Alex Franz Zehetbauer
An Evening with
In An Evening with, taking place at several places across the season, host Alex Franz Zehetbauer lures audiences into a surreal piano bar. His haunting melodies and cunning humour meander between gravity and absurdity, while his repertoire includes an eclectic variety of atmospheres and registers – from the poetic lullaby all the way to folk and pop songs.
An Evening with explores the cultural meanings, roles and effects of songs and thus creates an enchanted atmosphere while stretching the songs into various choreographic positions. Music that breaks out of the body, the throat, the chest and sometimes the leathery fingers of a pair of absurd shoes evokes in the gathered crowd a feeling of closeness that seems both strange and familiar.
This concert performance premiered at brut nordwest in November 2023 in co-operation with Wien Modern.
Alex Franz Zehetbauer, born in Brooklyn in 1990, is a performance artist and singer who works at the intersection of performance, music, visual art and choreography. He studied singing, choreography, acting and composing at NYU Tisch School of the Arts’ Experimental Theater Wing and at the International Theater Workshop in Amsterdam. Alex Franz Zehetbauer has worked with artists such as Philipp Gehmacher, Jen Rosenblit, Taylor Mac, Anne Juren, Richard Foreman, Marta Navaridas and Alix Eynaudi. He is a recipient of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Civil Service and Sport’s 2018 Start Scholarship for Music and Performing Arts and of the 2019 danceWEB Scholarship. Recent works include the concert performance Brunnentroll (2021) at public fountains, supported by KÖR – Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Wien, wet dreaming at 52Hz (2019), AyH (2021/2023) and hearing the wild heart (2022), all co-productions with brut Wien. www.alexfranzzehetbauer.com, @afranzz
Accessibility
Before the performance on Fri. 28.11., there will be a touch tour at 19:00 at free admission, where Alex Franz Zehetbauer will present the costumes and provide information about the concert performance. The meeting point is in the foyer at 18:50.
Tickets for assistants, accompanying persons and assistance dogs can be reserved at brehm@brut-wien.at or by telephone and WhatsApp on +43 676 587 8723.
We offer a pick-up service so that everyone can find their way to brut nordwest. Please let us know at brehm@brut-wien.at or by phone and WhatsApp on +43 676 587 8723 and we will be happy to pick you up.
Tactile guidance system
Contact persons wearing yellow waistcoats with small ringing bells are on site and are available if you have a concern or are looking for guidance in the theatre.
If you have any questions, please contact Katrin Brehm (brehm@brut-wien.at and +43 676 587 8723).
Press quotes
‘Alex Franz Zehetbauer’s jazzy tones transported the audience towards a liminal yet cinematic space, somewhere between the timelessness of A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey. I couldn’t help but feel as though there was nothing left outside our immediate surroundings. The performer’s surrealism, enchantment and peculiarity held me in a trance-like embrace. A wonderfully intimate performance, the artist’s adeptness at immersing the audience into an anomalous yet familiar setting is now permanently etched into my brain […].’
Adina-Diana Pop (theeffervescent.uk)
‘Zehetbauer’s performance is nuanced and engaging with a hint of danger at every turn with a respectful nod to cabaret. Acutely aware of how an audience should be able to interact whilst also sit back and enjoy, this was often a masterpiece of alternate cabaret. Technically, some of the work, including playing piano with his feet and chewing a microphone, set a different level of performance.’
Donald Stewart (fringereview.com)
‘Highly disciplined artist Alex Franz Zehetbauer has created a dramaturgically coherent, entertaining show that also pays a tongue-in-cheek tribute to romanticism and poetry and produces vivid proof that songs (music and lyrics) not only come from the hearts of those who perform it but also immerse deep into the hearts of those who listen.’
Ditta Rudle (tanzschrift.at)
Credits
Concept, songs, choreography & performance Alex Franz Zehetbauer Co-writing Jen Rosenblit, Dez Miller Dramaturgical consultant Jen Rosenblit Outside ear & recording Christian Schröder Performance doula Claire Lefèvre Piano coaching Han-Gyeol Lie Lighting design Joe Albrecht Outside eye Liv Schellander Documentation Ipek Hamzaoglu Production management mollusca productions
A co-production by Verein Wilhelmina and brut Wien/FREISCHWIMMEN Network in collaboration with Wien Modern. The revival is funded by the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs (MA7).
With the kind support of the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs (MA7) and of FREISCHWIMMEN, die Produktionsplattform für Performance und Theater, represented by brut Wien, FFT Düsseldorf, Gessnerallee Zurich, HochX Theater und Live Art Munich, LOFFT – DAS THEATER Leipzig, Schwankhalle Bremen, SOPHIENSÆLE Berlin and Theater Rampe Stuttgart, managed by SOPHIENSÆLE GmbH. FREISCHWIMMEN is funded by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media via the „Verbindungen fördern“ programme of the Bundesverband Freie Darstellende Künste e.V. FREISCHWIMMEN is further supported by Pro Helvetia, Schweizer Kulturstiftung and the Canton of Zurich’s Department of Cultural Affairs, supported by German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, The Brick Theater, ACT OUT, a project of IG Freie Theaterarbeit, funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs, and Kunstraum Eindorf.
Links & Social
Dates & Tickets
November 2025
€ 22/€ 18/€ 14 * Touch tour at 19:00
brut nordwest
Nordwestbahnstraße 8-10, 1200 Vienna
accessible
Info
Content notes
This concert performance uses loud sound.
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