Max & Willy’s Last Laugh (A staged reading with live music)

When German star, comedian Max Ehrlich, and his best friend, composer Willy Rosen were caught in Holland in 1942 and sent to the Westerbork Transit Camp, the commandant recognized Max and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse: Every Monday night before the train leaves for Auschwitz the next morning, Max and Willy will do a cabaret. IF they are funny, they do it next week. If not — they are on the train. What followed was 18 months of the funniest cabaret in all of Europe!

Come witness the original Funny or Die.

These performances feature live music and the talents of Jake Broder (Morning Show, Silicon Valley), Conor Duffy (Superstore, Good Girls), Kerry O’Malley (Snowpiercer, Terminator Genisys), Ben Bodé (Empire Records), Leo Marks (The Maestro, All My Children), Hugo Armstrong (Stitchers), Lucy Davenport (Thor:Ragnarok, Dr. Strange), Apollo Dukakis (ER), Mike Lanahan (American Horror Story), and Jamie Farr (M*A*S*H*). The creative team includes The Goodman’s Henry Wishcamper (Director), Grammy and Emmy winning John McDaniel (Music Director) and multiple Ovation winning Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara’s Jake Broder (Co-writer).

Max and Willy’s Last Laugh includes the actual comedy sketches, songs, and jokes written and performed by Max and Willy in the camp and discovered only 4 years ago in a forgotten manuscript smuggled out of Westerbork in 1943. For the first time in almost 80 years, an audience will experience the very sketches and songs the Westerbork captives themselves experienced when they packed that great hall every Monday night, desperate for a laugh.

• Written by Jake Broder and Conor Duffy
• Directed by Henry Wishcamper (The Goodman Theatre)
• Music Direction by John McDaniel (Grammy Winner)
• Produced by Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills
• Co-sponsored by Lowell Milken Fund for American Jewish Music at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.