Time Warp
There’s something a little too on-the-nose about Carnegie Hall’s “Fall of the Weimar Republic” series. With the ominous subtitle “Dancing on the Precipice,” the series has spanned venues throughout the city, from January through May.
The Weimar years were, in the sarcastic words of Kim David Smith — at Death of Classical’s Tiergarten on Thursday, April 18 — “a totally unrelatable era of greed, corruption, and book burning.” Not to mention bigotry and looming genocide.
But, at the same time, the Weimar era saw a “decadent nightlife” allowing for artistic and sexual exploration. “There’s nothing more dangerous,” said Smith, in a strapless gown and top hat, “than a man in a dress.”
These contradictions, apparent at various historical “tipping points,” are what inspired Tiergarten-creator Andrew Ousley: “I believe that in these moments of fragile balance, our fate as a society is decided by the way each of us responds.”
In a makeshift speakeasy under St. Mary’s Church in the Lower East Side — we are living in the ‘20s after all — we ate charcuterie, sipped bubbly from couple glasses, and watched a cabaret “moving back in time.”
This started with a jazz-infused “La Folia Variations” by the Grand Street Stompers, followed by Smith’s rendition of “Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show: “It's astounding, time is fleeting, madness takes its toll.”
Now, I’d seen another self-proclaimed “man in a dress” back in February, in Jeremy Lawrence’s “Lavender Songs” at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. (I never got to write about this one for Poison, but it deserves mention.)
I didn’t expect, attending this “queer Weimar Berlin cabaret” (also part of Carnegie’s series) to be serenaded by an octogenarian. But Lawrence — doing a little jig, clonking in heels — was delightfully flat and whiny.
“In a bowtie and tuxedo, she lifts everyone’s libido,” he sang in “Hannelore,” followed by “Blame the Jews” to the tune of the Habanera.
Lawrence’s interpretations of Mischa Spoliansky were especially inspired, with lesbian undertones in “Special Girlfriend” and “Masculinum-Femininum” about a T4T couple.
Not to mention Spoliansky’s “Lavender Song” with the powerful line, “we’re not afraid to be queer and different.” When Lawrence pulled off his wig, he looked just like my grandfather.
Tiergarten was quite “different” from that, indeed. Though updated — for a perhaps slightly younger demographic — Smith did achieve a similar spirit as Lawrence in several Kurt Weill numbers.
As the master of ceremonies, Smith two-stepped across the stage for “Pirate Jenny” (with Foreshadow Puppetry), “Alabama Song” and “Lost in the Stars,” the last of which could have been milked more.
But overall, Tiergarten, with its abrupt tonal shifts, needed some editing.
During a section on the American Revolution, Amara Granderson was transfixing in “Strange Fruit,” a song that is about lynching. But it felt like tokenizing, being the only number by this Black female singer, having to do the emotional heavy-lifting.
This cut straight to intermission, inexplicably skipping the Protestant Reformation, which was listed next on the program.
In the second half, Tiergarten integrated opera in unexpected ways. Mezzo soprano Melina Jaharas, Racoon-eyed and unhinged, sang “Azucena’s song” from Il Trovatore in a section on the Salem Witch Trials.
And countertenor Luke Elmer and soprano Ariadne Greif were, dare I say, quite sexy, pushing each other up against a column, singing Monteverdi’s “Pur Ti Miro” in a section on the Fall of Rome. This was, sidesplittingly, juxtaposed with Aaron Reeder singing “Arrivederce Roma.”
But the pinnacle of the night was burlesque dancer Pearls Daily as a bearded Jesus, donning nipple pasties and stigmata. When Reeder sang “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” it was funny, then not-funny, then funny again.
In leafy see-thru bodysuits, dancers Liana Zhen-ai and Dylan Contreras were an emotive Adam and Eve. Though I appreciated the allusions to the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the jerky Alvin Ailey-style dancing to Max Richter was not for me. People seemed unsure whether or not to laugh.
For the finale, Smith sang Kylie Minogue’s “All the Lovers” as the cast dance, dance, danced. Though I would have preferred an whole-ensemble-singing number (we’d already heard a lot of Smith), Tiergarten went out with a “big bang.”
