises, with moments of theatrical brilliance . . . The finale is a tour-de-force with Michael Hurst's innate sense of theatricality merging with a set design that has John Verryt at his exuberant best. Productions on this scale are a rare treat - the 27 member cast and a sizzling jazz combo have triumphantly revitalised a timeless classic. Go and see it."
National Business Review: " . . . a magnificent night of razzle dazzle theatre, set in a scary and ugly criminal underworld to wonderfully oompapa jazz. This may turn out to be the production of the year in this city."
Lumiere Reader: "(Threepenny Opera) asks some hard questions about violence, treatment of the poor and warns against oversentimentalising reality, and director Hurst doesn’t shirk from these ideas. . . . The deus ex machina ending . . . had me in stitches . . . It was brilliantly done and sounded the perfect satirical note to round off a satisfying theatrical experience. Go and see it, it's well worth it."
www.theatreview.co.nz: "This post modern deconstruction is in fact classic vintage Bertolt Brecht. . . . Then there's the music, where the heart and soul of the piece is expressed with explosive passion."
Listener: "From the opening bars of Weill's harshly beautiful introduction to the sharply satirical energy of the happy ending, the show is musically excellent. Billing's singing of Pirate Jenny is recklessly fierce, Snow and Rhodes' rendition of the Cannon Song tough and compelling, and the delivery by the company of What Keeps a Man Alive electrifying". |