Ana Gasteyer to Play Mrs. Peachum in the Roundabout's Threepenny Opera

Ana Gasteyer will play Mrs. Peachum alongside previously announced leads Alan Cumming, Jim Dale, Edie Falco and Nellie McKay in the upcoming Roundabout Theatre Company revival of The Threepenny Opera. The production, directed by Scott Elliott, is scheduled to begin performances at Studio 54 on March 24.

Gasteyer is currently appearing in the Chicago production of Wicked as Elphaba, a role that has earned the actress great acclaim. She previously appeared on Broadway in The Rocky Horror Show. She has also been featured off-Broadway in The Vagina Monologues, Kimberly Akimbo and Roulette. Gasteyer was recently featured in the Showtime film version of the musical Reefer Madness. She is best known for her days on Saturday Night Live. Some of Gasteyer's famous SNL creations include Bobbi Moughan-Culp, half of an uptight singing duo with Will Ferrell and Cinder Calhoun, a politically correct Lilith Fair stand-up comedian.

Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's most popular collaboration, The Threepenny Opera is based on John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. The show centers on Macheath Cumming, a vicious character. In the tuner, Macheath, or Mack the Knife as he is known, marries the impressionable an innocent Polly Peachum McKay, much to the displeasure of her father, Jonathan Peachum. Through his whole marriage, and a series of arrests, he keeps a strong relationship with his mistress, Pirate Jenny Falco.

The Roundabout has commissioned Wallace Shawn to translate and adapt the original German book and lyrics for the production. The mounting is scheduled to officially open on April 20 and is scheduled to run through June 11. The design team for The Threepenny Opera includes set designer Derek McLane, costume designer Isaac Mizrahi, Jason Lyons lighting designer and sound designer Ken Travis.