frank pesci

THE UNDERWATER CABARET

SATIRE BORN IN HIDING.

THE PREMISE

From 1942 until the war's end in 1945, German-Jewish lawyer Curt Bloch hid from the Nazis in a crawl space in Enschede, Netherlands. Bloch began crafting razor-sharp satire while in hiding in Nazi-occupied Netherlands. His protectors brought sustenance and clothing, as well as - at his request - newspapers, scissors, glue, and pens. He produced 95 issues of a satirical magazine which, through razor-sharp satire, collage, poetry, and song, ridiculed the Nazis and their collaborators, twisting their own propaganda against them.

Eight decades later, the defiant verse of his magazine, “The Underwater Cabaret” is transformed into a searing, genre-blurring musical adventure that is equal parts Weimar Cabaret, protest opera, and torch song confessional.

This project juxtaposes the exuberantly defiant cabaret in Bloch's own words, with the drama unfolding "backstage" - the terror of being hunted, the boredom and isolation of being in hiding, an unrequited love with a fellow captive, and the explosion of vindication and joy at the war's end.

Read the New York Times article about Bloch, his magazine, and an exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Berlin.

THE MUSIC

Featuring text in German, or German translation. All demo recordings are MIDI generated.

Click the red icon to download a score pdf; click the title to view and read Bloch's poem in its original format.

Composer Frank Pesci delivers the first 20 minutes (and counting) of completed music - songs that bite, ache, wink, and snarl. Expect nods to Poulenc, Weill, Blitzstein, and Sondheim. All crafted with classical discipline and cabaret guts.

Featuring text in German, or German translation. All demo recordings are MIDI generated. Click the red icon to download a score pdf; click the title to view and read Bloch's poem in its original format.

Galavorstellung des UWK

Ein Ziel

Wann?

Wann_

Auf dem Flügel
meiner Phantasie

Auf dem Flügel meiner Phantasie

Lied des Widerstands

Resistance Song

A WORK IN PROGRESS -- WITH TEETH

COLLABORATORS WANTED

WHY NOW?

INTERESTED?

The show is unfolding in a "Russian Doll" format: modular sections that expand and contract depending on setting, performer, and venue. The piece will work equally well as:

a song cycle for one to three singers and piano, lasting up to 60 minutes
a dramatized song cycle for multiple singers, optional narrator, and flexible orchestration with a duration of up to 60 minutes
a fully realized production with a running time between 70 - 110 minutes.

The piece is designed to thrive in a dive bar, take over a black-box theatre, or spend an evening on the mainstage. Think intimate. Think raw. Think immediate.

Flexible orchestration options for larger iterations of the work will include: piano, bass, and drums; a 6-piece Cabaret band; a 13-piece chamber orchestra; or a double winds and brass pit orchestra for the fully realized stage work.