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Event
The Westerbork Serenade Benefit
A ONE-MAN SHOW WITH A CAST OF THOUSANDS!
This November, Seattle actor and playwright, David Natale will bring back to the Netherlands, a seldom-remembered story of the Holocaust in Holland with his award winning one-man show: The Westerbork Serenade.
WHAT: Eclectic Theater Company is hosting a benefit performance at the Odd Duck Studio*
WHEN: Wednesday October 13th at 8pm.
Tickets: $25 (Be an associate producer for $35)
To purchase TIX directly from Eclectic Theater Company call: 206-679-3271, Noon-5pm, Wed-Sat.
*(Natale premiered his show here in 2007, winning a Seattle Times: Foot-Light Award for: "Swell Solo Show.")
ABOUT THE PLAY: Because of anxiety over increased immigration, in 1939 the Dutch government set up a camp near the town of Westerbork to hold the stream of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. After their invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, the Nazis turned Lager Westerbork into a transit camp which funneled more than 100, 000 Jews to their doom in the eastern camps.
Westerbork was not a death camp. It was crowded and food scarce, but one could survive there. Westerbork even had a hospital, work-shops, schools and a warehouse offering goods previously looted from other Jews. The German speaking Jewish inmates ran administration of the camp. The SS commandant's pet project was a weekly cabaret show at Westerbork. It featured top Jewish entertainers from Germany and Holland. If one was in the show, one was "exempt" from transport- temporarily. By the end of the war, however, most of the performers from Westerbork were also sent to their deaths in eastern camps, joining the eventual six million who died.
Mr. Natale seamlessly portrays more than 15 characters; including German director, Max Ehrlich, actress Camilla Spira, Commandant Gemmeker and the beloved Dutch singing duo, Johnny and Jones.
Natale developed The Westerbork Serenade after much research as well as interviews with survivors. He dynamically incorporates period sketches, songs and accounts to make the audience acutely feel what it is to perform for one's life.
For more info about the tour see:
www.xavierahollander.com/westerbork
REVIEWS:
"Natale conveys with economy and depth a gripping, true life story and the people caught up in it...he is actor enough to carry it alone."
--Misha Berson, Seattle Times
"Natale is an extremely versatile performer... With its jaunty song and dance numbers, gleaned from the Westerbork repertoire, Natale's show is particularly unnerving."
--Joe Adcock, Seattle Post - Intelligencer
"The Westerbork Serenade is not only... a Holocaust story about Jews and Nazis, but a cautionary tale on the destructiveness of prejudice and racism."
--Peter A. Klein, JT News, Seattle
PRESS RELEASE
WHAT THE AUDIENCES SAY: "Great script, written by the performer. Natale has amazing prowess. Very powerful!"
"Tremendous acting and tough material very well done."
ABOUT DAVID NATALE: David Natale began acting at the Cleveland Playhouse at age ten. He has a BA in Theatre Studies from Yale and an MFA in Acting from the Old Globe in
San Diego. David has been seen on Guiding Light, Law and Order and Sex and The City; as well as films: Zoolander, Company Man and People I Know. Some other historical characters Mr. Natale has recently portrayed are: John Lennon in the 2006 world premiere of Just Like Starting Over at Seattle Public Theater and Eugene V. Debs in Howard Zinn's.
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LocationOdd Duck Studio
1214 10th Ave
Seattle, WA 98122
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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