Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Scrappy opera companies banking on the genre’s ability to speak to today: Heartbeat Opera’s MANON! and Off-Brand Opera’s 3PENNY OPERA

• By drediman
• February 19, 2026
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This winter also saw the arrival and departure of a pair of substantially revised versions of classic works of the operatic canon from two scrappy opera companies that are banking on the genre’s unique ability to speak to current times. As per usual, read on for my thoughts on these artistic gambles.

MANON!
Heartbeat Opera at The Space at Irondale
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One of last year’s unexpected operatic triumphs was Heartbeat Opera’s pocket-sized production of Richard Strauss’s Salome, which packed in as much of a punch as full productions of the work at major opera houses. Therefore, it was with some excitement that I approached the final performance of the resourceful company’s Manon! (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), a zestfully-performed adaptation of Massenet‘s opera about one young woman’s sensuous journey from rags-to-riches-to-rags. The intimate and liberally-edited production was truncated (the book is by artistic director Jacob Ashworth), sung in English, and amplified — three traditionalist opera no-no’s that were the equivalent one emphatic and radical yes. Indeed, Obie Award-winning director Rory Pelsue’s staging was elegantly minimalist in just the right ways, using stylishly suggestive costumes and evocative lighting to lean in on the tawdry melodrama of reality television and the unsavory aspects of the world we live in (there were strong shades of Jeffrey Epstein in the character of Guillot and the society he kept), to scintillating dramatic effect. On the flip side, a real sense of purity and urgency charged the love songs/scenes between Manon and her lover the Chevalier Des Grieux, especially as ardently portrayed by the appealing duo of Emma Grimsley and Matt Dengler — whose singing ideally straddled opera and Broadway — on a touchingly human scale. In fact, the vocal performances and Dan Schlosberg’s savvy orchestral re-arrangements (for eight musicians) on the whole were superbly balanced and well-judged throughout, thoughtfully taking into account the advantages to be had in the more intimate dimensions of the playing space. Pelsue’s staging was also fabulously queer-forward, giving it a sexy choreographed sheen that should have wide appeal (the vogue-like movement is by Broadway’s Sara Gettelfinger).

3PENNY OPERA
Off-Brand Opera at the Theatre at St. Jean’s
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Earlier this winter at the Theatre at St. Jean’s in the Upper West Side, Off-Brand Opera presented 3Penny Opera (RECOMMENDED), George Abud’s contemporary, very funny, and gloriously unhinged adaptation of the artful Brecht/Weill classic. Updated to the shadowy underbelly of current-day New York during an impending mayoral inauguration, the production — like Heartbeat Opera’s aforementioned Manon!, more of an outright revisal than a revival of The Threepenny Opera — sought to bring visceral immediacy to its messaging in our socially, politically, and economically fraught times. Even if much of it’s long running time (a lengthy two hours and forty minutes) seemed like Abud (who also directed) and company throwing spaghetti on the wall, so bit it. It’s organic “blob”-like quality required patience but allowed the piece to be nimble enough to accommodate all sorts of ad libbing and self-referential comments that speak directly yet artfully to our predicament. For the project, Abud assembled quite the deluxe cast; droll turns were to be had by Abud as Macheath, Katrina Lenk as Pirate Jenny, Barbara Walsh as Polly Peachum, and Mary Testa as Lucy Brown. Taking the biggest swings were Abud, Lenk, and Walsh (Abud and the singularly seductive Lenk appeared in the Tony-winning musical The Band’s Visit to great acclaim), each of whom hit the mark with sinister glee. Also worth mentioning was the talented young ensemble, who shape-shifted niftily as needed by the proceedings at hand. Although the Theatre at St. Jean’s stage is arguably much too large for the cabaret vibe of the intentionally scrappy production — which could have been better served taking place amongst the small but might band (here, merely tucked away in the corner of the playing area) — Jake Landau’s thoughtful new musical modifications were for the most part expertly rendered by music director Minhui Lee, striking out to achieve a new sound yet still very much The Threepenny Opera we all know and love.