Weill Away the Hours

by A.D. Amorosi

cabaret

Having tackled the 20th century's finest composers — Kander and Ebb, Lou Reed, Richard Carpenter — in one sitting, it's only natural that Le Cabaret Mélange would want to spend some time ruminating on the work of one: Kurt Weill.

This tribute to Weill is indicative of LCM's openness to change. Since meeting in 2001, bent-gender-fucker/singer Jeffrey Marsh and multi-instrumentalist/composer Rick Sorkin have created an urban cabaret that blends showmanship with tongue-in-cheek chicness in weekly appearances at L'Etage.

"It wasn't supposed to be this," says Sorkin, who met Marsh — a Big Sticky regular and participant in BRAT and 1812 productions — through choreographer Sammy Reyes for a one-off gig. "It just worked, so we started playing regularly." So why was Marsh, a bald man in dresses and no eyebrows whispering positive yet irony-drenched platitudes, so great for Sorkin's purposes? Because he is not doing drag in the negative — instead, he's using his iconic androgyny for the power of good. "The self-loathing that comes with a lot of drag performances is not attractive to us. Jeffrey's gender-bending nature begs questions such as "Why are the things we find so attractive — slight hips, thin eyebrows, long legs — attributes that are natural for men but obsessed over by women?'" What makes Sorkin so good? "I've managed to combine formal musical training with a life of stage experience and a B.B.A. in entrepreneurship and small business management." Ah, synergy. Combine Marsh and Sorkin with pianist Noah Farber, drummer Jefferson Kidd, their original compositions, twisted cover tunes and between-song patter, and you gots weekly cabaret gold. That is, until January, when LCM switched L'Etage weeklies to a monthly, and added local gigs at Fergie's and World Café Live and dates in NYC.

Then there's their Weill show. Long in the planning stages, the show, marking the 55th anniversary of Weill's death, will tackle the composer's flight from the Nazi regime in the 1930s until his time on Broadway with creepy new takes on "Surabuya Johnny," "Pirate Jenny," "Complainte de la Seine" and "Alabama Song" sung in German, French and English. "Jeffrey's academic training on Weill allowed him deeper knowledge," says Sorkin of Marsh's focus on Weill in his B.F.A. studies. "It's a natural."

Dunno if I'd call LCM's takes on Weill natural. But it's certainly tart and tangy.

Le Cabaret Mélange celebrates the music of Kurt Weill, Sun., April 3, dinner seating 6 p.m., show 7:30 p.m., $20, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut Street, 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com.

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