DARK MONDAY @ MERLIN – Musically Yours…

The Food and Labour of Love

This month’s DARK MONDAY @ MERLIN project PETE REMEMBERS WOODY saw the creation of the latest in a long line of musical formations – THE WOODY SEZ ORCHESTRA!

Live Music has always been an integral part of the DARK MONDAY @ MERLIN series and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the MUSICIANS who have participated in making this monthly series a success over the past EIGHT YEARS!

As many of the actors in NEAT also play instruments and or sing, it has been a pleasure to put together various bands / musical formations within the group to accompany the various projects; such as Poetry Readings, Prose Texts and Evenings dedicated to specific musicians such as John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, etc. or specific musical eras such as the early ‘60’s Folk Revival in Greenwich Village, the Great Depression years, etc. or dedicated to certain composers such as Cole Porter, the Gershwin Brothers, P.G. Wodehouse, etc.

Within NEAT, we have had the privilege of interacting with professionally trained instrumentalists from international orchestras (Peking, Moscow, London) as well as professional opera singers and musical actors.

We have often integrated professional quality formations outside of NEAT into the DARK MONDAY proceedings, such as THE STUTTGART HARMONIZERS Barber Shop Quartet in several amazing projects, the avant-garde group SPIRAL RUNNING in an evening of Poetry by Rod McKuen, a BANJO BAND (Stäffeles Banjo Rutscher) consisting of eight (!) banjos, tuba and washboard into Mark Twain’s LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI, a Quartet of Concert Harps in a Valentine’s Day show, and a guest performance of ONE AFTER 909 from Finland who specialize in the music of John Lennon.

THANK YOU to the highly talented Instrumentalists and Singers who have contributed to making the DARK MONDAY @ MERLIN series a resounding success!

THE WOODY SEZ ORCHESTRA – Erica Applezweig – Guitar & Vocals, Anna Lind-Neider – Vocals & Whistling, Mark Hatlie – Banjo, Werner Hummel – Mandolin & Blues Harp, Samantha Mohr – Vocals, Qi Fan – Percussion, Katharina Haak – Guitar & Vocals, Elena Gallego Jimenez – Vocals, Charles C. Urban – Guitar & Vocals, Derrick Jenkins – Vocals, Florina Eisentraut – Contrabass

ONE AFTER 909 (from Tampere, Finland)  – Stefanie Kohlhoff Bass & Vocals, Jouni Kulmala Guitar & Vocals

SPIRAL RUNNING – Michael Prib – Guitar & Aneta Sikorska – Vocals & Xylophone

CHEEK TO CHEEK – Frank Eiesle – Accordion & Tiffany Estrada – Vocals

STÄFFLESRUTSCHER BANJO BAND – Dr. Thomas Budde –Tuba, Hans Hepting – Banjo, Ernst Knorpp – Banjo, Werner Novotny – Banjo, Gerhard Oberschmidt – Banjo, Bernd Rauch – Banjo, Albrecht (Abu) Schäfer – Banjo, Deanya Schempp – Washboard, Martin Schempp – Banjo, Dr. Norbert Schmidt – Banjo

THE GREENWICH VILLAGE PLAYERS – Erica Applezweig – Guitar & Vocals, Jenny Greenflower – Ukelel & Vocals, Michael Walsh – Guitar & Vocals, Michael Hecht – Guitar & Vocals, Charles C. Urban – Guitar & Vocals

THE TOLLING THUNDER REVUE – Erica Applezweig – Guitar & Vocals, Elena Gallego Jimenez – vocals, Holly DeWolf – Vocals, Tiffany Estrada – Vocals, Karin Heinrich – Vocals, Angela Shirley – Vocals, Jenny Greenflower Ukelele & Vocals, Nadia Duran – Vocals, John Peacock – Vocals & Tap Dance, Bryan Mitchell – Vocals, Michael Hecht – Guitar & Vocals, Silvia Stopp – Recorder, Charles C. Urban – Guitar, Blues Harp & Vocals, Samantha Mohr – Vocals, Katharina Haak – Guitar & Vocals, Sandeep Hegde – Sitar, Gerhard Oberschmid – Banjo, Deanya Schempp – Washboard & Vocals, Martin Schempp – Banjo, Steffen Kindlein – Guitar, Accordion & Vocals, Thomas Felger – Guitar & Vocals, Gerhard Schubert – Violin, Sara Conway – Vocals, Joerg Witzsch – Vocals, Frank Eisele – Accordion, Derrick Jenkins – Vocals

