Special Arrangement
Featured artists from Cincinnati Opera’s Cabaret of Hope: Warsaw 1941 include: (L to R) Matthew Umphreys, Victoria Okafor, Christina Haan, Sarah Folsom, Polina Bespalko, Thomas Dreeze, and Simon Barrad.
Photo by Philip Groshong
Cabaret of Hope: Warsaw 1941
Sunday, April 16, 2 p.m.
CET 48.1
Also available as a live stream via the PBS app
The Cabaret of Hope: Warsaw 1941 broadcast premiere coincides with the community-wide Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) commemoration, which takes place April 16, 2–3 p.m., at the Mayerson Jewish Community Center (8485 Ridge Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45236) and via Zoom live stream.
More information can be found at holocaustandhumanity.org.
Monday, April 17, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, April 18, 8 a.m., 1 p.m., and 5 p.m.
Wednesday, April 19, 10 a.m., 3 p.m., and 10 p.m.
CET Arts 48.3
Additional airings will take place on CET Arts 48.3 in May and June 2023. Visit cetconnect.org for full schedule.
“Cabaret of Hope: Warsaw 1941 originated in the imagination of Cincinnati’s Rabbi Abie Ingber, says Evans Mirageas, the Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director at Cincinnati Opera. “In 1994, Abie created a program with students from Hebrew Union College and UC’s College-Conservatory of Music. It combined Warsaw Ghetto diary excerpts, poetry, and music.”
Developed by Cincinnati Opera in celebration of the creativity that flourished within the Warsaw Ghetto, Cabaret of Hope: Warsaw 1941 features songs and poetry from the era.
Partnering with CET, Cincinnati’s PBS member station, the an hour-long televised program will premiere on CET 48 on Sunday, April 16, in recognition of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day).
The Sunday event will also be live-streamed on the PBS app, and have additional airings on CET Arts through June 2023.
In 1941 in Warsaw, Poland, more than 400,000 Jews were held captive in a cordoned-off area known as the Warsaw Ghetto. Nevertheless, nightlife continued to thrive, with cafés and restaurants offering entertainment and a temporary respite for residents. Perhaps the most famous was the Café Sztuka, where renowned poets, singers, and musicians appeared regularly, performing classical music and new songs by George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and Kurt Weill, among others. Cabaret of Hope: Warsaw 1941 is a recreation of this cabaret experience, serving as both a remembrance and a celebration of the creativity that flourished amid extraordinary oppression.
“A few years ago, pianist Polina Bespalko shared some of the original materials with me. She is a good friend of Abie’s, and they have served on the faculty at Xavier University together,” says Mirageas. “This led to meetings with Abie, and the idea of mounting a professional version of the 1994 project was born. COVID-19 stalled our progress. But, last April, as part of the community-wide celebration of the Jewish Cincinnati Bicentennial, our project came to life, culminating in two sold-out performances at Music Hall.”
Cabaret of Hope: Warsaw 1941 was captured live during a public performance at Cincinnati Music Hall’s Wilks Studio in April 2022, with performances by vocalist Sarah Folsom, soprano Victoria Okafor, baritones Simon Barrad and Thomas Dreeze, pianists Polina Bespalko and Matthew Umphreys, and accordionist Christina Haan.
Cabaret of Hope: Warsaw 1941 was originally presented in partnership with the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, and the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center to commemorate the Jewish Cincinnati Bicentennial.