Tiergarten
Death of Classical's immersive, subversive, underground cabaret event takes its name from the Tiergarten—“The Garden of Beasts”—a sprawling central park in Berlin around which the murderous leaders of the Third Reich rose to power. Directed by Andrew Ousley, the program traces a path backwards in time, exploring historic moments of societal madness through music ranging from Handel and Verdi to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Dean Martin to Max Richter, William Byrd to Brecht & Weill, with a panoply of performances that includes opera, classical, jazz, ballet, burlesque, and more.
Featuring Kim David Smith as Master of Ceremonies, Death of Classical's production takes audience members down an alleyway behind St. Paul's Carroll Street, transforming the church assembly hall into a 1920s Weimar Speakeasy, with food and drink included in the ticket price.
CREATIVE TEAM
Andrew Ousley
Writer and Director
Andrew Ousley is a director, producer, impresario and entrepreneur who is committed to creating a better story around Classical Music. His work has been hailed as "transcendent" (Billboard), "emotionally-charged" (Forbes), and "numinous and genre-bending" (The New Yorker), while media have described Ousley himself as everything from a "bleakly-winking impresario" (The New York Times), to an "evil genius" (Concerto Net), to "crazy-ass and cockeyed, as all great visionaries must be" (The Observer).
Ousley is the founder and Artistic Director of Death of Classical, where he curates and directs a series of classical music and opera concerts in Crypts, Catacombs, Cemeteries, and other venues around NYC and the United States. Death of Classical has presented leading artists and ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, Lawrence Brownlee, Gil Shaham, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Alexandre Tharaud, the Attacca Quartet, Simone Dinnerstein, and many more. DoC performances – most of which sell out in moments – have been selected to The New York Times Top Performances of the Year, WQXR's Best Concerts of the Year, as well as being awarded the prestigious Classical:Next "Innovation" Award. Vogue Magazine's culture editor summarized DoC best, calling it “one of the most riveting and unusual chamber music performances of my lifetime.” The response and acclaim has been unanimous, with the New York Times proclaiming that "Classical is alive and well and living in a Crypt, with a series of intimate, charmingly creepy concerts that offer tightly focused programs from top-flight musicians," New York Magazine describing the concerts as “sensitively programmed events in which music and architecture almost meld." The culture editor of Vogue perhaps summarized DoC best in a review, calling it “one of the most riveting and unusual chamber music performances of my lifetime.”
Photo Credit: David White
Kim David Smith
Master of Ceremonies
Described by BroadwayWorld as the "David Bowie of cabaret," "slyly subversive" by The Wall Street Journal, and labeled the "male Marlene Dietrich" by The New York Times, KIM DAVID SMITH is a Helpmann Award nominated singer and cabaret performer, known for his Weimar-era inspired works juxtaposing authentic musical material with stylistic takes on current popular tunes. His debut live album, “Kim David Smith Live at Joe’s Pub,” was released in July 2020 (for which he received a 2022 Bistro Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Recording”). His cabaret programmes, “Mostly Marlene, “A Wery Weimar Christmas,” “Morphium Kabarett” and “Kim Sings Kylie” have performed regularly in New York City at Café Sabarsky at the Neue Galerie, Joe’s Pub at the Public Theatre, Club Cumming, and Pangea.
In his native Australia, Smith has been presented at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the inaugural Sydney Cabaret Festival, The Festival of Voices, The Brisbane Cabaret Festival, The Ballarat Cabaret Festival, Chapel Off Chapel, the National Gallery of Victoria, and Smith’s cabaret birthplace, Melbourne’s Butterfly Club. 2009 saw Smith presented with the Bistro Award for Special Achievement (honored alongside Liza Minnelli and Charles Aznavour). He was also nominated for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017, and 2022 Manhattan Association of Cabaret (MAC) Awards in the Outstanding Male Vocalist category, and received the 2023 Singnasium Trailblazer award in recognition of his devotion to the Weimar Kabarett catalogue, and the art form of Cabaret in general. Smith is a recipient of the American Australian Association’s Dame Joan Sutherland Award for aspiring artists (2008), and is a member of the Kabarett Kollektif, a troupe of New York-based artists dedicated to preserving the European cabaret tradition. Mr. Smith studied at the Ballarat Arts Academy in Australia (BA, Music Theatre).
Photo Credit: Kevin Condon
