This CCM production is an engaging if sordid recreation of the creators’ intentions, a bravura performance that serves as a reminder of how theater can provide sharp social commentary. Bravo to Guarino and her student cast for this memorable production.   

Premiered in Berlin in 1928, The Threepenny Opera is an iconic work, the creation of composer Kurt Weill and poet/dramatist Bertolt Brecht, and opens a two-weekend run at CCM as part of its Kurt Weill festival, sponsored by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc.  

The 2012-2013 season has no special significance for Kurt Weill, the German-American composer of “September Song,” “Speak Low” and “Mack the Knife.” But it’s a landmark year for the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).