Martha Schlamme ~ World Of Kurt Weill In Song
William Shakespeare ~ The Merchant of Venice
Showing posts with label Kurt Weill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kurt Weill. Show all posts
October 3, 2025
March 19, 2025
Mary Young aka Jenny Diver
Two hundred and eighty-four years ago, on March 18, 1741, Mary Young, the most notorious pickpocket in history was hanged. Perhaps you think you never heard of her but you have. Also known as Jenny Diver, she was immortalized in the 1728 John Gay play The Beggar's Opera; this in turn was the basis for Pirate Jenny in the 1928 Threepenny Opera by Elisabeth Hauptmann, Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill.
Diver was born around 1700 in Ireland the illegitimate daughter of an unknown father and the lady's maid Harriet Jones. After her mother deserted her, Diver grew up in various foster homes. She was a skilled seamstress,
and eventually emigrated to London, England, where she became an apprentice of
Anne Murphy, who was the leader of a gang of pickpockets. She soon
became so skilled as a thief that she became the leader of Murphy's gang
and nicknamed Jenny Diver as she was so deft at diving into people's pockets.
Pickpocket's Tale -
painting by Dan Craig
Once she'd made her fortune and could afford the finest clothes, Diver was described as attractive, educated and well dressed, and was
able to mix among wealthy people without attracting suspicion. The best known of her methods was to feign illness, during which she
robbed people and handed over the objects to her accomplices. She would
also use false arms which made it possible for her to rob people with
her arms seemingly visible in her lap. On one occasion she removed a diamond ring from a man’s hand without him knowing until he missed it later.
She
was also adept at playing the so-called “Badger Game.” A wealthy
gentleman would be lured to her lodgings with the promise of sexual
favors. The gang would then relieve the unsuspecting fellow of his
valuables and clothes. One of these escapades is said to have yielded
100 guineas, an amount that would be equivalent of at least $13,000
today (estimates vary widely).
She was arrested twice under false names and was convicted to deportation as a first-time criminal. On January 10, 1741, she was arrested for a third time, but this time
she was correctly identified and could not give a false name and was accused not only of theft but also of having returned after deportation, which was a capital crime, thus, her execution on March 18.
Driver was mentioned in the The Newgate Calendar, subtitled The Malefactors' Bloody Register, a collection of moralizing stories about sin, crime, and
the criminals who committed them in England in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Originally a monthly bulletin of executions, produced by the Keeper of Newgate Prison in London, the Calendar's title was appropriated by other publishers, who put out biographical chapbooks about notorious criminals such as Sawney Bean, Dick Turpin, and Moll Cutpurse.
There's a lot more to know about her on the Strange Company blog and I discovered the writer of that blog used some of the same images I used but has others (link below).
Susan F. Craft wrote a novel, The Chamomile, based on the life of Diver which won the SIBA Okra Pick award (link below).
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Colonial Quills ~ Jenny Diver, The Queen of Pickpockets
Hubpages ~ Jenny Diver: Criminal Life of a Pickpocket
Strange Company ~ Jenny Diver, Queen of the Pickpockets
March 13, 2025
Jenny Diver articles/mentions
March 9, 2025
August 31, 2024
The Threepenny Opera & the Tango
~
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On August 31, 1928, Die Dreigoschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) by Bertolt Brecht with music by Kurt Weill, premiered in Berlin.
The play has been represented on the Viewfinder (links below)
several times. There
have been hundreds of presentations of the work but there are two very
interesting interpretations I have found fascinating.
The first was adapted by playwright Wallace Shawn and brought back to Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre Company at Studio 54 in March 2006 with Alan Cumming playing Macheath, Nellie McKay as Polly, Cyndi Lauper as Jenny, Jim Dale as Mr Peachum, Ana Gasteyer as Mrs Peachum, Carlos Leon as Filch, Adam Alexi-Malle as Jacob and Brian Charles Rooney as a male Lucy. Included in the cast were drag performers. The performances, set design by Derek McLane, costumes by Isaac Mizrahi and choreography by Aszure Barton are astounding! It is also heavy on LGBTQ references.
There
is a video of the complete performance on YouTube; although the quality
of it sucks royally, it is worth watching even with all it's
imperfections. There is a good quality video of the Tango-Ballad performed by Lauper (as Jenny) and Alan Cumming (as Macheath) during the 2006 Tony Awards (link below).
While Cummings and Lauper sing the Tango-Ballad, they are joined by the cast dancing to the tango, men with men, women with women; this is appropriate as the dance originated in Argentina
and was performed in the brothels of Buenos Aires where men danced with each other while they waited for the women who
were busy with other clients. The anticipation aroused sexual tension between two male
dancers. Eventually it developed into the aggressive movements and struggle for dominance that define
the dance.
During tango’s early days, Argentina
was largely populated by male, working-class immigrants. One statistic
claims there were seven men to every woman in the country, making
marriage and companionship both competitive and a prize awarded only to a
few.
Due
to Argentina’s draught of X chromosomes, even heterosexual brothers
danced with one another. Same-sex dancing was simply a fun way to pass
time, a chance to brush up on moves before a potential female suitor
came along. It put two men chest to chest, moving strong hips to the
alluring beat while fighting for dominance on the floor, just good
fun.
In 1903, the very first photo of the tango was published in the magazine Caras y Caretas. The dancers were both men.
