German-Jews. Immigrants. And Aliens.
Oh my!
Meet Hi, Hitler, Lucie Pohl’s newly reworked solo-show. Directed by Kenneth Ferrone (Colin Quinn’s New York Story, Tina Landau’s Spongebob Squarepants) and presented by Austin Pendleton (Tony Award Nominee, Drama Desk Award Winner), Hi, Hitler runs at the Cherry Lane Theatre this month.
Pohl tells the story of a German-Jew (herself) who grows up in a wild family of artists, is fascinated by der Führer from age four, and is uprooted from Hamburg to NYC at eight. Lucie yearns for normalcy, but being different seems to run in her bloodline and escaping her inherited high-drama-destiny might just be impossible. A pinch of Hitler, a cup of hip hop …and a dash of Hasselhoff.
“There is no show really like this one,” Austin Pendleton remarked. He added, “it’s fracturingly funny and then, in many sudden moments, unexpectedly touching. Its combination of these elements make it, I’m beginning to find, unforgettable”
Pohl described this incarnation of the show (which originally debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2014) as a personal challenge to dig into what stories she really wants to tell, making it both funnier and deeper in message. “[This time around] I have a reason to do it again…I’ve never felt more strongly an immigrant than right now,” she said referring to the current political climate.
“I wanted to make it clear that this is an immigrant story. It’s so important to hear these stories right now.”
Coming from a self-described ultra-intellectual German family (Pohl is the real-life-grand-niece of Bertolt Brecht!), she was in her head, originally reluctant to write an autobiographical solo-show. “Germans are generally reserved; this kind of show isn’t in the mainstream,” she says, and thus felt a bit scared of the material until it took a life of its own after several workshops in which the overwhelming feedback was “we love these family stories! Don’t shy away, dig deeper into the theme!”
And with a title like Hi, Hitler, she did just that.
She credits Ferrone with helping her find the balance between these moments of truth and comedic antics. “He’s so passionate! We share the same sense of humor, same aesthetic.” Through a restaging and focused attention to the quieter moments, Ferrone and Pohl found that by giving time and space to the pace of the comedy, the 30-plus (!!) characters Pohl inhabits and the memories she’s living in rang truer…and thus funnier.
What excites Pohl about this run is that it’s “it’s more dynamic, it’s cleaner…it’s SEXIER!…I’m ready to get it on its feet!”
And the time is…now! Having completed previews this week, the show opens tonight at 8PM.
Sexier. Funnier. Poignant. Current. Nostalgic. Cartoony. Truthful. Those things don’t necessarily fit together seamlessly, but that’s the magic of Lucie Pohl, praised by Pendleton as both “a brilliant clown and deeply touching actress.” Which is exactly die Zweiheit that makes Hi, Hitler soar.
(Hi, Hitler runs at The Cherry Lane Theatre on July 13-30, 2017 with previews running July 11-12, 2017. Rebecca Crigler (Mike Bribiglia’s Thank God For Jokes) & David De Almo (Oh, Hello at Cherry Lane, Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King) produce. Tickets at www.hihitlershow.com