For tickets, contact the Student Union Box Office at
(937) 775-5544 or go to the Ticket prices are:
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Friday, May 7, 2010, 8:00pm The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay. Ballad operas were satiric musical plays that used some of the conventions of opera, but without recitative. The lyrics of the airs in the piece are set to popular broadsheet ballads, opera arias, church hymns and folk tunes of the time. The story of The Beggar’s Opera satirized politics, poverty and injustice, focusing on the theme of corruption at all levels of society. The piece premiered at Lincoln’s Inn Fields on January 28, 1728 and ran for 62 consecutive performances, which was the longest run in the theatre up to that time. The work became Gay's greatest success and has been played ever since. It satirized Italian opera, which had become popular in London during this period. However, instead of the grand music and themes of opera, it used familiar tunes and characters that were ordinary people. Some of the songs were by opera composers like Handel, but only the most popular of these were used. The audience could hum along with the music and identify with the characters. |
