"All Mankind Has Lost Its Reason," a concert staging of a new musical by Mark Singer from the Playwrights Theatre of East Hampton, will be performed at LTV Studios in Wainscott on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The play tells the story of Weimar Germany from the end of World War I through the rise of Hitler, following the lives of three friends as they experience the key political and cultural events of the era.
With musical direction by Julia Mendelsohn, the show includes over 20 songs from the period, performed by a cast of eight. It is illustrated by a series of projected images that show the events, art, and personalities of an era that in some respects resembles our own.
An actor as well as a playwright, Mr. Singer's stage roles have included Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird," Jack Boyle in "Juno and the Paycock," Otto Frank in "Diary of Anne Frank," and the Toreador in "Carmen." He has produced and been featured in numerous musical revues and plays for the Catskill Mountain Foundation in Hunter, N.Y., where he, his wife, Darcy Dunn, and Ms. Mendelsohn created the Mountaintop Celebration of Song.
A pianist, arranger, and vocal coach, Ms. Mendelsohn has played for such luminaries as Bill Clinton, Kofi Anan, and Estee Lauder, has performed throughout the United States and Asia, and is the musical director of the Berkshire Summer Music Festival.
The cast includes, in addition to Ms. Dunn and Mr. Singer, Emma Green, Stephen Kalpin, Mychal Leverage, James Parks, Gina Simone Pemberton, and Evelina Pristovsek.
A founding member and featured performer of the Magic Circle Opera, Ms. Dunn has performed leading roles with Chelsea Opera, Bronx Opera, Encompass Opera, and Opera Manhattan. In 2022 she co-founded the Moss Ensemble, a quartet of piano, cello, violin, and voice that performed at LTV Studios last month.
Ms. Green has performed Off Broadway in "The Importance of Being Earnestly LGBTQ+," and regionally she has appeared in "Awesomer and Awesomer" at the Legacy Theatre in Branford, Conn., and "The Picture of Dorian Gray" at the Gene Frankel Theatre in Manhattan.
An actor, playwright, and director, Mr. Kalpin recently played Demetrius in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Lane/Merriman in "The Importance of Being Earnest," and Hugo in "Tuck Everlasting." His play "Russian Bears (A Comedy Of The Masculine)" received a developmental reading at the Carriage House Theater of Hartford, Conn.
Mr. Leverage is an alumnus of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. He has appeared Off Broadway in "Sleepy Hollow the Musical" as Ichabod Crane, and regionally in "Daddy Long Legs" (Jervis), "Shrek the Musical" (Shrek), and "The Addams Family" (Gomez Addams).
Mr. Parks's New York City credits include "Grand Theft Musical" at Theater for the New City, "Love, Actually? The Unauthorized Musical Parody" at the Jerry Orbach Theater, and "The Looking Glass" at 13th Street Repertory. He toured nationally in "The Sound of Music."
Ms. Pemberton has played Rose in August Wilson's "Fences" and Billie Holiday in "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill." Off Broadway credits include "Trilogy II" (Gladys) and the musical "Treasure Island" (Meg). She currently sings with the Jerriese Johnson Gospel choir at Middle Collegiate Church in Manhattan.
Ms. Pristovsek is a Slovenian performer who graduated from American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. In addition to her stage roles, she has released an original music album on Spotify and performed classical piano pieces at the Conservatory of Music and Ballet Ljubljana.
Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door.
