Maestro Subgum and the Whole — the art rock ensemble put together by Curious Theater Branch’s Beau O’Reilly and Jenny Magnus — has never gone much for covers. Not for them a glam version of “My Kind of Town.”
But a few months ago, O’Reilly and Magnus found themselves surrounded by a capacity crowd at the Chicago Cultural Center performing a whole night of songs by others.
Of course, these weren’t just any covers. They were part and parcel of a cabaret act called “What Keeps Mankind Alive?” — O’Reilly and Magnus’ homage to Bertolt Brecht on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
“For years, people were saying we were so Brechtian, that we were Brecht-influenced, whether they were talking about (Maestro), Curious or Jenny’s solo gigs,” O’Reilly says with a laugh.
But in fact, they’d never performed Brecht’s material. “And, you know, most of the people who said that didn’t seem to know what they were talking about anyway,” he adds.
Then O’Reilly and Magnus sailed off to Europe last year, taking a particularly long residence in Germany, where they performed Magnus’ “The Trips” and some of her personal work.
“There people said the same thing,” O’Reilly says. “They said Jenny’s songs have a Jewish folk music root, and that my Maestro character has this `Threepenny’ thing. And that made more sense to us.”
When Brecht’s 100th birthday rolled around this year, O’Reilly and Magnus found themselves invited to participate in a lot of meetings planning celebrations. Then the folks at the Cultural Center called them and asked if they’d like to do a show.
“We liked the material, we liked the songs,” says O’Reilly, who admits that his earliest memory of a charged theater experience came when he was a little boy in tow to a production of “The Threepenny Opera” in which his father was participating. “Pauline Brailsford was playing (the role of) Jenny Diver, and she was very masculine and just spit these songs out. It completely altered my sense of theater: It was so direct, dry, cutting. When I started Maestro, I was informed by that.”
The show at the Lunar Cabaret Friday is a pretty faithful replay of the Cultural Center program, with O’Reilly and Magnus being joined by a variety of musical collaborators, including Jack the Dog pianist Jeff Kowakolski.
The show’s a benefit to help raise funds for O’Reilly and Magnus’ upcoming 12-city tour of Germany this summer. The show they’re traveling with, “The World of Skin,” is mostly cabaret.
“It’s a combo of Maestro songs, Brecht songs, some spoken pieces by Jenny and Bryn (Magnus) for the club shows and `Seven Pounds of Mud’ (O’Reilly’s play) and Bryn’s play `Small Together’ for the theaters,” explains O’Reilly.
Considering they’re fairly new to performing the Brechtian material, isn’t it a little cocky to take it on the road in his native Germany?
“It is a little cocky,” admits the buoyant O’Reilly, “but we’re cocky, we’re in a cocky kind of place. We’re in our 10th year and we’ve got some moves to show.”
Among these: a theatrical cover, if you will. Next fall, Curious will present its own version of “`The Threepenny Opera,” a rarity for a group dedicated to original work.
– – –
Matthew Heaton is not Argentine, has never strolled the broad boulevards of Buenos Aires, hung out with gauchos or, until recently, spoken much Spanish beyond what you’d hear on a Taco Bell commercial.
“I have, however, recently purchased a `Learn Spanish” CD-ROM,” says the freshly scrubbed, corn-fed Heaton.
So nothing much explains his passion: tangos.
More Top Picks Razor E300
It all started when Heaton, a classically trained guitarist who occasionally slummed with rockers such as The Flavor Channel, heard a piece for two guitars by modern tango master Astor Piazzola called “Tango Suite.”
Heaton listened some more, dug up a some traditional tangos and became addicted to Argentina’s fiery national music.
The result? Orquesta Atipica, Heaton’s tango ensemble, usually joined by his wife, Shannon, and friends such as Andrew Bird. The repertoire is an all-tango experience. “Tango Dogs,” just released on the group’s own ESL label, features two Piazzola tunes, two by traditional tango composer Juan Jose Martinez and seven Heaton originals.
Orquesta Atipica plays Saturday night at the Lunar Cabaret as part of Beau O’Reilly’s 45th birthday celebration.
———-
the facts
Friday, 8 p.m., “What Keeps Mankind Alive?” Lunar Cabaret, 2827 N. Lincoln Ave. $20 or pay what you can. Call 773-327-6666. Lunar is wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, 10 p.m., Orquesta Atipica, Lunar Cabaret. $10 or pay what you can.