”…As cosmopolitan a work of musical theater as I can remember. Little Death realizes the headiest ambitions of the cabaret art form. But it is Ms. Kohler’s exquisite taste in songs and her band’s ability to play them in any style that leaves you open-mouthed with admiration!“
— Stephen Holden, NEW YORK TIMES
“A daring performance… highly original…
her voice, a beautiful strong, clear instrument.”
— Barbara Leavy, CABARET SCENES
“A formidable, superbly accompanied two-part show, a total of some 26 songs, ranging from fado to classical to blues, performed with jaw-dropping versatility and grace. A staggering range of music… purest aural ecstasy… the best band I've heard this year!”
— David Noh, GAY CITY NEWS
Little Death is my award-winning Off-Broadway
show exploring the erotic synergies between sex and death. My musical
suitors date as far back as the 17th century with Henry Purcell to the
present with Tom Waits, and include Jacques Brel, Leonard Cohen,
Patrick Doyle, Astor Piazzola, Cole Porter, Franz Schubert, Jane
Siberry, Kurt Weill and Wesley "Sox" Wilson.
Comprised of the SEX ACT and DEATH ACT, the show is directed by John-Richard Thompson and features my outstanding band led by musical director Doug Oberhamer on piano and with Sean Harkness on guitar, violinist Meg Okura, Scott Thornton on bass, and Dave Anthony on percussion.
Singing
in English, German, French, Latin and Portuguese, I crossbreed a
decadent range of musical influences — everything from jazz, Delta
blues, classical, rock-folk and cabaret. A little death, or la
petite
mort in French, refers to the sensation of release or
ecstasy that poets and eroticists have
likened variously to a living death or window into the other
world. My exploration takes us in and out of pain and pleasure,
obsession and foreplay,
creation and destruction in an entrancing theatre and music dichotomy.
Sex and death are two
distinct acts, but their experience is intertwined. You can't have one
without the other.
This, my
fourth album, will begin recording in 2012. Visit my
YouTube
channel and see video clips of the show's celebrated debut at the
Zipper Factory Theater in NYC.
