Kurt Weill died in 1950, at age 50. Blitzstein was asked by Lenya and Weill to write the english translation of "Drei...opera", and, at least as far as they were concerned, his was the authorized and definitive version-it was the big hit version, as well--there was an earlier english translation, dating back to the thirties, that didn't make it, and there is also an old filmed version, directed by G.W. Pabst, released, I think, in German, French, and English, but which was more of a movie with songs than an opera--Both Brecht and Weill sued because it had been changed so much--

One of my favorite Brecht/Weill experiences was the recent recreation of "Happy End" at the Bridewell Theatre in London. This show was such a disaster when it was originally produced in Berlin in 1929, that it lasted only two nights, Brecht, till the end of his life, never acknowledged that it existed, but many of Weill's songs re-emerged and became classics--