Theater

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the first full recording of Allegro, the 1947 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical.

Fresh Air's classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new DVD release of a lesser-known Kurt Weill opera, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahoganny.

The Threepenny Opera revolutionized musical theater. Playwright and lyricist Bertolt Brecht, composer Kurt Weill and actress Lotte Lenya created a sensation when their show opened in Berlin in 1928.

Two years later, the great German director G.W. Pabst turned it into a movie, and it's just been released as a Criterion Collection DVD.

The 1951 film version of the Offenbach opera The Tales of Hoffmann, now on DVD, is recognized as a masterpiece of dark storytelling from the British team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the new DVD of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. The production was shown on TV in with Angela Lansbury, 25 years ago.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new series of original Broadway cast albums from shows that didn’t succeed but which contained numbers that shouldn’t be forgotten. (on DECCA).

TV critic David Bianculli reviews last nights special episode of The West Wing the shows response to the terrorist attacks.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the reissue of the original cast album of the legendary 1954 Theatre de Lys’ Off-Broadway production of Kurt Weill’s “Threepenny Opera” starring Lotte Lenya. It’s on the Decca label.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews original cast albums of Broadway musicals that have just been reissued. They include “Finian’s Rainbow,” “The Pajama Game,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” and “Kismit” (all on Sony) and “Guys and Dolls” (on Decca).

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the world-premiere recording of Kurt Weill’s opera Die Buergschaft—The Pledge (on EMI). It’s one of Weill’s most neglected works first performed in Berlin in 1932, and was revived last year during the Spoleto Festival USA.