Alles Schwindel / Pure Hogwash

Here’s how it all started: A man and a woman get to know each other through a personal ad – and that’s just about all that’s true! Evelyne Hill, daughter of a successful American businessman – swindle! – loves – swindle! – Tonio Hendricks, owner of a screw factory – swindle! Or: Erna Schmidt, a model, gets involved with Artur Henschke, a chauffeur – all swindle! But is there a happy ending? Well, that’s in the eye of the beholder! In 1931 Mischa Spoliansky and Marcellus Schiffer wrote “Alles Schwindel”, another of their musically thrilling and amusing revues, for Berlin’s Theater am Kurfürstendamm. Holding a mirror up to contemporary society, Schiffer’s acerbic lyrics and Spoliansky’s appealing melodies created evergreens such as »Mit dir möchte ich mal auf der Avus Tango tanzen« or »Auf der Gesellschaft«. In this production, director Malte C. Lachmann and keyboard virtuoso Max Renne alternately transform Semper Zwei into a bar, a hotel room and the sophisticated abode of a millionaire – with the audience placed bang in the centre of the proceedings!