Ute Lemper

During a career spanning more than three decades, Ute Lemper has often been compared to Marlene Dietrich, but this is the first time that she has devoted an entire show to celebrating her memory. Rendezvous with Marlene stems from a conversation the two artists actually had on the phone when they were both living in Paris in 1988. After receiving the Molière Award for her role in Cabaret, Lemper wrote to Dietrich to apologise for all the media hype comparing the one to the other. Ute was just embarking on her career, while the star of The Blue Angel had led a long and productive life in the film and music industries, peppered with incredible collaborations, love stories and stardom. A month later, much to her surprise, Lemper received a call from Dietrich. For more than three hours, Dietrich told her her entire life story, all about her work, her love for Rilke, her relationship with Germany, her grief and everything that fascinated her.

That call was the seed from which sprang this show that Ute Lemper created in 2019 to pay tribute to Dietrich and which we can now see in the Veranos de la Villa festival. The famous cabaret diva from Berlin recreates that same conversation on the stage in a show that combines theatre and concert and reveals their parallel stories. Along the way, Lemper performs Dietrich’s most iconic songs, from those of her inter-war cabaret years to her fabulous collaborations with Burt Bacharach.

CAST & CREATIVE

Ute Lemper

Piano: Vana Gierig

Drums: Matthias Daneck

Double Bass: Giuseppe Bassi

Violin: Cyril Garac