In 1926, Kurt Weill wrote the opera Mahagonny Songspiel better known as Das Kleine Mahagonny. Initially, the opera was intended as an indictment of the culture within the opera world itself. After that, Mahagonny was raised more as a warning against the consequences of capitalism. The worldview that Brecht and Weill warned against has long since become our reality.
Mahagonny 2.0 has become a contemporary adaptation. Much material from both opera versions was used but pieces from other works by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht were also used by the third-year students of the Frank Sanders Musical Academy.
De La Mar West
Location for this performance was the stage of De La Mar West Theater in Amsterdam. This venue features a tension grid with fixed installed lights (partially moving lights). Because of the large trim height above stage, this poses a lighting challenge. The addition of truss sections with lower hanging front and back lighting, side light towers surrounding the stage and LED fluorescent tube lights created an appropriate lighting design for this ambitious production.
Cast & Creatives
Musical direction: Hilmar Leujes
Stage direction: Brigitte Odett
Choreography: Yannick Plugers
Lighting design: Mike Evers – Theatermachine
Performers: Susana Bijtelaar, Emma Broekman, Aniek van Dijk, Céline Grift, Lisa Hoogstadt, Dominique Leensen, Esmeralda Oomen, Fleur Renes, Anieke Stilma, Lars Vaessen, Iris Verhaak and Laurens Vink
Photography: Peggy de Haan – Musicalsites