What is a penny opera?
I was quite disappointed to not find this listed in my desktop Oxford American.
I was quite disappointed to not find this listed in my desktop Oxford American.
Anonymous
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I've never heard of a "penny opera".
The nearest I can get to it is "The Threepenny Opera" by Brecht, with music by Kurt Weill. One Broadway production was billed as "3 Penny Opera". By focussing on beggars and the poor, it suggests a poor man's version.
Brecht's work was based on John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera", written in the 18th century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Threepenny_Opera
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beggar%27s_Opera