Like a Prayer
Gig theatre by Daniel Cremer
Schall&Rausch
Emotional! Electrifying! Mad! In a dizzying performance, Daniel Cremer takes a deep, daring dive into the rich heritage of German schlager music. It’s an exercise in ecstasy aimed at energizing us in uncertain times — peppered with a naughty wink at Berlin’s SchwuZ Queer Club and its legendary SchlagerNackt parties.
An empty stage, a bright beam of light, a naked body, and ... schlager hits till you drop! In LIKE A PRAYER, performance artist Daniel Cremer surrenders himself entirely to the audience, subjecting his body to an experimental arrangement that’s designed to reveal just how liberating (musical) ecstasy can be. Fuelling his light-footed self-exorcism of any remnants of patriarchy are schlager songs by the likes of Marianne Rosenberg, Mireille Mathieu and Joy Fleming. The unwaveringly life-affirming musical repertoire coalesces with anarchically delivered interjections to give both performer and audience the needed vibe to turn old fears, new inflexibilities and everything in between into pure, unadulterated vitality. Ecstasy begets agency. It compels us to move freely. It re-connects us. And prepares us to step out into the world again, fully boostered by a shot of euphoria and with tinsel in our hair.
That the stand-up show will celebrate its world premiere in Berlin’s SchwuZ Queer Club is no random thing. Since the 1970s, SchwuZ has been a venue for ecstasy in all its diversity. Whether at the club’s Madonnamania, bump! or SchlagerNackt parties, Berlin’s LGBTQIA* community has been dancing and celebrating its way to the peak of ecstasy and self-empowerment for decades.
LIKE A PRAYER is the third and final part of a trilogy of solo shows in which Daniel Cremer devotes himself to the power of affirmative emotions. It follows his evening song recital, BORN TO MAKE YOU HAPPY (2017, Glück), and his poly-erotic stand-up performance, THE MIRACLE OF LOVE (2019, Liebe).
“Und ist Dein Herz bereit / komm über diese Brücke / her aus Deiner Einsamkeit”
(And if your heart is ready / come across this bridge / from your loneliness)From “Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein” by Joy Fleming
An empty stage, a bright beam of light, a naked body, and ... schlager hits till you drop! In LIKE A PRAYER, performance artist Daniel Cremer surrenders himself entirely to the audience, subjecting his body to an experimental arrangement that’s designed to reveal just how liberating (musical) ecstasy can be. Fuelling his light-footed self-exorcism of any remnants of patriarchy are schlager songs by the likes of Marianne Rosenberg, Mireille Mathieu and Joy Fleming. The unwaveringly life-affirming musical repertoire coalesces with anarchically delivered interjections to give both performer and audience the needed vibe to turn old fears, new inflexibilities and everything in between into pure, unadulterated vitality. Ecstasy begets agency. It compels us to move freely. It re-connects us. And prepares us to step out into the world again, fully boostered by a shot of euphoria and with tinsel in our hair.
That the stand-up show will celebrate its world premiere in Berlin’s SchwuZ Queer Club is no random thing. Since the 1970s, SchwuZ has been a venue for ecstasy in all its diversity. Whether at the club’s Madonnamania, bump! or SchlagerNackt parties, Berlin’s LGBTQIA* community has been dancing and celebrating its way to the peak of ecstasy and self-empowerment for decades.
LIKE A PRAYER is the third and final part of a trilogy of solo shows in which Daniel Cremer devotes himself to the power of affirmative emotions. It follows his evening song recital, BORN TO MAKE YOU HAPPY (2017, Glück), and his poly-erotic stand-up performance, THE MIRACLE OF LOVE (2019, Liebe).
“Und ist Dein Herz bereit / komm über diese Brücke / her aus Deiner Einsamkeit”
(And if your heart is ready / come across this bridge / from your loneliness)From “Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein” by Joy Fleming
German/English and in tongues
60 min, no intermission
Konzept
Künstlerische Beratung
Melanie Bonajo
Somatische Beratung
Anna Schmidbauer
Arrangements
Magnus Loddgard
Solo-Performance
Flöte
Stephanie Disser
Oboe
Ryoichi Masaka
Klarinette
Desirée Grundmann
Fagott
Torsten Näther