Kabarett with a K
The Cutting Room, NYC, October 24, 2014
Reviewed by Elizabeth Ahlfors for Cabaret Scenes
The 25th Annual New York Cabaret Convention extended its week of performances for one last evening, this one dedicated to cabaret’s European origins. Karen Kohler (pictured) created and directed Kabarett with a K and placed it in a perfect venue, the eclectic Cutting Room with its Belle Époque decor, and brought in an international cast of ten. To orchestrate this movable feast of vaudeville, protest, burlesque and sex, David F. Slone became Conferencier (Emcee, if you prefer), popping up everywhere—on the stage, down among the tables or suddenly up in the balcony.
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Invoking the culture of Montmartre’s Le Chat Noir and the informal salons where Satie and Debussy communicated new ideas, cabaret was a culture that moved from Paris to Berlin, Vienna and Munich. Here, with Daryl Kojak at the piano, performers from Germany, France, Quebec, Australia and the U.S. moved on and off the stage seamlessly without introduction. Frans Bloem started the soiree with “La Boheme” (Plante/Aznavour).
Kohler appeared with Adrienne Haan to present a tongue-in-cheek “ten commandments of cabaret,” admitting, “It’s All a Swindle” (Spoliansky/Schiffer).
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A wide range of material followed, including Kohler’s lovely “Ship Song” (Nick Cave) and Jean Brassard’s rendition of Michel Emer’s question, “A quoi ça sert l’amour?
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” with cabaret singer Greta.
Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, both influential during the Weimar era, were represented with Haan drawing out all the drama of “Pirate Jenny,” while Arlo Hill delivered their militaristic “Kanonen-Song” followed by “Au suivants.” Heath Saunders joined Alexis Fishman (wearing a black teddy), to deliver a satirical anti-Nazi mix of “Little Attila” (Rudolf Nelson) with “The Jews Are to Blame” (Friedrich Hollaender).
Moving into yet a different mood, the burlesque world’s Plume de Lune bared (mostly) all and Kim Smith, who always intrigues, here was no exception with “Dracula’s Tango (Sucker for Your Love)” by Barry Blue.
A little bit deviant, a little indiscreet, but Kabarett with a K stirred up the conventional. A tantalizing ending to the Cabaret Convention.