Choice: Cabaret

From Brecht to Brel, New End Theatre, Hampstead (0171-794 0022)

Composer Nicholas Bloomfield is best known for his work with Neil Bartlett and their theatre company Gloria. Together with choreographer/ director Leah Hausman and producer Simon Mellor they have created some of the most exciting music theatre of the last decade. Their work climaxes next week with a staged oratorio, Seven Sacraments of Nicolas Poussin, but Bloomfield is taking a break from rehearsals for this gigantic piece to return to theatrical intimacy. Last year, he accompanied Gertrude Thoma and Nicholas Mead at the piano for an evening of 20th-century chansons which proved so successful that they've brought them back. The intriguingly eclectic programme includes Friedrich Hollander's songs about tough women, originally sung by sirens such as Marlene Dietrich, not to mention the fabled Zarah Leander. The latter's wartime political affiliations were deeply suspect, in contrast to those of Kurt Weill, whose work is represented by well-known items like "Surabaya Johnny".

David Benedict