Thursday, February 05, 2009

I don't know where to find a recording of the 1976 NY Shakespeare Festival Production of "Threepenny Opera."

This is random even for me, I know. But I'm in a restless, irritable mood, tired of doing things for other people and figuring out what everybody else needs and wants.

Sometimes I can snap myself out of these moods by asking: "What do I want?" and trying to take care of that. I recommend this; sometimes it's as simple as an hour alone with a book, or a good cup of coffee.

This morning, what I want is a copy of the cast recording of the 1976 New York Shakespeare Festival production of The Threepenny Opera, starring Raul Julia, Blair Brown and Ellen Greene. I used to own it on vinyl, but lost it in a move; it's possible that it wound up among my ex-fiance's collection, because I know I still have a couple of records that belonged to him. (Which is silly, because I haven't owned a turntable in 20 years.)

But this recording no longer seems to exist. It's out of print, unavailable in either CD or electronic format. I look for it whenever I visit a used record store; I once spent an hour on the floor of a store in Brunswick, sorting through uncatalogued boxes.

Of course, if and when I ever find it, it might not be as good as I remember it. But the tunes are still intact inside my head, and I can still sing whole stretches of it (not that anyone ever asks). This verse from the finale is in my head today, given the current temperature (-2F) and the continuing terrible news about the economy:

Don't punish our wrongdoing too much; never
Will it withstand the frost, for it is cold...
Think of the darkness and the bitter weather,
The cries of pain that echo through this world.


Yeah, I'm in a mood. Maybe what I need to be searching for is a DVD of Road Runner cartoons instead...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

would the reconding number help?

Columbia PS 34326 (LP only)
do you know people who know vinyl LP colelctrs or dealers- Library of congress.

Anonymous said...

Sorry that was my post and I was too lazy to proof read it

RBo

Ellen Clair Lamb said...

It does help to have the recording number -- thanks, Richard! And now that you mention it, I have a connection at the Library of Congress...

JIM LAMB said...

Cheer up Dear.
You still know who love's ya!

Besides, when it gets this cold, you know that spring can't be far behind, dispite what the groundhog says.

LOL, Dad