Two men dancing the tango - February, 7 1903
Caras y Caretas magazine
Two women dancing the tango - ca 1920
Soviet postcard
In 2001, the world’s first official queer milonga opened in Hamburg, Germany. Argentina’s inaugural International Queer Tango Festival
sashayed onto the scene that same year. These two simultaneous events
marked the beginning of the Queer Tango movement—a distinct style
deliberately tossing gendered movements aside in favour of giving and
receiving ‘impulses.’
The second version by the Berliner Ensemble, Berlin, Germany, opened on September 27, 2007, by director Robert Wilson. It had all the wonderful qualities, but different, of the Roundabout production of the previous year (links below).
Berliner Ensemble - 2007
photo by Lesley Leslie-Spinks
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
YouTube links:
Styrous® ~ Saturday, August 31, 2024
Net links:
Caras y Caretas (Español)
Out Adventures ~ Tango’s Fascinating And Queer History
Playbill ~ The Threepenny Opera
Robert Wilson ~
YouTube links:
Styrous® ~ Saturday, August 31, 2024
July 3, 2024
20,000 vinyl LPs 367: The Doors ~ Light My Fire
The Doors ~ The Doors
vinyl LP back cover detail
Art Direction, Design – William S. Harvey
back cover photo by Joel Brodsky
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
Today is the anniversary of the death of Jim Morrison, lead singer of the The Doors. He was born on December 8, 1943, in Melbourne, Florida. He died on July 3, 1971, at Rue Beautreillis in Le Marais, 4th arrondissement, Paris, France.
On July 3, 1967, The Doors released the song Light My Fire in the U.S. Morrison indicated in his notebooks that he disliked this song and
hated performing it. He also seemed to resent that the popularity of the
band derived from this song, which he had just a small part in writing.
vinyl LP front cover
Art Direction, Design – William S. Harvey
cover photo by Guy Webster
photo of album cover by Styrous®
I love so many albums by The Doors but this is my favorite, perhaps because it was the first one I knew, you know what they say about first loves.
vinyl LP back cover
Art Direction, Design – William S. Harvey
back cover photo by Joel Brodsky
photo of album cover by Styrous®
I have three favorite songs from it; Light My Fire of course, Back Door Man, a blues song written by American musician Willie Dixon and recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1960, and the Alabama Song, written by Kurt Weill, sung by Lotte Lenya and made famous in the 1920's.
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
A1 - Break On Through (To The Other Side), words by, Music By – The Doors - 2:25
A2 - Soul Kitchen,Words By, Music By – The Doors - 3:30
A3 - The Crystal Ship, Words By, Music By – The Doors - 2:30
A4 - Twentieth Century Fox, Words By, Music By – The Doors - 2:30
A5 - Alabama Song (Whisky Bar), Words By Brecht*, Weill* - 3:15
A2 - Soul Kitchen,Words By, Music By – The Doors - 3:30
A3 - The Crystal Ship, Words By, Music By – The Doors - 2:30
A4 - Twentieth Century Fox, Words By, Music By – The Doors - 2:30
A5 - Alabama Song (Whisky Bar), Words By Brecht*, Weill* - 3:15
Side 2:
A6 - Light My Fire, words, Music By – The Doors - 6:50
B1 - Back Door Man, Written-By – C. Burnett*, W. Dixon* - 3:30
B2 - I Looked At You, Words By, Music By – The Doors - 2:18
B3 - End Of The Night,Words By, Music By – The Doors - 2:49
B4 - Take It As It Comes, Words By, Music By – The Doors - 2:13
B5 - The End, Words By, Music By – The Doors - 11:35
Companies, etc.
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co. – Δ9991
Copyright © – Nipper Music
Published By – Harms Co.
Credits:
Art Direction, Design – William S. Harvey
Directed By [Production Supervisor] – Jac Holzman
Drums – John Densmore
Engineer – Bruce Botnick
Guitar – Robby Krieger
Organ, Piano, Bass – Ray Manzarek
Photography By [Back Cover] – Joel Brodsky
Photography By [Front Cover] – Guy Webster
Producer – Paul A. Rothchild
Vocals – Jim Morrison
Notes:
Gold labels with no text to the left of the spindle hole. 2nd pressing with A-side label "(Weill-Brecht) Harms Co. (ASCAP)" publishing credit for Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar).
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Side One & Two [stamped]): "MR" in a circle
Rights Society: ASCAP
Matrix / Runout (Variant 1 - Side One [etched]): EKS-74007A (M) Δ9991
Matrix / Runout (Variant 1 - Side Two [etched]): EKS 74007B (M) Δ9991-X
Matrix / Runout (Variant 2 - Side One [etched]): EKS-74007A (M) Δ9991
Matrix / Runout (Variant 2 - Side Two [etched]): EKS-74007B-2 (MON) Δ9991-X
Matrix / Runout (Variant 3 - Side One [etched]): EKS-74007A-2 (MON) Δ9991
Matrix / Runout (Variant 3 - Side Two [etched]): EKS-74007B-2 (MON) Δ9991-X
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
SongFacts ~ Light My Fire
YouTube links:
Light My Fire (Ed Sullivan show) (1967)
Back Door Man (live)
The End
(11 mins., 43 secs.)
March 21, 2024
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