BERLIN
Sound-Light Installation
La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela – Dream House
The pulsating hue of magenta fills the room. Tones and drones merge and overlap. La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela’s “Dream House” is a “continuous frequency environment in sound and light with singing from time to time.” Be immersed in these dreamy environs this week when Villa Elisabeth dons the “Dream House” guise for Maerz Musik. Live concerts occur throughout the duration. Check the schedule for details.
Price: Free
Location: Villa Elisabeth, Invalidenstrasse 3
Times: Daily, 3-8pm; through April 1
More Information: www.berlinerfestspiele.de
Theatre
IMPRO 2012 – 11th International Festival for Improv Theatre
Europe’s biggest improvised theatre festival starts Friday in Berlin. Lucky for us anglophones, English Theatre Berlin is getting in on the action by presenting a handful of shows including a play inspired by two theatrical greats, Chekhov and Woody Allen. “Improv Can Do Anything!”
Price: Various
Location: Various
Times: Friday, March 23 – Sunday, April 1
Reservations: 030 68 61 99
More Information: www.improfestival.de
Galleries/Museums
Images of Frederick the Great by Adolph Menzel
Adolph Menzel spent several years creating hundreds of woodblock engravings to illustrate a book on the history of Frederick the Great. These images, along with some of Menzel’s later paintings join works by Antoine Pesne and Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki for an exhibition at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin. Spend some time ruminating on the Prussian king as an “enlightened monarch,” a “supreme military commander,” and “a friend of philosophy and the arts.” It is after all the 300th anniversary of Old Fritz’s birth.
Price: €6
Location: Alte Nationalgalerie, Bodestrasse 1-3
Times: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am-6pm; Thursday, 10am-10pm; March 23 – June 24
Phone: 030 266 42 42 42
More Information: www.smb.museum
COLOGNE
Galleries/Museums
In the Face of Modernity - The Magic of Dance 1900 – 1932
In the early 20th century dance took a revolutionary turn. Inspired by the modernity of the era, dancers and choreographers like Isadora Duncan and Mary Wigman joined their innovative comrades in art, design, music, and literature and began creating vivid new works. For this extensive exhibition, the German Dance Archive Cologne has drawn from its cache of documents, photographs, films, and recordings to present a dance picture of the period.
Price: €4.50
Location: Tanzmuseum des Deutsches Tanzarchivs Köln, Mediapark 7
Times: Thursday – Tuesday, 2-7pm; through August 12
Phone: 0221 888 95 444
More Information: www.sk-kultur.de
FRANKFURT
Events
MMK Sunset – “Warhol: Headlines” Edition
Director Philipp Preuss developed a special performance for Frankfurt’s Museum of Modern Art’s Andy Warhol exhibition. The Frankfurt Acting Ensemble performs the piece Wednesday followed by DJs and drinks at the museum’s Sunset Bar. Groove to the beats of 1980s New York disco and sip on a Long Island iced tea.
Price: €10
Times: Wednesday, March 28, 7pm
Location: MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst , Domstrasse 10
Tickets: 069 2123 0447
More Information: www.mmk-frankfurt.de
HAMBURG
Music/Concerts
Elbe Island Gypsy Festival
No one throws a party quite like the Gypsies. There’s something about their music that you just can’t resist. Even the most diehard wallflowers will have their toes tapping if not their hands clapping along to those alluring strains of the violin and strums of the guitar. Head to Hamburg this weekend and dance to the music of the Gypsies. Local family band the Familie Weiss release their new album at the festival opening Friday night.
Price: €17, €30 (2-Day Pass)
Times: Friday, March 23 and Saturday, March 24
Location: Bürgerhaus Wilhelmsburg Mengestrasse 20
Tickets: 040 75 20 170
More Information: www.buewi.de
Opera
La Boheme
Angela Gheorghiu is “the world’s most glamorous opera star.” So says the New York Sun. Twenty-two years ago, the Romanian soprano made her professional debut in the role of Mimi in La Boheme. Tuesday night she belts out those Puccini arias in Hamburg. Get ready to be wowed.
Price: €4 – 89
Times: Tuesday, March 27, 7:30pm; Friday, March 30, 7:30pm; Tuesday, April 3, 7:30pm
Location: Staatsoper Hamburg, Grosses Haus, Dammtorstrasse 28
Tickets: 040 35 68 68
More Information: www.hamburgische-staatsoper.de
LEIPZIG
Music/Concerts
LeipJAZZig Festival
It has been 75 years since George Gershwin had his last hurrah. Pay your respects to the late great American composer Thursday when the LeipJAZZig Orchestra plays tunes from his beloved repertoire to kick off the 17th LeipJAZZig Festival. “I love you Porgy!”
Price: €15
Times: Thursday, March 22, 8pm; Festival runs through Sunday, March 25
Location: UT Connewitz, W.-Heinze-Strasse 12a
Phone: 0341 2 61 03 30
More Information: www.leipjazzig-festival.de
MUNICH
Theatre
BeMe Theatre – Boom
Sex, fish, and the end of the world converge in San Francisco playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s Boom. Based on science writer Stephen Jay Gould’s 1989 book on evolution Wonderful Life, the fantastically funny play was dubbed a “Grandly wacked-out apocalypse fantasy” by the Washington Post. Grab a seat at BeMe Theatre’s production this week and watch a marine biologist and a journalism student attempt to change the course of the world.
Price: €18
Location: BeMe Theatre at the Einstein Kulturzentrum, Einsteinstrasse 42
Times: Tuesday – Saturday, 8pm; through March 31
Reservations: 089 385 377 66
More Information: www.BeMeTheatre.com
Music/Concerts
From Hokusai’s “Great Wave” to Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea,” artists and writers have always turned to the water for inspiration. Joining the league of water-lured creators, Munich composer Petra El Raphael has penned a piece for choir called “Asi Sea – the Response of the Sea.” Sit in the audience Sunday morning and take a virtual escapade to the shore. Works by Poulenc, Ravel, and others round out the seaworthy program.
Price: €15
Location: Gasteig, Rosenheimer Strasse 5
Times: Sunday, March 25, 11am
Tickets: 0180 54 818181 (.14/min)
More Information: www.gasteig.de
Dance Theatre
Shinsai – Shattering Gods
Daily life in Japan is portrayed in i-camp theatre’s new work “Shinsai – Shattering Gods,” weaving in aspects of the earthquake, which occurred just over one year ago. Merging dance, theatre, music, and video, “Shinsai” focuses on the individual perceptions of those who lived through the catastrophe. Go see their powerful piece and feel good about helping a good cause. All proceeds benefit an organization that supports those still struggling to rebuild their lives after the devastation.
Price: €16
Location: i-camp/Neues Theater Munich, Entenbachstrasse 37
Times: Friday, March 23 – Sunday, March 25, 8:30pm
Phone: 089 65 0000
More Information: www.i-camp-muenchen.de