Gay/Britten: The Beggar's Opera
1963A 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..
Acted in
Roger Jerome
as The Beggar
David Hartley
as The Manager of the Company/Mat of the Mint
Brian Handley
as The Stage Manager/Slippery Sam
David Kelly
as Peachum
Bernard Dickerson
as Filch/Wat Dreary
Anna Pollak
as Mrs. Peachum
Janet Baker
as Polly Peachum
Kenneth McKellar
as Captain Macheath
Bryan Drake
as Lockit
Heather Harper
as Lucy Lockit
Edith Coates
as Mrs. Trapes
Joan Edwards
as Jenny Diver
Philip May
as Ben Budge
Jack Irons
as Tom Tipple
John Gibbs
as Crook-finger'd Jack
Andrew Snarski
as Harry Paddington
Patricia Brigenshaw
as Mrs. Coaxer
Sally Langford
as Dolly Trull
Carolyn Maia
as Mrs. Vixen
Angela Jenkins
as Betty Doxy
Joan Clarkson
as Mrs Slammekin
Alice Hynd
as Suky Tawdry
Shelia Amit
as Molly Brazen