''Ópera do Malandro'' (), from 1979, is a Brazilian

musical play Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

, written by

Chico Buarque Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...

and directed by Luiz Antônio Martinez Corrêa. The play is inspired by the classic ''

Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satiri ...

'' of

John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peac ...

and the ''

Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music b ...

'', of

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

and

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

. It is also a posthumous tribute to Paulo Pontes (1940–1976) ( pt).

Synopsis and analysis

The ''Ópera do Malandro'' reveals past features of Brazilian culture that still persist. A

pimp Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

called Duran disguises himself as a successful salesman. Vitória was a madam who also lived by selling her own body. Her daughter, Teresinha, had fallen in love with an upper-class citizen, Max Overseas, a man that lived off corruption in complicity with the chief

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

officer, ''Chaves''. The other characters are

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

s, presented as saleswomen in a clothes store, and the promiscuous

transvestite Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western c ...

Geni Geni or GENI may refer to: * Geni.com, a genealogy-related web service * Geni (footballer) (b. 1980), Spanish football (soccer) player, full name Eugenio Suárez Santos * Global Environment for Network Innovations, a planned National Science Found ...

, who was frequently attacked with rocks; people used to say she was "useful" because of this. The play's action takes place in the 1940s; its theme: gambling prohibition, prostitution and smuggling. Then it shows a context similar to the third millennium, with piracy and other black-market activities. Max Overseas really works in international businesses, even on the threshold of legality, in collusion with a pimp and the chief Police officer. All of the songs are composed by Chico, who, due to his brightness, manages to make them in harmony with the text. The song ''

Geni e o Zepelim Geni e o Zepelim (English language, English: Jenny and the Zeppelin) is a Brazilian Música popular brasileira, MPB song, composed and recorded by Chico Buarque for his 1978 album Ópera do Malandro (álbum), "Ópera do Malandro", something to the ...

'' (the overture), tells about a

whose only gift or skill is to be a "whipping-post" for the neighborhood. This fact, that is only revealed to spectators of the show, means that she has no value. Nevertheless, when the captain of a bright

zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

intends to bombard the city, accepting to change his mind only if he had a one night stand with the transvestite, all the citizens ask her to consent to the captain's desires. The songs follow the pattern of rhymed and metrical verses, according to the intellectual tradition of the author's family.

Technical staff (first performance)

The official source gives the following information: Crew: * General director: Luiz Antônio Martinez Corrêa * Assistant to the general director: João Carlos Motta * Scenography: Maurício Sette * Scenography assistant: Rita Murtinho * Musical director:

John Neschling John Neschling is a Brazilian orchestral and operatic conductor. He was the musical director and the chief conductor of the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (São Paulo State Symphony) from 1997 to 2008. He was the Artistic Director o ...

* Assistant to the musical director: Paulo Sauer * Arrangement: John Neschling, Paulo Sauer * Interpretative vocal director: Glorinha Beutenmuller * Corporal director: Fernando Pinto * Lighting: Jorge Carvalho * Script: Maurício Arraes Cast - in order of appearance: * The producer:

Ary Fontoura Ary Beira Fontoura (born 27 January 1933)Fontoura, Ary ''Entre Rios e Janeiros, Coleção Aplauso'' (Imprensa Oficial, 2006, ) p. 240 is a Brazilian actor, writer, director, poet and TV-presenter. He was born in Curitiba, Paraná. Filmography Te ...

* The matriarch: Maria Alice Vergueiro * João Alegre: Nadinho Da Ilha * Duran: Ary Fontoura * Vitória: Maria Alice Vergueiro * Teresinha:

Marieta Severo Marieta Severo da Costa (born 2 November 1946) is a Brazilian stage, film and television actress. She is best known to youth audiences as the archetypal mother figure in popular sitcom ''A Grande Família'' (2001–2014), as well to mature audien ...

* Max:

Otávio Augusto Otávio Augusto de Azevedo Sousa (born January 30, 1945) is a Brazilian actor.Elba Ramalho Elba Ramalho (born August 17, 1951, in Conceição, Paraíba) is a Brazilian songwriter, performer, poet and actress. She is sometimes called "The Queen of Forró". In addition to her successful solo career, Elba has collaborated with a number ...

* Geni: Emiliano Queirós * Barrabás: Ivens Godinho * Johnny Walker: Vander De Castro * Phillip Morris: Paschoal Villamboim * Big Bem: Ivan De Almeida * : Vicente Barcelos * Dóris Pelanca: Ilva Nino * Fichinha: Cidinha Milan * Dorinha Tubão: Elza De Andrade * Shirley Paquete: Neuza Borges * Jussara Pé De Anjo: Maria Alves * Mimi Bibelô:

Cláudia Jimenez Cláudia Maria Patitucci Jimenez (18 November 1958 – 20 August 2022) was a Brazilian actress, comedienne and screenwriter. She started her career in 1979 in the TV show ''Malu Mulher'', but it was from the 1980s onwards that she began to stand ...

Track list

Songs used in the play are: * (Mack the Knife) (B.Brecht, K.Weill) * (Chico Buarque) * (Chico Buarque) * (Chico Buarque) * (Chico Buarque) * (Chico Buarque) * (Chico Buarque) * (Chico Buarque) * (Chico Buarque) * (Chico Buarque) * (Chico Buarque) * (Chico Buarque) * (Chico Buarque) * (Chico Buarque) * (Chico Buarque) * (Adpt. e texto de Chico Buarque sobre trechos de "

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play ''Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had cont ...

" de

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

, "

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

" de

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...

, "

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December ...

" de

, "

La Traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...

" de

e ''Taunhauser'' de

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

) * (Mack the Knife) (Chico Buarque)

Reception

Most critics were positive, complimenting the veracity of its portrayal of the

hypocritical Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is th ...

Brazilian society of the 40-70's.

References

External links

Official Chico Buarque's Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Opera Do Malandro Brazilian plays 1978 in theatre

Synopsis and analysis

Technical staff (first performance)

Track list

Reception

See also

References

External links