Tonight: Lola Blau

Immerse yourself in the life of Lola, a young Jewish actress, who, in this one-woman musical by Georg Kreisler, recounts—through songs that are as moving as they are entertaining—her involuntary emigration to America in 1938, her difficult journey to becoming a stage star, and her return to her devastated homeland. Politics plays no role for Lola Blau. The young Jewish woman has just completed her acting training in Vienna and is eager to take up her first engagement at the Linz State Theater. But then the Nazis invade Austria and bring her career to an abrupt end before it has even begun. At the urging of her boyfriend Leo, Lola flees to Switzerland, and from there eventually to the U.S., where success in the theater finally comes her way. But she waits in vain for Leo throughout the entire war. Faced with the impact of flight, war, and personal loss on her private life, Lola undergoes a political awakening—not without being confronted by a feeling of profound powerlessness. Looking at the current state of the world, Lola’s personal experiences—immortalized in Georg Kreisler’s haunting songs—suddenly take on a terrifying relevance for us… A musical for one actress by Georg Kreisler.