From FORTUNE’S FOOL THEATRE:  www.fortunesfooltheatre.org

FORTUNE’S FOOL MOUNTS NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE OF KIRA OBOLENSKY PLAY

Fortune’s Fool Theatre will present the North American premiere and first theatrical run of WHY WE LAUGH, by Kira Obolensky, September 12-27, Open Eye Figure Theatre, 506 East 24th Street, Minneapolis MN 55404. The production features music by Craig Harris, is directed by Hayley Finn, and will be performed by Julie Kurtz, Elise Langer, Ryan Lindberg, and Skyler Nowinski. Harris will serve as musical director and accompanist.

WHY WE LAUGH is a new adaptation of Laugh with Us!, an original cabaret by Felix Porges, Vítězslav Horpatzky, Pavel Weisskopf and Pavel Stránský; English translation & dramaturgy by Lisa Peschel.

Laugh with Us! was written and performed in 1944 in the World War II Jewish Ghetto at Terezín, just 40 miles northwest of Prague.

German Fest 2015 was a blast--from the food to the music and from the culture tent to the Lederhosen!

And since it's a typical German thing to write a Reisebericht (a travel report), and I took pictures of the food (Ja, Bratwurst!), here is a Reisebericht in Bilder.

German Fest is a wonderful festival that takes place on the Sommerfest grounds directly on Lake Michigan. Luckily the weather was gorgeous and there was plenty of sun and fresh air for us to enjoy!

First, arriving at the front gate just at the opening was the perfect opportunity to snap a shot with the mascots--check out the Lederhosen on these guys!

Although it was almost lunchtime, and there was this beautiful Spanferkel, we opted to wait for a bit to eat and check out some of the cultural activities first.

Halli-hallo, liebe Leser!

This weekend I'm off to German Fest in Milwaukee, WI! This Fest has been taking place since 1981 and is a fantastic weekend filled with Brats, Bienenstich, and all things German. This will be my second visit--look for some pictures coming soon!

Schönes Wochenende,

Nicole

Halli-hallo!

Ab heute mache ich zwei Wochen Urlaub vom Bloggen. Unterricht gibt's noch, und ich mache auch gerade eine Weiterbildung, also habe ich wenig Zeit zu bloggen. Also sehen wir uns in ein paar Wochen wieder!

Viele Grüße,

Nicole

*

Hiya-hi!

Starting today I'm taking a two-week blogging vacation. I'm still giving lessons and am also taking part in a continuing education seminar, so I don't have time to blog right now. We'll see each other in a couple of weeks!

Best,

Nicole

Es gibt eine gute Neuigkeit! Learn German Online with Nicole has a new, online classroom! This means good-bye, Skype, hello interactive whiteboard!

Don't get me wrong, Skype has been a wonderful tool for teaching and learning German, especially the screen share option. However the online classroom has even more advantages:

• live audio and video
• whiteboard shared by student(s) and teacher
• saved whiteboards - see what we did in each lesson
• export capabilities - export the whiteboards as a screenshot
• highlighter, drawing, and mark-up tools
• screen share
• pdf/picture share and mark-up (text and drawing tools)
• secure access
• and more!

This online classroom is what I've been dreaming about for two years and I'm thrilled that it's finally here.

So far students have really enjoyed the ability to copy in their texts and to be able to edit them. Yes, when you type in a text on the whiteboard, I can edit it. And the same goes for when I write a sample sentence--you can edit it!

Another wonderful benefit of this classroom is the ability to share pdfs and then to mark them; so when you scan me your chapter test, I upload it to the classroom and we go through it together and we can draw circles, add text, and we can draw right on the pdf. And yes, you can email it to yourself (now OR later!) and save it on your computer or print it out.

Here's what it looks like:

Plus, when you sign up for lessons here at LGONicole, you receive access to the exclusive students' area of this site for 24/7 access to extra resources, grammar guides, verb tables, and more. Where else can you find that?!

When you're ready to get going with Deutsch, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Ich freue mich auf Sie!

The Liberation of Auschwitz

The Apollo Club Commemorates the 70th Anniversary on January 27

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (Jan. 27, 2015) — Entering into its 120th consecutive season, The Apollo Club presents a reflective commemoration and celebration of the Liberation of Auschwitz at the Ted Mann Concert Hall on Tuesday, January 27, 2015 – the exact date of the liberation 70 years ago.

In honor of this historic day, the Apollo Male Chorus of Minneapolis-St. Paul will be performing a special concert incorporating Arnold Schoenberg's rarely heard A Survivor from Warsaw, along with the World Premiere of noted composer James Bassi's Five Prayers, commissioned by The Apollo Club. Five Prayers is a five-movement symphonic song cycle for male chorus, written in both Hebrew and English, with solo baritone, orchestra, and dancer. The Schoenberg and Bassi compositions are seamlessly integrated with Aaron Copland's Preamble for a Solemn Occasion and other symphonic pieces specifically composed for war-torn and liberated Europe.

The concert is artistically conceived to begin and end liberatingly with the darkest moment in the center of the program, to symbolically represent the U-shaped Jewish menorah. It begins in the light, moves through the darkness, and re-enters the light. It truly is a concert about Liberation and a return to life. Audience members alike will find themselves touched, moved and inspired by this experience.

In addition to the Apollo Male Chorus, the program features several guests:
David Winkworth – Narrator in A Survivor from Warsaw and Preamble for a Solemn Occasion and Chorus member of St. John The Evangelist Episcopal Church.
Aaron James – Baritone soloist of New York City Opera and The Met, long-time Male Choir Soloist with Congregation Shearith Israel and Milken Archives project.
James Andrews – Classically trained Ballet Dancer from New York City who has performed with the Joffrey Ballet as well as Boston, Tulsa, and Atlanta Ballet companies.
Members from the Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Opera Orchestra.

5% of proceeds from this concert will be donated to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota & The Dakota

Tuesday, January 27, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
Pre-concert discussion with Composer and Artistic Director at 6:15 p.m.