There is no heat in the Autograph Playhouse. After years of disuse, the newly reopened theater at the corner of Charles and 25th streets isn’t fully rehabbed (“Autograph Playhouse Opens in Derelict 25th Street Theater,” Stage, Oct. 5), and at 8 p.m. this late in the year, the chill is a noticeable setback.

It’s a testament to the Annex Theater’s current production of The Threepenny Opera, then, that sitting through the two-hour show is worth it. The space itself is quirky, with a lobby that’s still a bit of a mess and a grand old stage that whispers of times past (though it was recently refurbished). There could almost be no better match for it than Annex, known for reimagining anything it stages. City Paper visited during a full run-through rehearsal/press preview in order to publish ahead of the short stage run, and some key elements were missing—the band, for example—but even at 80 percent baked, everything was, quite simply, fun.

Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s hit musical first took the stage in 1928, but it’s still relatable today, and as such is still performed with some frequency. Its central character is Macheath (Brandon Arinoldo), a smooth-talking street crook whose list of crimes runs thick with rapes, attempted murders, petty thefts, and the like; his list of women runs, if possible, thicker. He runs a business of sorts on the streets of London, and his close posse consists of Bob the Saw, Crookfinger Jake, and Readymoney Matt, here played by three women (Rose Chase, Gina Denton, and Cordelia Snow, respectively) who double as prostitutes in Macheath’s favorite whorehouse.

The criminal runs afoul of the Peachums, who run an odd business of their own: managing the city’s beggars. It’s so hard to get pity outta people these days, Mr. Peachum (Geoff Graham) moans, as he explains to Filch (Martin Kasey), his newest recruit, how he’ll take a cut of his earnings. Mrs. Peachum (Pilar Diaz) enters, and they realize their daughter Polly (Kris Hanrahan)—old enough to marry, young enough to be bossed around by her parents—never came home the night before. Turns out she’s gotten mixed up with Macheath, whom she weds. The Peachums are furious, and seek to make some money off finally getting Mac arrested—a feat that’s thus far been avoided due to Mac’s army history with the police commissioner (Tim Paggi). Mrs. Peachum buys off Jenny (Cricket Arrison), one of Mac’s many ex-lovers, to turn him in, and a pursuit full of jealous women and tawdry bribes begins.

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