Rhode Island School of Design DigitalCommons@RISD

Programs RISD Cabaret 1987-2000

Winter 2-6-1988 The Golden Age of European Cabaret Agnieszka Taborska Rhode Island School of Design, [email protected]

William Damkoehler Rhode Island School of Design

Anne Johnson Rhode Island School of Design

Susan Sellers Rhode Island School of Design

Georgie Stout Rhode Island School of Design

FSeoe nelloxtw pa thige fors aaddndition addal aitutionhorsal works at: https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/liberalarts_cabaret_programs Part of the Acting Commons, Art Education Commons, Dance Commons, Fashion Design Commons, Fine Arts Commons, French Linguistics Commons, and Literature Commons, History Commons, Modern Literature Commons, Music Commons, Other Arts and Humanities Commons, Other French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons, Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons, Other Theatre and Performance Studies Commons, Performance Studies Commons, Playwriting Commons, Russian Literature Commons, and the Theatre History Commons

Recommended Citation Taborska, Agnieszka; Damkoehler, William; Johnson, Anne; Sellers, Susan; Stout, Georgie; Borok, Mark; Zimmerman, Michael; Gold, Bill; Oestreicher, Charles; Guttman, Edward; Provost, Caroline; Hemingway, Ed; Heerens, Holly; Mollica, Eugene; Unger, Susan; Talbot, Michelle; Bishop, Sarah; Coelho, Malcom; Frith, Heather; Baudelaire, Charles; Verlaine, Paul; Prevert, Jacques; Keefer, Don; Cohen, Emliy; Crawford, Martha; Becker, Susan; Eisler, Hanns; Komacker, Molly; Cho, Vivienne; and Stehr, Carsten, "The Golden Age of European Cabaret" (1988). Programs. 2. https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/liberalarts_cabaret_programs/2

This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the RISD Cabaret 1987-2000 at DigitalCommons@RISD. It has been accepted for inclusion in Programs by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@RISD. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Authors Agnieszka Taborska, William Damkoehler, Anne Johnson, Susan Sellers, Georgie Stout, Mark Borok, Michael Zimmerman, Bill Gold, Charles Oestreicher, Edward Guttman, Caroline Provost, Ed Hemingway, Holly Heerens, Eugene Mollica, Susan Unger, Michelle Talbot, Sarah Bishop, Malcom Coelho, Heather Frith, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Jacques Prevert, Don Keefer, Emliy Cohen, Martha Crawford, Susan Becker, Hanns Eisler, Molly Komacker, Vivienne Cho, and Carsten Stehr

This book is available at DigitalCommons@RISD: https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/liberalarts_cabaret_programs/2 ‘ V

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The Cellar in the Pit at the Rhode Island School of Design presents

Prologue

ProfessorRath' Mark Borok The Golden Age of Euro ean Cabaret Angst: Michael Zimmerman The 1910.8 and ZOE

a student cabaret Hercegovina

A folk woo The Company Memorial Hall May 6,7,0, teas

The Turn-of-the-Century

The tum-of-the-century. What the French call le fin-desiecle, the immediate decades on either side of the

changes in the centuries; like 1990 ('88 is close enough) to 2010 perhaps and cerainly like 1890 to 1910

the last time around, has the spiritually uncertain amd confused quality of being simultaneously an end

and a beginning.

Out of the oil-smooth spirit of the two last decades of the nineteenth century, suddenly, nhmughout Europe, there rose a kindling fever. Nobody knew exactly what was on the way," nobody was able to say whether it was to be a new art, a New Man, a new morality or perhaps a re-shuffling ofsociety So everyone made of it what he liked But people were standing up on all sides to fight against the old way oflife...

lhe Superman was adored, and the Subman was adored; health and the sun were worshipped and the delicacy of consumptive girls was worshipped, and people were enthusiastic hero-worshippers and enthusiastic adherents of the social creed of the Man in the Street one had faith and was sceptical. One was naturalistic and precious, robust and morbid; one dreamed ofancient castles and shady avenues, autumnal gardens, glassy ponds, jewels, hashish, disease and demonism, but also ofpran'es, vast horizons, forges and rollirig-mills, naked wrestlers, the uprisings of the slaves of toil, man and woman in the primeval Garden, and the destruction of society...

But in reality all this had blended into shimmering signicance. This illusion, which found its embodiment in the magical date of the tum of the century, was so powerful that it made some hurl themselves enthusiastically upon the new, as yet untrodden century, while others were having a last ing in the old one, as in a house that one is moving out ofanyway, without either one or the other party feeling that there was much difference between the two attitudes.

Robert Musil, Man Without Oualities

If then, in the selections for this firi-de-siécle cabaret you find a cacaphony of confused and con-

tradictory voices, some nostalgic, some sprinting forward, some quaint, and some frightening, please

understand that they emerge out of the fever of that time. That ‘s the history of it. It's tempting

in the face of a century ago to wonder what our own fin-de-siecle will look like a century hence.

