Date & Time
3:30pm EDT - 5:30pm EDT
About This Event
FlopHAUS Cabaret, Ballads of A Dark Horse is a provocative cabaret style social satire inspired by the legendary work of Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya and Bertolt Brecht. Defiantly sharp as Mack the Knife's blade, this raw dark comedy includes original and contemporary adaptations of Weill's works such as 'How to Survive’, 'Alabama Moon', and ‘Pirate Jenny’. In the tradition of the witty yet politically dissonant 'Beggars Opera', FlopHAUS Cabaret cunningly exposes hypocrisy, corruption and moral ambiguity of society, with a wink and nod “Happy End”. Expressed through theater, dance, jazz and opera, this multi-media music production is performed by over 35 national, regional and Charlotte-based actors, dancers, musicians, and singers.
Presented by Moving Poets and Charlotte Lyric Theatre in collaboration with McColl Center.
Showtimes:
Preview Night
Wednesday, May 6 · 7:30 PM (Doors 7:00 PM)
*Open dress rehearsal performance
Evening Shows
Thursday, May 7– Saturday, May 9 · 7:30 PM (Doors 7:00 PM)
Sunday Matinee
Sunday, May 10 · 4:00 PM (Doors 3:30 PM)
Tickets available at McColl Center and the door.
Intended for mature audiences.
Additional information at movingpoets.org + charlottelyrictheatre.com. Be curious.
Background info:
Moving Poets Charlotte and Charlotte Lyric Theatre are creating and presenting a new work in collaboration with McColl Center:
For the production McColl Center will be turned into a two-stage cabaret theater/club, traveling through time from 1925 until today, making use of the unique visuals and atmosphere the building has to offer.
FlopHAUS Cabaret is inspired by the life and works of composer Kurt Weill, his wife and singer/performer Lotte Lenya and plays by playwright/poet Berthold Brecht.
They achieved major international acclaim first in Germany, and after escaping the Nazis, also in France and especially the USA. Several of their works like the 'Three Penny Opera', are still regularly produced throughout the world.
The song "Pirate Jenny", based on a poor maid's dream of liberation and vengeance against her oppressors, was made famous by many notable singers, including Nina Simone, who poignantly changed the story’s location to a flophouse in the South. Written by Brecht and Weill for the "Three Penny Opera", it reflected social, political, gender and class tensions of the time, which also inspired new works like Bob Dylan's 'When The Ship Comes In' and renditions of 'Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)' by The Doors and David Bowie.
While moving from the 1920s to 2026, FlopHAUS Cabaret touches on the unlikely rise of Lotte Lenya and her relationship with Kurt Weill. Lenya came from a deeply poor working class background. Her alcoholic and abusive father was a coachman, her mother kept the family afloat working as a dishwasher and maid. As a teenager Lenya was moved by her mother and an aunt out of her home to another country. There she used every chance to develop a love of dance, theatre and music - while doing what it took to survive - and eventually met the rising star, upper class composer Kurt Weill. Both were deeply intrigued by each other and began a lifelong partnership in work and marriage, that lasted through numerous hardships and successes. Weill dropped composing music for elites and instead focused together with Lenya on creating new work, that spoke to and told stories of those with little power, women and the working class.
About This Event
FlopHAUS Cabaret, Ballads of A Dark Horse is a provocative cabaret style social satire inspired by the legendary work of Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya and Bertolt Brecht. Defiantly sharp as Mack the Knife's blade, this raw dark comedy includes original and contemporary adaptations of Weill's works such as 'How to Survive’, 'Alabama Moon', and ‘Pirate Jenny’. In the tradition of the witty yet politically dissonant 'Beggars Opera', FlopHAUS Cabaret cunningly exposes hypocrisy, corruption and moral ambiguity of society, with a wink and nod “Happy End”. Expressed through theater, dance, jazz and opera, this multi-media music production is performed by over 35 national, regional and Charlotte-based actors, dancers, musicians, and singers.
Presented by Moving Poets and Charlotte Lyric Theatre in collaboration with McColl Center.
Showtimes:
Preview Night
Wednesday, May 6 · 7:30 PM (Doors 7:00 PM)
*Open dress rehearsal performance
Evening Shows
Thursday, May 7– Saturday, May 9 · 7:30 PM (Doors 7:00 PM)
Sunday Matinee
Sunday, May 10 · 4:00 PM (Doors 3:30 PM)
Tickets available at McColl Center and the door.
Intended for mature audiences.
Additional information at movingpoets.org + charlottelyrictheatre.com. Be curious.
Background info:
Moving Poets Charlotte and Charlotte Lyric Theatre are creating and presenting a new work in collaboration with McColl Center:
For the production McColl Center will be turned into a two-stage cabaret theater/club, traveling through time from 1925 until today, making use of the unique visuals and atmosphere the building has to offer.
FlopHAUS Cabaret is inspired by the life and works of composer Kurt Weill, his wife and singer/performer Lotte Lenya and plays by playwright/poet Berthold Brecht.
They achieved major international acclaim first in Germany, and after escaping the Nazis, also in France and especially the USA. Several of their works like the 'Three Penny Opera', are still regularly produced throughout the world.
The song "Pirate Jenny", based on a poor maid's dream of liberation and vengeance against her oppressors, was made famous by many notable singers, including Nina Simone, who poignantly changed the story’s location to a flophouse in the South. Written by Brecht and Weill for the "Three Penny Opera", it reflected social, political, gender and class tensions of the time, which also inspired new works like Bob Dylan's 'When The Ship Comes In' and renditions of 'Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)' by The Doors and David Bowie.
While moving from the 1920s to 2026, FlopHAUS Cabaret touches on the unlikely rise of Lotte Lenya and her relationship with Kurt Weill. Lenya came from a deeply poor working class background. Her alcoholic and abusive father was a coachman, her mother kept the family afloat working as a dishwasher and maid. As a teenager Lenya was moved by her mother and an aunt out of her home to another country. There she used every chance to develop a love of dance, theatre and music - while doing what it took to survive - and eventually met the rising star, upper class composer Kurt Weill. Both were deeply intrigued by each other and began a lifelong partnership in work and marriage, that lasted through numerous hardships and successes. Weill dropped composing music for elites and instead focused together with Lenya on creating new work, that spoke to and told stories of those with little power, women and the working class.
Date & Time
3:30pm EDT - 5:30pm EDT