Mack The Knife In UW-Whitewater

 Oh the shark has pretty teeth. And he shows ‘em pearly white. And in this particular instance, he's showin' em in Whitewater. The UW-Whitewater Theatre program presents The Threepenny Opera this month. Director Jim Butchart and Music Director Robert Gehrenbeck bring together a fairly large cast for the production, which includes Jason Rohn as the slick criminal Macheath and Jennifer Samson as Polly Peachum.

There are countless ways to present the unique musical story of a man who kills, murders and rapes among other things . . . director Jim Butchart takes an interesting perspective on it, choosing to play-up the universality of the plot beyond the seediness. Here's an extended Jim Buchart quote drawn from the press release:

“The story of the loves and crimes of Mack The Knife is universal. Though the action takes place in London in 1837, Macheath could be any rising star in any business (criminal or otherwise) at any time or any place, a Rock star, a politician, a banker, any attractive bad boy who is admired and feared and who brings himself down by his own greed and desire.”

In addition to a large cast of UW-W students. (A long list of names, the one that pops-out is Stephanie Staszak, who has appeared in a number of shows with the Greendale Community Theatre) the show includes choreography by local musical theatre veteran Karl Miller, seen quite often onstage at the off The Wall Theatre, most recently in a really solid production of Guys And Dolls they did this past December. The production also includes an orchestra of UW-W students.

UW-Whitewater's production of The Threepenny Opera runs February 17^th – 26^th at UW-W's Barnett Theatre. For reservations, call 262-472-2222.