THE GERSHWIN SINGERS – Sara Conway, Jeanne Ragonese, Denise Woodmansee, Joerg Witzsch, Anthony King and Piano Accompanists Florian Eisentraut, Paul Schwarz

ALL SEASONS HARP QUARTET – Lucia Cericola, Daniela Schwarz, Carolin Stern, Annika Sevecke

DARK MONDAY ORCHESTRA – Jan Weber – Contrabass,  Katrin Zojer – Cello, Dimitri Rudiakov – Bassoon, Lucia Cericola – Harp, Michael Hecht – Guitar

STUTTGART HARMONIZERS Barber Shop Quartet –  Mark Hatlie, Georg Irion, Petra Weidenbach, Matthias Elsäßer, Christian Weinspach

Florian Eisentraut – Piano, Contrabass & Vocals

Anikka Eisentraut – Violin

Ina Kamerzell – Cello

Jana Semaan – Cello

Jan Weber – Contrabass

Jenny Glauner – Ukelele & Vocals

Nadia Duran – Ukelele & Vocals

Natalia Dittrich – Violin

Maya Murakami  – Piano

Ria Petrocca – Vocals

Dimiri Rudiakov -Bassoon

Alina Derkach – Piano

Lucia Cericola – Harp

Zhenfang Zhan – Erhu (Chinese Knee Violin)

Qi Fan – Marimba & Percussion

Sandeep Hegde – Sitar

Deanya Schempp – Washboard

Lisa Tuyala – Vocals

Erica Applezweig – Guitar & Vocals

Michael Walsh – Guitar & Vocals

Georg Schubert – Violin

Joerg Witzsch – Vocals

Denise Woodmansee – Vocals

Anthony King – Vocals

Sara Conway – Vocals

Jeanne Ragonese – Vocals

Paul Schwarz – Piano

Heike Hasenmaier – Piano

Katharina Haak – Guitar & Vocals

Charles C. Urban – Guitar & Vocals

Mark Hatlie – Banjo

Werner Hummel – Mandolin & Blues Harp

Steffen Kindlein – Guitar, Accordion, Vocals

Frank Eisele – Accordion

Samantha Mohr – Vocals

Elena Gallego Jimenez – Guitar & Vocals

Michael Hecht – Guitar & Vocals

Tiffany Estrada – Vocals

Holly DeWolf – Ukelele & Vocals

Karin Heinrich – Vocals

Sara Ziener – Vocals

Lisa Ritchie – Vocals

Andrew Carey-Yard – Vocals

Derrick Jenkins – Vocals & Whistling

Anna Podolski – Guitar & Vocals

Bryan Mitchell – Vocals

Anna Lind-Neider – Vocals & Whistling

Pascal Dietrich – Bass

Sylvia Owens – Vocals

Lawrence A. Holmes – Vocals

Max Oisin – Vocals

David Burmedi – Vocals

Lily Grabill – Vocals

Angela Shirley – Vocals

Hakan Dilyiz – Vocals

Sharon Chang – Vocals

Helen Khorrami – Vocals

Sera Babakus – Vocals

Ammon Hollister – Vocals

Greta Redmond – Vocals

Lorcan Redmond – Vocals

Gerhard Oberschmidt – Banjo

Martin Schempp – Banjo

Robin Anderson – Vocals

Bardia Khajenoori – Vocals

John Peacock – Vocals

Silvia Stopp – Recorder

Barig Nalbantian – Vocals

Christian Kamm – Piano

Hendrik Büsche – Tenor Saxophone

Marcus Lange – Alto Saxophone

Kissy Schulze – Vocals

Tonia Hernandez – Vocals

Archie Macjoyce – Guitar & Vocals

Gregory L. May – Vocals

Florian Tekale – Piano

Robbie Iacuzzi – Guitar & Flute

Monika Lower – Vocals

Hana Kim-Tuerk – Ukelele & Vocals

Katrin Zojer – Cello

Felice Becker – Vocals

Heather Pache – Vocals

Claire Deromelaere – Vocals

Thomas Felger – Guitar & Vocals

ALL PHOTOS by Uka Meissner deRuiz