Foster Hirsch, using Weill's letters, journals, and notes, and interviewing Weill's friends and colleagues, writes about his life, his experimental, political composing in Germany, his Broadway music in America - both aspects of his work being a source of controversy among music lovers for years. Lotte Lenya said, "There is no American Weill, there is no German Weill. There is no difference between them. There is only Weill." Hirsch details the writing, casting, and production of Weill's eleven hit shows. He writes about Weill's years in Hollywood and the friends he made and lost along the way. He evokes Weill's complicated, intense collaborations with Brecht, Maxwell Anderson, Langston Hughes, Alan Jay Lerner, Elmer Rice, Moss Hart, and Ira Gershwin. In this book Hirsch has given us a vivid portrayal of a remarkable artist and a fabulous era of American musical theatre.

One of Bertolt Brecht's best-loved and most performed plays, The Threepenny Opera was first staged in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, Berlin (now the home of the Berliner Ensemble). Based on the eighteenth-century The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, the play is a satire on the bourgeois society of the Weimar Republic, but set in a mock-Victorian Soho. With Kurt Weill's music, which was one of the earliest and most successful attempts to introduce the jazz idiom into the theatre, it became a popular hit throughout the western world. This new edition is published here in John Willett and Ralph Manhein's classic translation with commentary and notes by Anja Hartl.

Based on John Gay's eighteenth century Beggar's Opera, The Threepenny Opera, first staged in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin, is a vicious satire on the bourgeois capitalist society of the Weimar Republic, but set in a mock-Victorian Soho. With Kurt Weill's unforgettable music - one of the earliest and most successful attempts to introduce jazz to the theatre - it became a popular hit throughout the western world. Published in Methuen Drama's Modern Classics series, this edition features extensive notes and commentary including an introduction to the play, Brecht's own notes on the play, a full appendix of textual variants, a note by composer Kurt Weill, a transcript of a discussion about the play between Brecht and a theatre director, plus editorial notes on the genesis of the play.

(String Solo). 10 songs from three of Kurt Weill's most famous stage works are presented here in intermediate arrangements for violin and piano. Players of any age will relish the chance to play these famous tunes and in the absence of a live accompaniment, the piano accompaniment provided on the CD will provide stylish support. Includes: The Threepenny Opera - The Ballad of Mack the Knife, Polly's Song, Love Song, Tango Ballad, Barbara Song, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny - Alabama Song, Jenny's Song, Happy End - Don't be Afraid, The Liquor Dealer's Dream, and more.