Camden New Journal - Theatre: Review: Here i'll stay

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The Review - THEATRE by SIMON WROE
Published: 9 July 2009

Kurt revue a Weill coming

HERE I'LL STAY
Rosemary Branch Theatre

A COMPOSER who fled Nazi Germany to become a pioneer of the American musical is to receive a rare tribute to his life and work this month.
Kurt Weill penned a host of classic cabaret numbers, including Mack the Knife and the musical Lady in the Dark before his death in 1950 and worked with Bertholt Brecht, Ira Gershwin and Oscar Hammerstein.
Despite complicated copyright issues surrounding his estate, the Kurt Weill Foundation has finally approved a new musical revue about Weill at the Rosemary Branch Theatre in Shepperton Road, opening next Tuesday.
“This is a great vote of confidence,” said Peter Scott-Presland, the writer and director of Here I’ll Stay: Kurt Weill in America.
“The copyright problems were always incredibly complicated. The Kurt Weill Foundation spent more than 20 years trying to sort it out, and they are the keepers of the flame as far as Weill is concerned.”
Hailed as a musical genius after his death, Weill struggled for recognition in his lifetime.
He got American citizenship but was never allowed to enlist due to his German nationality.
Co-director Rachel Heyburn added: “His music was beautiful, but he often had it manipulated or stolen. The show is about his absolute desperation to be American. He always felt like he was fighting for that.”
The show ends on July 26.

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