ALYSON GROVE/Arizona Daily Wildcat Mrs. Peachum, played by Karin Hendricks, a musical theater junior, shows her displeasure with Mr. Peachum, played by musical theater senior Gentry Smith at a dress rehearsal of "Threepenny Opera" on Jan. 29. The musical runs Feb. 10-24 in the Marroney Theatre.

Arizona Repertory Theatre presents "The Threepenny Opera"

"The Threepenny Opera," by playwright Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, is so full of bad guys that it is hard to know who to root for.

The character Macheath swindles, jilts and fleeces his way through 1837 London. Other characters - beggars, prostitutes, policemen and pickpockets - are quite colorful, too, and it's as apparent in their appearance as in their actions.

Costume designer Nanalee Raphael created costumes that emphasize each character's vices and vanities.

"We created a pastiche of costumes from various periods that were selected to enhance the characters, not recreate 19th century London," Raphael said. "We want to interrupt the audience's concentration; these are theatrical, stylized costumes."

Guest director Robert Walker, from London's West End, recently directed the musicals "Pal Joey" and "Yakety Yak!" in London. He also directed "Guys and Dolls" in Germany.

Except for Walker, the cast and crew is composed entirely of members from the University of Arizona community.

Theater arts junior Sean Zimmerman plays the villain-hero Macheath. Raphael, an assistant theater arts professor, designed the costumes. Sally Day designed the set as part of her theater arts graduate capstone project.

Brecht was a Marxist, and his writings about alienation influenced Raphael's designs.

"The costumes sometimes blend the cast to the scenery, (like the beggars), or have these strong, screaming colors," she said. "The scene designer, the lighting designer and myself created an atmosphere through design elements like line, color and shape."

Raphael does not want a passive audience, better that they are uncomfortable, she said.

"The play is dark, but at the same time, there is didacticism," she said. "(The questions the play asks) are moral questions."

"The Threepenny Opera" contains some very memorable music as well as characters.

The original 1928 production was 45 minutes too long and suffered a number of major cuts, leaving Brecht to write the finale during rehearsals. One last-minute change to the original production was the lucky addition of the hit "Ballad of Mack the Knife."

The song was slightly rewritten and made popular by Bobby Darin. "Oh the shark has/ pretty teeth, dear/And he keeps them/Pearly white," the song says about the villainous main male character, Macheath.

"The music is just brilliant," said Brad Daughtry, director of marketing and development for theater arts. "It is unlike anything on the modern stage."

"The Threepenny Opera" is based on John Gay's musical "The Beggar's Opera," and directly attacks Wagnerian opera by showcasing the base elements of society. The strength of the musical is evident in its longevity.

"It is one of the great works written for musical theater," Daughtry said.

The production's popularity is also evident in the speed at which tickets are selling.

"Ticket sales have been very strong; (the production) is well known and people are coming out for this play," Daughtry said.

"The Threepenny Opera" runs though Feb. 24 at the Marroney Theater in the Fine Arts Complex. There is a free pre-show discussion Feb. 21, at 6:45 p.m. in the Directing Studio, Room 116 of the theater. Tickets are $15 for students and $20 for UA employees.

The Feb. 13, 17 and 24 matinee performances of "The Threepenny Opera" are already sold out as well as the preview performances.

For more information, call the UA Fine Arts Box Office at 621-1162.