Barry Humphries’ Weimar Cabaret continues at the Barbican Theatre, London until 29 July 2018.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Tucked away in the labyrinth that is the Barbican Centre is a gem of a production celebrating the period of creativity that flourished briefly in Weimar Republic Berlin between 1919 and 1933.
Most of these artists, predominantly Jewish, spent their lives forgotten in exile or lost them entirely in the concentration camps, their music of little interest in the countries to which they fled. As Barry Humphries informs us, Melbourne had the highest number of Jewish refugees after Israel.
Humphries is a charming, funny and engaging presenter, not entirely able to escape the mannerisms of his better known creations Dame Edna and Les Patterson. His tale of how he discovered these forgotten composers is enthralling, invoking a period that will soon no longer be a part of living memory.
He name drops shamelessly along the way, referencing Billy Wilder, David Hockney, Christopher Isherwood, Stephen Spender and others. His gentle but cutting humour draws us in, while his erudite commentary sets the music in context.
Meow Meow brings her sexy glamour and attractive singing voice to the evening and is a real star, channelling an uncanny resemblance to a young Joan Collins, and a wonderful rapport with Humphries.
Alongside her interpretation of well-known songs like ‘Surabaya Johnny’ and ‘Pirate Jenny’ we get rare gems like Schulhoff’s ‘Sonata Erotica’, an extended piece simulating a female orgasm.
Satu Vanska and the Aurora Orchestra support Meow Meow and Humphries with theatricality and musical richness, the sound perfectly balanced. Vanska is also a classy singer and her performance of Hollaender’s ‘If I Could Wish For Something’ is superb.
Kurt Weill made a career for himself on Broadway after the US production of Threepenny Opera in the 1950s – with its sanitised translation – brought him to wider attention and made ‘Mack the Knife’ a hit.
We get two of his better known pieces, but the gem is saved till the end. The ‘Benares Song’ from his opera Mahagonny is sung with a dramatic and moving intensity by Humphries and Meow Meow. It’s unlike any other performance of this song that I have ever seen.
Paul Hindemith and Ernst Krenek with his jazz-inflected opera Johnny Strikes Up also had some success. Others like William Grosz translated their talents into hit songs like ‘Red Sails in the Sunset’ and ‘Isle of Capri’ and Friedrich Hollaender wrote for Marlene Dietrich.
We hear composers like Erwin Schulhoff with his poignant ‘Tango’ from Suite from Chamber Orchestra III; Jezek’s ‘Bugatti Step’, a jazz piece for piano; and many others like Ernst Toch, Mischa Spoliansky, Paul Abraham, Max Brand and Hanns Eisler.
The production has style and charm and never descends into a genteel lecture, always retaining a ripe theatricality. Back projections from artists of the period serve the staging with great effect.
It was a time of great sexual freedom and exploration, the new jazz influencing these composers. Quoting one of his sources, Humphries tells us it was far more mundane than the Berlin we see in the film of Cabaret, but the influence was far reaching.
It is rare to have an evening such as this, complete with a 17-piece orchestra and stars such performers as Meow Meow and Barry Humphries. Every seat should be filled for the run of this show.
Leon Ferguson
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