PLEASURE AND PERIL A Show About Zarah Leander Heads To The Laurie Beechman Theatre, October 22

Pleasure and Peril, a show about Zarah Leander is headed to the The Laurie Beechman Theatre on October 22

The Swedish actress Zarah Leander was the biggest star in the Third Reich and became Hitler favourite singer when she took the place of Marlene Dietrich. Her films were box-office successes beyond the German borders and her record sales made her millions.

Then, in 1943 she faced a choice that would alter her life forever. This sparkling and riveting show portrays a woman torn between artistry and politics; a woman both idolized and hated – who´s now a gay icon in Europe, and who´s songs remain unforgettable to this day.   

Pleasure and Peril premiered as part of the celebrated Kabarett Fete in New York City which was awarded a Back Stage Bistro Award. It established Olivia Stevens as one of New York's favorite cabaret artists. She´s performed it to sold-out houses at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Neue Galerie, legendary Algonquin Hotel and other major cabaret rooms in New York. The show was one of the highlights at the Avignon Theatre Festival in France and has played in major theatres in Europe, in three different languages.

Stevens has starred in plays, musicals and films in New York, Stockholm and France. Critics have hailed her leading roles in Cabaret, West Side Story and Chess as ”Outstanding”. She trained at Bard College, NY, The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, performed at the Théâtre du Soleil in Paris, and played Shakespeare in London.  Olivia´s co-starred in TV-series and films in Sweden and NY, and has performed her four acclaimed one-woman shows in Europe and NY. In NY at The Algonquin, Neue Galerie, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. She looks forward to playing the lead in the London film "One Hit Wonder". Olivia performs in The New York Cabaret Convention on October 19.
www.oliviastevens.com

“When I was offered to do a show about her, I was reluctant at first. Then I saw the paralells to my own life. As a struggling performer in the Big Apple I could imagine what it must´ve been like for Zarah to be offered to become a star in Nazi Germany. What would I have done had I been given the ”opportunity”- What would anyone here have done? Thats one of the questions I ask myself in the show. I also bring up my Jewish family who fled from the Ukraine to NY”, says Olivia Stevens

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