In these days of intense global financial insecurity, it seems fitting that The Streets of Berlin (a cabaret which addresses issues such as the Weimar Republic and impending Nazism) rears its head on “The Streets of New York” at Don’t Tell Mama.  Right off the bat, it must be said that this show exceeded any expectations.

With her focused and biting wit, she could have done a fine show with not much of a voice, but instead we were regaled with a voice that in some contexts was a growling belt and in others a delicate soprano. She has all the goods and was very generous with her audience, never losing concentration as she started off with a complex “Pirate Jenny,” spitting out the rancor and humor.  Ms. Haan was actually able to fashion a medley about early Women’s Lib that was hysterically funny à la “Chuck Out The Men” and “Little Attila the Hun.” Not your aunt’s feminism, for sure.

In the “Medley for Homosexuals,” rather than concentrating on victimhood, the narrative was more interested in who was more butch or femme (and what lingerie was at hand). Things were so bleak and dark in those years that entertainment needed to offer a real catharsis – thus creativity was to bloom until the Fascists dropped the curtain of doom and terror. Fortunately some of the greats got out (Kurt Weill) while an inconceivable amount of people perished – yet art lived on.

This multilingual singer was able to deliver tunes in German, French, Yiddish, and most happily, in English. She got the fact that listeners needed to understand the meaning of these lyrics to feel connected. So for her climactic piece, Jacques Brell’s “Amsterdam,” she supplied us with a full English translation in her program.

I would have liked the passionately engaging Piaf medley in a lower key, as Haan would have been ideal in an alto register. This lady is what cabaret is (or ought to be) about, and in any city that she appears her show should be mandatory viewing for the serious (or even casual) aficionado

Benjamin Schaefer  played like a demon matching his star’s intensity, yet supported her with sensitivity.

Melody Breyer-Grell
Cabaret Scenes
May 20, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org