"Dietrich" at The Triad

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2. "Dietrich"

Dietrich, a compelling and acclaimed one-woman play about iconic German actress Marlene Dietrich, is scheduled to return for two nights this January at New Yorks Triad Theater. Dietrich will play Sunday, Jan. 6 at 3 p.m. and Monday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. The Triad, a celebrated and historic Off-Broadway theater located at 158 W. 72nd St. Visit www.dietrichplay.com for more information and to buy tickets. Written by Willard Manus, accompanied by pianist Russell Daisey and starring Cindy Marinangel, Dietrich is a based on a true story. Set in May 1960, the play takes place when the actress returned to the Berlin stage for the first time since fleeing the Hitler regime in the 1930s. Inside her dressing room at the Tatiana Palast Theater, Dietrich weighs whether to go through with the live performance despite threats on her life by Nazi sympathizers who resented her for having spent much of World War II entertaining American soldiers on the front lines. To them, Dietrich is a turncoat; a traitor who deserves to be shot and killed on stage. Neither Dietrich nor her Hungarian composer, Bela Bartok, were Jewish. But both had stood up for Jews in their countries, which made them unwelcome at home. Dietrich, like many European performers who had found success in their native countries, moved to Hollywood before the Nazis rise to power. Dietrich enraged the regime, though, by becoming an American citizen in 1937. That anger simmered for years as the actress continued to show sensitivity to Jews well past the end of the war. During a 1960 visit to Israel, for instance, she asked the audiences permission before singing in German, according to The Central Zionist Archives.Dietrich (formerly known as Marlene) celebrated its world premiere at the Brickhouse Theatre in Los Angeles, debuted in New York at the Hudson Guild Theatre as part of the New York Theatre Festivals annual Winterfest and was selected for the New York New Works Theatre Festival. The play also had an earlier successful showing at The Triad. Cindy Marinangel is a Lifetime Member of The Actors Studio and is a graduate of the Chicago Second City Conservatory. Marinangel was recently seen in Beverly Hills Christmas, a holiday film starring actor Dean Cain that airs seasonally on UPtv. Willard Manus is a playwright, journalist and novelist. He is a member of the playwrights/directors unit of The Actors Studio. His most recent plays are Joe and Marilyn: A Love Story, Frank and Ava (now a motion picture) and Who Killed Comrade Rabbit? Russell Daisey is an internationally acclaimed pianist, singer and songwriter. Hes performed at The First Hiroshima International Peace Summit (onstage with the Dalai Lama); the Palais des Congres in Paris; before President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; and Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Ellie Wiesel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Betty Williams.