And some would say that the real tum of the last century was not 1900 but 1914. That was when me |:ina|e

First World War destroyed the old order in Europe once and for all. So we begin with the beautiful agony Alabama Song of the dying Austro-Hungarian Empire (poor Franz Joseph), by way of a last fling in , and in from the The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny Weimar Berlin of the 1920's with prernonitions of the horrors of the new order to come. Music by Kurt Weill

Baruch Kirschenbaum The Company Part One Emperor Franz Joseph's

The Eleventh Hour

The Adventures of the Good Soldier Schweik by Jaroslav Hasek Lieutenant Dub: Bill Gold Pvt. Schweik: Charles Oestreicher

The Last Days of Mankind by Karl Kraus Waiter: Edward Guttman Grumblerz Caroline Provost

Major Battledash : Ed Hemingway

La Zarina A Newspaper Story by Peter Altenberg Peter Altenberg: Charles Oestreicher ‘A. L..': Eugene Mollica

A Letter Concerning the Death of Peter Altenberg 'Fini D.': Susan Unger

The Prison Diary of Egon Schiele An Excerpt Egon Schielez Bill Gold

The Last Days of Mankind by Karl Kraus Chamberlain on the right: Michelle Talbot Chamberlain on the left: Caroline Provost Emperor Franz Joseph: Holly Heerens Music: Don Keefer and Sarah Bishop Part Two Paris

Les Annees Fo//es

Aristide Bruant welcomes the audience Malcolm Coelho

Ceux Oui Font La Chose A Cabaret Song by Heather Frith

French Poetry Headings from: Charles Baudelaire Paul Verlaine Jacques Prevert by Mark Borok Michael Zimmerman

The Banana Dance Josephine Baker:Treva Offut Eugene Mollica Edward Guttman Charles Oestreicher

Two Poems by Natalie Clifford Bamey N.C. Bamey: Susan Unger

A Song in the style ofa Parisian Cabaret Song Written and Performed by Sarah Bishop

Gymnopedie No. One Two classical guitar selections by Erik Satie transcribed by Don Keefer Schottish by Heitor Villa-Lobos Don Keefer

If I Told Him A Completed Portrait of Picasso A Poem by Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein: Emily Cohen

Parade A Cubist Ballet with costumes by Pablo Picasso Interpretation: Martha Crawford The Company Part Three

Be rl i n

Berliner Nacht

I Have Murdered Dear Auntie A/ice lch hab meine Tante geschlachtet A Ballad by Frank Wedekind Susan Becker Music: Don Keefer

The Love Market A Song with lyrics by Benoit Brecht and music by Hanns Eisler Singer: Molly Komacker

Surabaya Johnny A Song by Kurt Weill Singer: Vivienne Cho

Song To The World A Poem and Writings by George Grosz George Grosz: Carsten Stehr

/ch bin von Kopf bis Fuss auf Liebe eingeste//t A Song also known as Falling in love Again from Joseph von Stemberg's film, The Blue Angel Lola-Lola: Vivienne Cho

Finale Alabama Song from the The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny Music by Kurt Weill The Company Directed by Vllliam Damkoehler Literary consultant: Szymon Bojko Music director: Don Keefer Choreography: Cynthia Strickland Costume consultant: Susan Becker Production coordinator: Wendy Cox Photography: Lisa Buckle Video production: Jessica Mc Gonagle

Poster and program design: Anne Johnson, Susan Sellers, Georgie Stout Costume Construction: Martha Crawford Placards, Props: Vivienne Cho, Francisco Garay, Robert Jason, Erik Johnson, Clara Kim, Emily Pak John Polizzi,Vaiva Ulenas, Courtney Weidie Technical Crew: Elisabeth Scheidl, Christie Eboch

Orchestra: Don Keefer, guitar; Marguerite White, recorder; Jessica Mc Gonagle, percussion.

The cast and crew gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Undergraduate Board of the Rhode lsland School of Design and the Liberal Arts Division.

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We also wish to express our gratitude to: Nanette Budden, Andrzei Czeczot (New York), Marguerite Dorian, Edward Dwyer, Friedrich St. Florian, Mel Gordon (New York), Baruch Kirschenbaum, Tomasz Kuczborski (), Ewa Kuryluk (New York), Elena von Moller, William Newkirk, Tom Oller (Brown), Dorothy Pieniadz, Sylvie Toux (Brown), David Wilson and the RISD Library Staff.

From the Trinity Repertory Company our special thanks to the Electrics Department, William Lane, Marilyn Salvatore and Robert Schleinig.

Note: All of the material used in tonight's production is adapted from the actual works of the artists represented. The poets, playswrights, artists, composers, dancers, satirists, joumalists, lyricists, designers and cabaret personalities depicted tonight all lived and worked in Europe during the first two decades of the twentieth century. The characters of Professor Rath, Angst and Lola-Lola are freely based on characters in Joseph von Stemberg's 1930 film, The Blue Angel. Al-

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