"Oh, Those Beautiful Weimar Girls" November 19 - December 21 at Clemente Soto Velez

"Oh, Those Beautiful Weimar Girls" depicts the life and art of Anita Berber, known today as "Weimar Berlin's Priestess of Depravity." Production by New Stage Theatre Company is conceived and directed by Ildiko Nemeth and written by Mark Altman.

November 19 to December 21
(Please note change in dates: Nov 15-18 previews have been cancelled.) Clemente Soto Velez (CSV), 107 Suffolk Street, NYC (between Rivington and Delancey).
Presented by The New Stage Theatre Company, Founder/Artistic Director Ildiko Lujza Nemeth. (http://www.newstagetheatre.org)

Runs through Dec. 21.
PERFORMANCE DATES: Wed through Sat at 8:00 pm, Sun at 5:00 pm (except closing day, Dec 21, which is at 3:00) No performances Thanksgiving week.
TICKETS: $25 general admission $20 students, seniors. Group discounts available. TDF accepted.
Box office: SMARTTIX (212) 868-4444 or www.smarttix.com. Online ticketing also available at: www.newstagetheatre.org.
Directions: J, M, F, Z to Delancey St. Two blocks E. of Essex St. (N. Side). M14A, M9 Bus to Livingston St.

DETAILS:
The New Stage Theatre Company (www.newstagetheatre.org) will present the world premiere of "Oh, Those Beautiful Weimar Girls," an original play with music and dance about Anita Berber, from November 19 to December 21 at Clemente Soto Velez, 107 Suffolk Street. The piece is conceived and directed by Ildiko Nemeth and written by Mark Altman. It is based on the life and artistry of the actor/dancer/poet who epitomized for many the decadence of Weimar era Berlin. The play was inspired by "The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber" by Berber's principal biographer, Mel Gordon, which dubs her "Weimar Berlin's Priestess of Depravity." Choreography is by Julia Atlas Muz and Peter Schmitz.

With original and classical music, dance and striking stage design, the production will recreate Anita Berber's life in a series of cabaret-styled performances, including much of her "repertoire of the damned." This play occurs 80 years after her tragic passing and aims, according to playwright Mark Altman, to "capture her indomitable spirit and inspire young and old alike to rage against the night." Lighting design is by Federico Restrepo. Costume design is by Javier Bone Carbone.

In an era where everything was permitted, Anita Berber's celebrations of "Depravity, Horror and Ecstacy" were condemned and censored. She appeared in nightclubs and casinos, naked except for a sable wrap and a pet monkey hanging from her neck. Her body was thin and androgynous; her bright red hair was cut in a rebellious bob and a silver brooch filled with cocaine usually hung around her neck. She and her frequent collaborator/dance partner, Sebastian Droste, came to represent the decadence of Weimar Berlin with their nude dancing, drug use and flamboyant sex lives.

Berber brought flamboyant eroticism, exotic costuming and grotesque imagery to her performances. A pioneer of modern expressive dance, using the music of Debussy, Strauss, Delibes, and Saint-Säens, she was at first taken seriously, but eventually her artistry was overshadowed by her scandalous personal and professional lifestyle, as performances grew increasingly macabre. She was diagnosed with tuberculosis while touring in Lebanon in 1928, and died shortly afterward, at age 29.

Her cinematic record includes expressionist films by Fritz Lang co-starring Conrad Veidt. Her wicked, visionary and taboo-shattering dances inspired Marlene Dietrich and Leni Riefenstahl. In 1987, she was the subject of a film by Rosa von Praunheim titled "Anita - Tänze des Lasters" (Antia- Dances of Vice). One of her most enduring images is a 1925 painting by Otto Dix, which captures her in flaming-red hair and a slinky red dress, and appears on a contemporary German postage stamp.

The cast includes: Javier Bone Carbone, Kaylin Lee Clinton, Markus Hirnigel, Lisa Kathryn Hokans, Denice Kondik, Sarah Lemp, Florencia Minniti, Madeline Pramik, John Rosania, Kat Ross, Jade Rothman, Christine Ann Ryndak and Jeanne lauren Smith.

Last season, New Stage Theatre Company, under the direction of Ildiko Nemeth, presented the American premiere of "The Round of Pleasure" by Austrian playwright Werner Schwab, "the divisive mastermind of contemporary Austrian Drama." The 1986 play, a modernist re-telling of Schnitzler's "La Ronde," was staged with striking visual beauty and received enthusiastic notices. Critic Larry Litt (NY Theatre Wire) called the production "a Viennese treat, a rich dessert from Mittel Europa that breaks all the artificially imposed rules of political correctness." Columnist Glenn Loney (NY Theatre Wire) called for "elegantly-devised production" to be seen at the Salzburg Festival. The production was nominated in three categories for the 2008 Innovative Theater Awards.

Director Ildiko Nemeth is a Hungarian native and a veteran of Eastern European experimental theater. Her desire to bring this form of theatrical expression into stronger focus for American audiences led her to form The New Stage Theatre Company in 2002. In Hungary, Nemeth garnered numerous prizes for acting, such as the Guardian Critics' Choice Award at the Scotland Fringe Festival in Edinburgh and the Best Performance Award at the International Gombrowicz Festival in Poland. She moved to the U.S. in 1998 and founded NSTC after graduating with a Master's Degree from the Actors Studio Drama School in 2002. At the Actors Studio, several of Nemeth's peers were inspired by her unique vision of bridging geographical and cultural gaps by collaborating with international artists. This group became the original NSTC. Since then, the group of New Stage collaborators has included numerous talents, including a Guggenheim fellowship recipient and artists trained at the Julliard School.

In 2006, New Stage Theatre Company presented "Some Historic/Some Hysteric," a play set in late 19th Century Paris. It was based on the "Tuesday lectures" of Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot, the founder of modern neurology, who invited the public to Salpêtrière hospital to watch patients enact their neurological maladies. Time Out (Robert Simonson) deemed the production a "surreal vision" that was most effective in its images. Backstage (Irene Backalenick) called the play "an awesome aesthetic experience. Magnificent work, all around, courtesy of its set design, costumes, movement, music, performance and direction." "Some Historic/Some Hysteric" was subsequently nominated in 2007 for Innovative Theatre Awards in three categories: Outstanding Production of a Performance Art Piece, Outstanding Actress in a Featured Role and Outstanding Ensemble.

Other NSTC productions have included "Dial-a-Mom" by Argentine exile playwright Diana Raznovich (Flatiron Playhouse, 2003) and two original dramaticules followed by Beckett's "Come & Go" (Walkerspace, 2003).

 

 

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