My Bohemian/German ancestry comes to mind mainly during Oktoberfest. The food served is what mom cooked when I was a kid:  slightly sweet German potato salad, warmed delectably in bacon grease; little al dente, buttered spaetzle; fantastic Hungarian goulash, which we called schlimp schlomps (which Google Translates tells me is ‘evil smurf’?- never asked mom.) All of my childhood, we considered ourselves Norwegian, my pop’s ancestry.

Back then, I didn’t reflect much on Bach’s background when I was practicing an etude, nor of Beethoven’s nor of any of the other myriad musical geniuses who spoke German as their first language. I was born during WWII when celebrating one’s German heritage was basically verboten. My mom and I began to celebrate Oktoberfest not until the 90’s, which opened a door to me.

UMD has been unabashedly German the past few weeks. Beginning their Monster Trifecta with 1922 Weimar Republic film, “Nosferatu”, last week they segued to another silent era film from Germany,  the 1920’s “Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”. Shown on Zombie Night, for the 3rd annual Zombie Fest which was held at the stellar Masonic Egyptian Theatre, Professor Justin Rubin accompanied the movie on piano, cuing to the action and the emotions.

The movie is an artistic gem. The sets are pure expressionism. No realistic mountains or buildings, but mountains and buildings and paths with a warp, with spooky angles and painted shadows that draw you into the psychological thriller. Look this iconic film up if you missed it.

The intellectual exposition of zombies at the event was all too good. UMD Philosophy prof, Jason Ford, shared charts laying out  decision-making probabilities of victims infected by the walking dead. Such ethical choices as asking to be shot in the head or deciding to endure with its dread consequences were Ford’s considerations.

UMD Art and Design Professor, Ryuta Nakagima, was a stitch. I had the day before read a book on phylum Mollusca, and sure enough, Ryuta explored Mollusca. The highly developed, artful class of cephalopods is still related to the slug and clam. Nakagima has especially studied cuttlefish who can change forms and colors depending on their emotions and backgrounds. He analyzed zombies from a variety of movie sources, and determined that angry cuttlefish and zombies share characteristics: they both exhibit grey faces, black circles around enlarged white eyeballs and a bloody or enlarged mouth. Where does this leave us?

Dr. Nathan Caroll, Professor in the Department of Communication, Theatre and Art at St. Scholastica, traced the etymology of zombies in film, beginning with very early 19th century English movies of workers in lines, drudgingly leaving their work places. He related this industrial labor exploitation to the infancy of zombie tales. Thomas Edison filmed Frankenstein in 1910, then came the German Caligari.

The 1950’s produced the voodoo Haitian, ultimate slave zombie movies. Carroll suggested these themes reflect the depths of human reality, and that such monsters reflect our self doubts. Romero’s zombie flicks, such as “Dawn of the Dead”, political in nature, have keeping up with Joneses morphed into eating the Joneses. In this new century, zombies have become fast, like a virus.
If you missed Zombie night, don’t miss Werewolf night, this Friday, again at the Masonic Temple’s Egyptian Hall. Who knows what you might learn?

Johann Strauss II was Austrian, and, in the 1800’s and under Kaiser Franz Josef, those folks were, shall I say, quite risque’? UMD Departments of Theatre and Music presented “Die Fledermaus” last week, another German language forte’. An uproarious tale of adultery-minded adults and pranks played upon friends, this ‘bat’ story tells us a lot about life in Austria in 1874.  Who would have guessed?

I experienced Amanda Bush as adventurous wife, Rosalinde, and Kayla Mudgett as her maid, Adele. Their soprano voices were glorious. And they’re just kids! The witty libretto is only matched by the witty actors. Erin Miller plays an errant lover of Rosalinde and Brian Saice an off-color jailer. The story is too funny, and these guys were too.

Surprise! Mezzo, Christina Christensen was Russian Prince Orlovsky. And that’s how the operetta was conceived. Strauss’ melodies carry us through this period piece that is as refreshing today as it was over 100 years ago.   
I can mention every performer as outstanding: Zach Winkler as on-the-make hubby, Gabriel Eisenstein; Robert Banks as not-to-be one-upped Dr. Falke (our bat);  leaping Josiah Thompson as Russian servant, Ivan; Luke Votava and David Knoblauch as lawyer and warden. Almost everyone plays two roles.

The costumes were scrumptious, especially dreamy ones for Roselinde. The orchestra was stellar. I’d heard of this work for so many years; my German-speaking mom would have loved it.