Gay/Britten: The Beggar's Opera (1963)
1h 34m
Running Time
February 28, 1963Release Date

Gay/Britten: The Beggar's Opera (1963)
1h 34m
Running Time
February 28, 1963Release Date
Plot.
A huge success at its first performance in 1728 John Gay's The Beggar's Opera satirized the conventions of Italian opera, using popular tunes to tell the story of rogues and criminals. With his distinctive musical arrangements at its heart, Britten's 1948 adaptation was a significant revision, amounting to a new twentieth-century opera. The BBC film, originally broadcast in 1963, feature a superb cast of English singers.
Where to Watch.
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Cast & Crew.

Roger Jerome
The Beggar

David Hartley
The Manager of the Company/Mat of the Mint

Brian Handley
The Stage Manager/Slippery Sam

David Kelly
Peachum

Bernard Dickerson
Filch/Wat Dreary

Anna Pollak
Mrs. Peachum

Janet Baker
Polly Peachum

Kenneth McKellar
Captain Macheath

Bernard Dickerson
Filch, Peachum's Servant

Bryan Drake
Lockit

Heather Harper
Lucy Lockit

Janet Baker
Polly Peachum

Edith Coates
Mrs. Trapes

Joan Edwards
Jenny Diver

Philip May
Ben Budge

Jack Irons
Tom Tipple

John Gibbs
Crook-Finger'd Jack (Macheath's Gang)

John Gibbs
Crook-finger'd Jack

Charles R. Rogers
Director

Andrew Snarski
Harry Paddington

John Gay
Writer

Patricia Brigenshaw
Mrs. Coaxer

Sally Langford
Dolly Trull

Carolyn Maia
Mrs. Vixen

Angela Jenkins
Betty Doxy

Joan Clarkson
Mrs Slammekin

Alice Hynd
Suky Tawdry

Shelia Amit
Molly Brazen

Meredith Davies
Conductor

Alix Stone
Set Decoration

John Gay
Original Music Composer

Benjamin Britten
Original Music Composer
