Brecht wrote The Threepenny Opera as a novel in 1934 (Dreigroschenroman, translated by Vesey and Isherwood as A Penny for the Poor, R. Hale, 1937; reprinted as Threepenny Novel, Grove, 1956); but it was his play that received the most attention. He revised the script for a 1931 film version to be more politically oriented than the original 1928 play script. * The black and white German film (Die Dreigroschenoper with English subtitles), directed by G. W. Pabst and starring Antonin Artaud, is available on video from Embassy Home Entertainment. John Gay's 1728 comic opera, The Beggar's Opera, was Brecht's source material and offers a good source for comparison For a British perspective, T. S. Eliot's poem "The Waste Land" (1922) expresses a sense of spiritual vacuity, with imagery recalling the devastation of World War I A milestone of 20th century musical theater, The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) will reach its 75th birthday on August 31, proving that some cultural icons, like classic movie stars, remain forever young. In their opera "by and for beggars," composer Kurt Weill and playwright Bertolt Brecht transformed saccharine, old-fashioned opera and operetta forms, incorporating a sharp political perspective and the sound of 1920s Berlin dance bands and cabaret. Weill's acid harmonies and Brecht's biting texts created a revolutionary new musical theater Based on The Beggar's Opera, written by John Gay in 1728, Weill and Brecht's version retains the London setting of the original, but moves the action to the eve of Queen Victoria's coronation. The gangster Macheath marries Polly Peachum, daughter of the boss of London's beggars. Her enraged father denounces Macheath to the police, and he is turned in by Jenny Diver, an old love. After another wife, Lucy, visits him in jail, Macheath manages to escape but is recaptured. Brought to the gallows for execution, he is pardoned by the queen in honor of her coronation.