The Beggar's Opera - Broadway Licensing

The Beggar’s Opera

John Gay’s great comic masterpiece is generally agreed to be the first ever musical. Written in 1728, THE BEGGAR’S OPERA is a savagely funny satire on marriage, money and morals—as relevant and biting today as it was when first written. In this new version by John Caird and Ilona Sekacz, the old story is given new life as all our favorite characters return, in a play within a play, where beggars and thieves create a world of love, lust, violence, deceit, greed and a little more love. Ilona Sekacz’s score uses all the old tunes, but brings them up to date in a superb synthesis of eighteenth and twentieth-century musical styles. John Caird’s stage directions make the old text sizzle with life, giving a clear context for Gay’s ruthless characters and driving the convoluted plot at a helter-skelter pace. Peachum, a purveyor of stolen goods, and his rapacious wife, are horrified to find that their only child, Polly, has fallen in love with, and worse still married, Captain Macheath, the famous highwayman. Peachum cannot bear the thought that Macheath should get control of Polly’s money and become the heir to his own fortune, so he plots to have Macheath captured and hanged. Act One ends with Macheath emerging from his hiding place (in Polly’s bed) and the lovers swearing eternal fidelity to each other as Macheath flies to safety. Macheath is arrested and imprisoned by the corrupt jailer, Lockit, whose daughter Lucy turns out to be another of Macheath’s lovers, now heavily pregnant with his child. Polly’s prison visit to her husband causes an embarrassing and ludicrous collision between the two women who fight viciously for Macheath’s affection. Polly is dragged away by her father and Lucy helps Macheath escape. Act Two closes with both women grieving for their departed man. Act Three sees Macheath re-arrested and as the story enters into ever more dark and political territory, Gay uses Macheath’s plight to talk about injustice and poverty wherever and whenever it occurs. After a heartbreaking trio as Macheath and his two wives—and then a few more—bid farewell, Macheath is hanged. There follows a stunning and hilarious coup de theatre, as the public objects to the tragic turn of events. Macheath’s hanging is “reversed,” and the company of beggars improvise a joyful and shambolic happy ending.

Creators

John Gay

By John Gay (June 1685 – December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist. He is best remembered for writing THE BEGGAR’S OPERA. Gay was born in Barnstaple, England, and was educated at the town’s grammar school and...

John Caird

New Version By John Caird was born in Edmonton, Canada, in 1948 and educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford, and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. John is a freelance theatre director who was first an Associate Director of the Contact Theatre,...

Ilona Sekacz

New Version By Ilona Sekacz is a British film, television, and theatre composer. Sekcaz started her career making music for the theatre, and writing for the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre in London. She scored for a number of...

"…with Ilona Sekacz’s complete musical overhaul, [Caird] raises the dramatic fever of the score to match Gay’s wonderfully savage and scabrous script."

Observer (London)

"Fresh as milk, horny as hell, a dream, a nightmare, a cross-section of an ant hill, John Gay’s BEGGAR’S OPERA is like life. It is beautiful, it is there, and it goes on. And, in John Caird’s sensationally seductive production you never want it to end…Here’s variety before the word was invented."

Midweek Magazine

"THE BEGGAR’S OPERA…is obviously full of zest and fascination…There is so much life and vigour in the whole thing…It was absolutely spell-binding…"

Oxford Magazine

Orchestration

1 Musician

PIANO/CONDUCTOR

Production Materials

The required production package will include the materials listed below. These materials will be shipped upon receipt of payment if your license request is approved.

19 Cast Script/Vocal Books

A combination of the show’s full script and the full vocal book. All dialogue within each song is printed in the score to prevent flipping back and forth during rehearsals. All books are spiral-bound and double-sided.

2 Director’s Scripts

A single-sided, spiral-bound script designed with plenty of space for the director to take notes and add blocking during the rehearsal process.

1 Stage Manager’s Script

A single-sided, three-hole punched script that can be inserted into your three-ring binder.

2 Piano/Vocal Scores

This piano score includes all vocal parts. It can be used during the rehearsal process and during performance.

Orchestration Set

Piano Only

Production Resources

Additional Printed Books

Additional books (Cast Script/Vocal, Piano/Conductor, etc.) are available.

$25 each

Digital Orchestration PDFs

Prefer playing or rehearsing from your tablet? All of our orchestration scores (including PC and PV) are available in digital copies.

Digital PC or PV $50
Full Digital Orchestration Set $150

Broadway Plus

A workshop experience in which a Broadway artist speaks and works with students in an educational setting through our partnership with Broadway Plus.

Prices Vary by Product

A version of this show artwork is available to purchase with your license!