An homage to Anita Berber, the infamous star of Weimar Berlin
Our musical play is centered on Anita Berber, the infamous cabaret star of Weimar Berlin. Anita’s rise and fall is told in song and dialogue, with imagined scenes based on real historical characters, friends of Anita’s, among them Kurt Weill, Marlene Dietrich, and Anita’s lover Susi Wanowski, as well as mythological characters such as Galathea, the muse of a Schönberg song. The story is dramatized using Anita’s own poetry as well as cabaret songs, duets, and ensembles from the period by Schönberg, Weill, and pieces from other eras and genres by Bolcom, Saint-Saëns and Mozart.
Kat of the Beret is a singing shrink – a performer, a psychoanalyst in private practice and a professor of psychology. In recent years she has written and performed cabaret shows — Come to the Katberet! — in New York and Berlin.
“Mysterious and dangerous in the best tradition of Lotte Lenya … It lies somewhere between insane and brilliant! Makes perfect sense now that I know Katharina Rothe is a shrink by day … also an added bonus if you really like opera” (Barbarino/NiteLifeExchange).
Early bird: $15 (Sept 15–22)
General admission: $25
Reduced (seniors, students, unemployed, artists): $20
Judith Barnes, she/her, IG @vpropera, FB @judithathena; Role: Susi Wanowski, Anita’s girlfriend and manager
Gavin McDonough, he/him: Rudi Müller, Anita’s lover and co-star
Indi&Tonic, she/her: Galathea, Anita’s muse and romantic interest
Frank Hooker Jr., he/him, IG @frankhookerforever, FB Frank R Hooker Jr. : Stage Manager, Video Content Provider, Role of Heckler in the audience, Videographer
Richard Pearson Thomas, he/him, IG: @Richardpearsonthomas, FB @Richard Pearson Thomas, Piano and Composer of one of the performed pieces
David Hodges, he/him, IG @dwhodges1, FB David Hodges: Bandoneón
Photo Credit: Irina Island Images