1728, and still the only English musical whose politics have not dated. Gay took sixty-nine popular tunes, put new words to them, and pointed the whole thing at a prime minister. Pepusch arranged it. Nobody has improved on the method since.
The band
Nine players, on the stage, in the light, for the whole evening. Not a pit — this house does not have one, and pretending otherwise with a relay and a screen has never once made a show better.
The singing
These are ballads, not arias. They are sung at the pitch a person speaks and at a volume a room can hold, without amplification, which is possible in a 412-seat house and is not possible in most of the buildings this piece now gets played in.
Note from the musical director
The band is on stage because in 1728 it would have been. Also because it is very hard for an actor to lie to an audience while a bassoonist is looking at them.