'33(a kabarett)
a one-man weimar musical
"laughter and jaw-dropping physicality... a must see."
-Theatre Jones, Dallas
"an incredible one-man show....
brilliant acting."
- PBS America
In 2012, I made a show about an actor forced into exile after the destruction of his theatre and the arrest of his friends by an brutal dictator. I called it ‘33(a kabarett). I wrote it inspired by the fate of the Eldorado Club in Berlin in 1933. The Eldorado had music, theatre and was a welcoming space for the LGBTQ community. The club was raided, taken over by the Nazis and used as a local headquarters. But, for my show, I took out any reference to the Nazis or the time or the place. I ended up performing it around the world, across the USA, in Europe, in Russia, in ex-Soviet states and three times in Ukraine.
At each performance, the audience would decide who was responsible for the attacks. It was humbling to talk to people after each performance as they explained to me who the play was referencing. I had thought it was history, but for those audiences it was relevant and immediate. Audiences in Eastern Europe, Russia and the ex-soviet states had no problem relating to the specter of a dictator who would cancel ideas and culture in the most brutal way.
I never imagined, when I was hanging out with my new friends in Kiev and Chernihiv and Khmelnytskyy that their own amazing hopes and dreams would be under attack in the same way.
If you want to see more of the performance, filmed live in the beautiful Opera House of Chernihiv, a lovely, calm city which is currently being shelled by Russian forces, then you can watch the whole show, or parts of it here: https://tinyurl.com/bremnersingsvideo or below.
Kiev was one of the most beautiful cities that I have visited. The people I met viewed themselves as part of Western Europe. They were aware of the problems in their country and assumed the slow movement of democratic change would fix those issues. All of them were deeply engaged in making change and creating a more free and just society. No subject was too dangerous to discuss and share.
There was no censorship or repression.
I have no idea of what Putin thinks he can do with these people, even if he did win. I’m terrified to think of how he’d enforce the same censorship currently in place in Russia. It would essentially be the Eldorado Kabarett all over again.
My friends in Ukraine have sent me these links to various charities: please help if you can.
Humanitarian aid - Caritas Ukraine
https://www.facebook.com/caritasukraine
Medical care – “Viterets” Medical Rapid Response Team https://www.facebook.com/Rescue.breeze
Charity help veterans and the military - Safe Life https://www.facebook.com/backandalive
'33 (a kabarett): In the ruins of a Cabaret theatre, an actor tumbles onto a darkened stage. When the lights come up he finds himself alone. His friends and colleagues have disappeared, arrested by the authorities. Only their glittering, torn costumes remain. In order to escape the same fate and survive, the actor should run and vanish into the night, but an audience has slipped through the broken door. So, in tribute, he uses all his talents to joyously recreate the acts of the missing company.
The Comedian, the Showgirl, the Song and Dance Man and the rest of his troupe spring to life as the actor pays homage to his disappeared friends. '33(a kabarett) features 9 songs from the era, with new arrangements by Bremner's jazz trio.
Watch the 90 second promo video:
'33 (a kabarett) has been performed across North America and Europe to full houses and critical acclaim. In Europe, '33 was chosen open the Armmono Theatre Festival in Armenia, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. It has recently toured in the Balkans and to the Ukraine and will be touring in Russia, Germany and Eastern. It has received Five Star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has been performed at festivals across North America .
watch the first song from the show, Noel Coward's 20th Century Blues,
filmed at the 800 seat Chernihiv Opera House in 2018
WHISKEY BARS:
a kurt weill cabaret
A fast-paced fusion of reality, comedy, music... and a touch of tragedy. Whiskey Bars is a strikingly original, unpredictable singer's story of attempting a final comeback, fueled by too many vodka martinis and Kurt Weill's dark and daring songwriting.
Backstage, in old dressing room of a run down cabaret theatre, just before his big comeback performance, a performer battles an invisible critic, trying every trick he knows to win a good review. There are lies, seduction, charm, anger and outright begging - and in the process he reveals more then he expects about himself and his belief and love for the music of the amazing Kurt Weill.
“a fantastic show - a perfect festival experience – outstanding singing, in a distinctive setting - with the story of the insecure performer lending subtext and dynamism to a thrilling reworking of Weill material. It was seedy. It was stirring. It was utterly memorable.”
Andrew Clover, Sunday Times (uk)
"...theatre at its very best. Bremner’s classical training and background as a many-year veteran in musicals and jazz bands is evident from the outset. By the time we arrived at the chillingly Speak Low - calm on the surface, yet bubbling with undercurrents of febrile yearning - we were left with no doubt whatsoever that we were in the presence of a true master of his craft. This show is, like the best of Weill's own works for the stage, a seamless blend of gripping entertainment and genuinely moving art."
The Edinburgh Fringe Review
WEILL AT HEART
FROM BERLIN TO BROADWAY
A KURT WEILL CONCERT
"It takes more than just an expressive voice to really communicate Kurt Weill songs - it takes love, fear, regrets, wistfulness, loneliness, tragedy and charm. And above all, it takes a fine actor. Bremner has it all"
-Theatreworld Magazine, London, England
From Berlin to Broadway is an intimate musical cabaret-concert, infused with Bremner’s warmth and humour, which gives audiences a fondness for Kurt Weill’s music and an insight into this legendary figure. Weill was a revolutionary and an angry young man, an avant-garde of the 20th century, who broke new musical and theatrical ground and has left an enormous musical legacy.
His most famous works were his Berlin cabaret and theatre collaborations with Bertolt Brecht. As the Nazis took power in Germany and Weill fled to America, he quickly linked up with writers and lyricists like Ira Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein, Maxwell Anderson, Elmer Rice, and the literary giant of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes.
As well as bringing to the fore Weill’s musical brilliance and his passionate views on subjects such as human injustice, Bremner’s concert beautifully shares the story of Weill’s complex relationship with the love of his life, actress Lotte Lenya.
Listen on:
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