Jeremy Lawrence Revives LAVENDER SONGS for Run at Pangea

Jeremy Lawrence, best-known for creating and starring in several one-man shows which explore Tennessee Williams in the playwright's own words, revives his acclaimed play with music "LAVENDER SONGS: A QUEER WEIMAR BERLIN CABARET" which features songs performed or written by queer and Jewish kabarettists of the era in English versions by Jeremy Lawrence. Lawrence, as his alter ego Tante Fritzi, invites the audience into his edgy, gender-bender, sexy world. It is a chilling evocation of the subversive world of Berlin's cabarets and a celebration of the daring of its Jewish and queer artists who continued to mock and deride the ever-lengthening shadow of fascism for as long as they could. "Lavender Songs," directed by Jason Jacobs, stars Jeremy Lawrence as Tante Fritzi with Ariela Bohrod at the piano. Performances are Mondays, October 22, 29 and November 5 at 7 PM at Pangea, 178 Second Avenue (between 11th and 12th Streets.) There is a $20 cover charge with a $20 food/drink minimum. Reservations can be made at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3596340

"Lavender Songs" began as an evening created by German cabaret scholar Alan Lareau for the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. in conjunction with the exhibition Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945. Since then it has gone through many gestations and winning a BISTRO Award in 2008. TOSOS, (The Other Side of Silence) the company that produced that production, asked Jeremy to recreate it prior to the 2016 election. Jeremy said: "The Trump victory, echoing scarily the onslaught of Hitler, propelled the piece into a long, successful run at Pangea. Directed by Jason Jacobs, the show was extended twice in 2017. Pangea is proudly bring it back for its fourth must-see engagement." Time Out NY called "Lavender Songs" "Intimate, illuminating and surprisingly moving." As the mid-term election approaches, Jeremy hopes the piece's celebration of resistance will lift spirits and energize voters towards Democratic victories in the House and Senate. He said :"A percentage of the profits from this engagement will go to Act Blue."

Jeremy Lawrence's work with the material of Weimar cabarets began with his creation of Cabaret Verboten in 1991. In its full-length version, the piece was produced around the country as well as in London and in Sweden. His work on Verboten led to his being asked to create the English lyrics for Ute Lemper's CD Berlin Cabaret Songs (Decca) and to his being named by Melodie Hollander as the official translator of the works of her father, Frederich Hollaender. In addition, John Waxman, son of composer Franz Waxman, commissioned Jeremy to create English lyrics for songs his father wrote in Germany and France before emigrating to the United States.

As an actor, Jeremy has been seen in New York at the Manhattan Theatre Club and four productions at The Mint among others. Regionally, his appearances include work at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Westport Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, the Mark Taper Forum and the 2,300 seat Hanover Theatre in Worcester, MA where he is the perennial "Scrooge". Television credits include The Blacklist, Shades of Blue and the upcoming Dickinson. On film he has been directed by Brian De Palma, Ron Howard, and Stephen Daldry. He was in the original Critters. His one man Tennessee Williams shows have received international acclaim. For more info on Jeremy Lawrence please visit www.jeremylawrence.net.

Director Jason Jacobs was named a NYTheatre.com 'Person of the Year.' He directed Jeremy Lawrence's Lavender Songs (TOSOS II & Pangea, 2008 Bistro Award), After the Chairs (2014 Fresh Fruit Festival, Best Direction) and the Modern Living series (LaMama Club). His original musical Miss Blanche Tells It All was seen at the 2017 New York Musical Festival and was nominated for an Outstanding Book award. He was formerly the co-artistic director of Theatre Askew, where he co-created and directed Bald Diva! and devised numerous projects with LGBTQA youth. His co-adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin appeared at Pittsburgh Playhouse and his play Another Horatio Alger Story was seen at Chicago's Pride Film and Players Gay Play Fest. Regional productions at Vermont Stage Company and Kitchen Theatre. Member of Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab. B.A., Yale and MFA, Columbia. www.Jason-Jacobs.com

Ariela Bohrod serves as the accompanist for the Brearley School in NYC and will complete her Masters degree at Mannes College the New School for Music in the spring on a full-tuition merit scholarship.

Plans are afoot to create a film of Lavender Songs this fall (not an archive performance) to be directed by filmmaker Robert Brink . Brink most recently was an editor on the "Whistleblower" series on CBS. He is director of the award winning short "Insecurity" and "Devil Deal Blues" a film based on the mythology around blues musician Robert Johnson. He has taught film at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Barnard College and Trinity College - Hartford.

"Lavender Songs" is part of Pangea's fall season of shows that stand up in protest. The East Village mecca for cutting edge cabaret, song and performance, which The NY Times calls, "a bohemian oasis not unlike the fabled Max's Kansas City from days gone by," presents premieres by Tammy Faye Starlite, Salty Brine, and Rachelle Garniez plus special encores by Raquel Cion, Sidney Myer and Jeremy Lawrence.

Since 2015, when it started presenting music in its 60-seat jewel-box showroom, Pangea has showcased many of the legends of the East Village performance art scene... as well as an exciting roster of fast-rising shooting stars. The one-of-a-kind restaurant-bar and cabaret features a deliciously priced Italian-Mediterranean menu. Its distinctive mural drawings by Jody Morlock, with their cavorting hieroglyphic urbanites (completed in December 2015), continue to set the tone. www.pangeanyc.com

To post a comment, you must register and login.