Songs from the Weimar Republic, that 14-year span between the end of World War I and the rise of the Nazis in Germany, always sound to me like defiant bravado, all in-your-face tunes celebrating the no-holds-barred post-war era but tinged also with trepidation. All that freedom, sexual and otherwise, couldn't last. And it didn't.
Cabaret artist Mark Nadler presents his show "I'm a Stranger Here Myself," focusing on the music of Weimar-era Germany at Florida Studio Theatre's Stage III series. Carol Rosegg photo
Mark Nadler's cabaret-style show, "I'm a Stranger Here Myself," capitalizes on what we, 80 years on, know about history and how Germany's first democracy spiraled tragically into World War II and the Holocaust.
Some of the most talented songwriters and artists of the era, those who would be labeled by the Nazis as degenerates, escaped from Germany in the early 1930s, when they saw the writing on the wall.
Their work forms the backbone of Nadler's one-man show (assisted by Vena Johnson on violin and Melissa Elledge on accordion), which blends the history and music of the Weimar era with his own history as a young nightclub entertainer who grew up Jewish in Iowa — "Our nation's pork state; I'm Jewish and that's all I'm going to say about that" — fled to New York and Paris where his status was elevated to "cabaret entertainer."
The Weimer era celebrated the outsider as insider, Nadler explains in the 90-minute one-act show. Those outsiders: Jews, artists, homosexuals, fought for the right to self-expression. Running throughout the show is a haunting lyric by Frederick Hollaender: "I don't know who I belong to, I believe I belong to myself, all alone."
Another Hollaender song, "Oh, Just Suppose," a sly comic commentary on sexual behavior, gives Nadler a chance to single out an attractive woman in the audience, flirt with her and then push her aside to croon on the lap of her male partner.
Cabaret artist Mark Nadler presents his show "I'm a Stranger Here Myself," focusing on the music of Weimar-era Germany at Florida Studio Theatre's Stage III series. Carol Rosegg photo
Nadler's performance is riveting throughout, emotionally high and low, with a satisfying payoff at the end.
His central position at the piano is enhanced by his two musical companions creating the distinct sounds of the era, and by Justin West's projections of black and white photographs and grainy film footage of the characters and history of the times. From our seats near the top of FST's Keating Theatre, the projections were a little hard to decipher, between the distance and the spotlight on Nadler which sometimes washed out the images.
Still, the show packs a perhaps surprising emotional punch, with Nadler leading his audience through known history into personal epiphany.
THEATER REVIEW
I'M A STRANGER HERE MYSELF. By Mark Nadler. Reviewed March 22 at Florida Studio Theatre, 1261 N. Palm Ave., Sarasota. Additional performances through April 4. "Dangerous Worlds: Reflections on pre-WWII Germany and the roots of hatred and anti-Semitism today," conversation at 5 p.m. April 2. Tickets range from $36-$39. 366-9000; www.floridastudiotheatre.org.
