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Critical Acclaim for Two New Productions of Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark

Nov. 22, 2022

“Everyone is asking themselves – why is this piece so seldom seen?” This searching question from the Badische Zeitung follows the hugely successful premiere of Lady in the Dark at Theater Basel. Writes critic Alexander Dick: “Kurt Weill's music fascinates: It embodies a style of musical à la George Gershwin, but with typical Weillian melody. Especially in the through-composed dream sequences, the composer reaches far beyond the genre’s usual number style. With Thomas Wise, all of this is in the best hands, as the Basel Symphony Orchestra authentically recreates the sound of the 1940s, with great attention to detail and real drive—full of enthusiasm.”


Lady in the Dark at Theater Basel – Trailer

Lady is a star vehicle. The role of Liza requires the ultimate triple threat performer—one who can sing, act, and dance—at the heart of the action from first to last. Delia Mayer, widely recognized for her television roles in “Unorthodox” and Germany’s “Die Cleveren,” proves worthy of the challenge. According to Laura Weidacher of JOURNAL21, Mayer “offers an extraordinary performance as a border-crosser between word, dance, and song on stage, an absolute stroke of luck for this piece that breaks all boundaries.” Martin G. Berger directs.


Delia Mayer’s Liza in mid-dream in Basel. Photo: Ingo Höhn

Fourteen days after the premiere in Basel, another new production opened in Maastricht. Mischa Game of NRC exults that, as a “testament to guts and insight,” the Opera Zuid production shows that “Lady in the Dark is too good to be unknown…. the colorful costumes by designer Madeleine Boyd and the imaginative direction of Anna Pool result in a wonderfully escapist performance that mixes genres in a way you rarely experience.” Maartje Rammeloo, the Maastricht Liza enthuses that, with Lady, “both Opera Zuid and I have gold on our hands.” She describes the production as “breaking through the barriers of genre: singing, dancing, acting, acrobatics. Everything is in it. It’s both opera and the world of Bette Davis.” Musical director David Stern conducts the Philharmonie Zuid “in style: sharp in the rhythms, syrupy in the swing.”


Lady in the Dark at Opera Zuid – Trailer

With the upcoming Volksoper Wien revival of Lady in the Dark in January, the 2022/23 season will become the first ever to feature three separate productions running concurrently in Europe. But it surely won’t be the last such occurrence for this work on the rise. 


Maartje Rammeloo’s Liza at Opera Zuid. Photo: Bjorn Frins.

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