Stage Notes:Oh, Those Beautiful Weimar Girls
By Tom Murrin
Oh, Those Beautiful Weimar Girls, one of the hottest shows of the fall season at La MaMa E.T.C., is being bought back for a two-week reprise. Nineteen-twenties Germany was famous for both its euphoria and desperation -- people went to cabarets for their pleasure and glamour, and the Weimar girls were symbols of that escapism. The most iconic Weimar girl was Anita Berber, a brazen dancer/actor/poet who usually performed naked (except for her sable wrap and a pet monkey hanging from her neck). This show, a sexy evening of music, dance and drama, is conceived and directed by Ildiko Nemeth, a native of Hungary and a veteran of Eastern European experimental theater. Nemeth recently spoke with PAPERMAG about Berber's tragic life an how she plans to incorporate it into her cabaret act.
Tom Murrin: I've heard nothing but good things about this show. What will the audience see?
Ildiko Nemeth: They are going to see a mixture of theater and cabaret. Anita Berber is the inspiration. She
was a scandalous artist who completely embodied the spirit of the
Weimar era, with her hedonistic life style, scandalous art and her
personal embodiment of the chaos, the confusion and the pain of that
era. Her artistry was an embodiment of that, and it eventually cost her her life.
TM: How so?
IM: She lived in a very destructive life style, with drug abuse and alcoholism, and there were also sex scandals. This was very much the era, but she had a dark vision of herself and the world that surrounded her. She built it so much into her art and dancing, that after awhile she died. She was 28.
TM: How did she die?
IM: She
went to the hospital and realized she should try to quit drugs and alcohol, and later she quit cold turkey. She
collapsed on stage two months after being in the hospital, and then she
died, very alone. There were very few people at her burial. She had a very tragic end.
IN: I took biographical information and certain events from her life and that's the backbone of the play. We are featuring some of her cabaret dances, and also there are going to be dramatic scenes from her life. Her life is in the play, but, following the cabaret formula, they appear like acts in the cabaret. There are characters in the dramatic arc, and in Anita's life arc; but it is not a conventional drama, or a biographical play.
TM: Tell me about your actors.
IN: Fourteen people are in this show. In all my plays I have more than 10 people always, big casts I'm working with a group of people, a core group I usually work with. They are members of my group, the New Stage Theater Company.
TM: I understand that Chris Tanner, a downtown favorite, is in the show.
IN: Chris Tanner plays the emcee. This is the first time I am working with Chris. I was looking for an actor for this important role and I went to Julie Atlas Muz. She choreographed a couple of the dances in the show and recommended Chris to me. It was love at first sight. It's amazing working with him.
TM: How long is the show?
IN: The show is one hour long. And
I definitely use The Club space at La MaMa in a different way. There is
usually one stage, but I created two stages -- one for the Weimar girls and
their dances and one for Anita Berber and her dances. Her dances are more expressive, grotesque, more arty, versus those that are more commercial. I used the two spaces to show the contrast.
The Club at La MaMa, E.T.C., 74-A E. 4th St., (212) 475-7710. Jan. 20 - Feb. 7, Fri. & Sat., 10 p.m.; Sun., 8 p.m, $20/$15 students and seniors.
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