Florida - West Coast - "I'm a Stranger Here Myself"

Regional Reviews: Florida - West Coast

Mark Nadler's I'm a Stranger Here Myself
Florida Studio Theatre

Mark Nadler

Florida Studio Theatre is presenting a special engagement of Mark Nadler and his cabaret show I'm a Stranger Here Myself. This show takes a musical look at the Weimar Era in Germany, mostly the Berlin cabaret scene. Mr. Nadler created the show and it is a very powerful one. About 50% is spoken text which is well scripted. He follows some of the leading composers of the era such as Friedrich Hollaender, Mischa Spoliansky (Russian but active in Berlin of the period), and, of course, Kurt Weill as they scatter from Berlin to safer havens. He also has a strong personal stake in the politics of the era. The gripping stories are complemented by projections by Justin West.

The musical selections are chosen more to accompany the historical than to give a balanced overview. Songs by Howard Dietz (with Kurt Weill and his regular partner Arthur Schwartz), who had no direct connection with Germany, the post-Germany Kurt Weill, and Charles Aznavour do not represent what one might have heard in Berlin before World War II. (For a more authentic aural view of this material I would suggest Uta Lemper's CD Berlin Cabaret Songs, available in both English and German.) The musical aspects do work dramatically, and the whole experience serves to shine a light on one aspect of a time and place that we must never forget.

Mr. Nadler is primarily known as both a pianist and singer and he does both very well; he also delivers the text compellingly. Nadler is assisted by Vena Johnson on violin and Melissa Elledge on accordion. The show is co-produced by The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee. I believe it will have strong appeal to the Jewish population as well as the LGBT crowd. And for those of us who are both, well I found the show gripping.

Florida Studio Theatre presents I'm a Stranger Here Myself, through April 4, 2015, at the Keating Theater 1241 N. Palm Avenue, Sarasota. For tickets and performance information, please call the box office at (941) 366-9000 or visit www.floridastudiotheatre.org.

--William S. Oser