A critically acclaimed cabaret show of the songs of Kurt Weill appearing back in Toronto after winning awards around the world.
The German Jewish composer Kurt Weill (1900-1950) was the son of a Cantor. His first surviving piece is a setting of Mi addir (1913), a Hebrew text sung at Jewish wedding ceremonies, but his first substantial piece - the one he later felt marked his beginning as a composer - was Ofrah's Lieder (1916), a song cycle on poems by the great medieval Spanish-Hebrew poet Yehuda Halevi (in German translation). He decided to devote himself to the musical theater, and his works with Bertolt Brecht soon made him famous all over Europe. He fled the new Nazi leadership in 1933 and continued his indefatigable efforts, first in Paris, then in the U.S. until his death.
Common threads tie together his career: a deep concern for social justice and a desire to work with the best playwrights and lyricists. Weill was a unique composer, mixing European influences with Broadway razzamatazz and coming up with a distinctive sound of his own. Weill composed a number of important Jewish works, from a vast score to The Eternal Road(1937, Franz Werfel) to a setting of the Kiddush.
WHISKEY BARS - 9 years ago at the Toronto Fringe Festival, Bremner Duthie performed his newly-written one-man show, Whiskey Bars and delighted Toronto audiences. And then, to his surprise, it changed his life - it took him round the world: touring North America & Europe, bringing international tours, allowing him to live for years in Paris and London. And now Canadian singer-actor Bremner Duthie is back with the show The Sunday Times(UK) calls "a fantastic show. Seedy. Stirring. Utterly memorable."
CBC Winnipeg says "Five Stars - his remarkable voice interprets the songs of Kurt Weill better than anybody since Lotte Lenya! An absolute MUST."
England's Theatre World Magazine says "Five Stars - 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. Duthie has it all."
Whiskey Bars is a one-man musical about a man devoted to the music of Kurt Weill. It is one of the rare theatrical adaptations of Kurt Weill's work performed with the approval of the Kurt Weill Foundation. For more information go to www.bremnerduthie.com.
Whiskey Bars is appearing at Bread and Circus in Kensington Market every Tuesday from Oct 6th to Nov 10th at 7pm. - Oct 6th/13th/20th/27th and Nov 3rd/10th
Tickets $10.00 available at the door, through www.breadandcircus.ca