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 (Macheath's Gang)
Brian Handley
The Stage Manager / Slippery Sam (Macheath's Gang)
Bernard Dickerson
Filch/Wat Dreary
David Kelly
Peachum, a Fence
Anna Pollak
Mrs. Peachum
Charles R. Rogers
Director
Janet Baker
Polly Peachum
John Gay
Writer
Kenneth McKellar
Captain Macheath
Benjamin Britten
Composer
Bryan Drake
Lockit
Heather Harper
Lucy Lockit
Edith Coates
Mrs. Trapes
Joan Edwards
Jenny Diver
Philip May
Ben Budge
Jack Irons
Tom Tipple
John Gibbs
Crook-finger'd Jack
Andrew Snarski
Harry Paddington
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