Ute Lemper Will Tour The UK With 'Ute Lemper: Rendezvous With Marlene'

Awarded the Moliére Award for her performance as Sally Bowles in 'Cabaret' in Paris, Ute Lemper decided to write a postcard to legendary Hollywod icon Marlene Dietrich, who was also living in the French capital, to apologise for all the media attention that had hailed Ute as a new star and compared the youngster to the legendary icon.

It was 1988 and Ute was just at the beginning of her career while Marlene, then aged 89, looked back on a long, fulfilled life of movies, music, incredible collaborations, love stories and global stardom. Somehow Marlene managed to track her down and called her out of the blue.

For 35 years, Ute has been compared to Marlene and 'Ute Lemper: Rendezvous With Marlene', which tours the UK from January 30, 2020, is her personal homage to the legend. The evening is a dialogue between Ute and Marlene, exploring Marlene's career and personal life from the beginning, in a timeline that eventually meets Ute's timeline with a continuation of their parallel stories. Ute sings Marlene's most beautiful songs and tells some captivating secrets of her life.

Six days before Ute's opening night playing the part of Lola in the 1992 'Blue Angel' production in Berlin - the role that had made Marlene a star in 1928 - Marlene Dietrich passed away in Paris. After her glamorous funeral in La Madeleine, Marlene finally came back to Berlin to be put
to rest. Ute tells us Marlene's story, along with singing her fabulous songs from all the chapters of her life, from the Berlin cabaret years to her fabulous Burt Bacharach collaborations.

She said: "'Rendezvous with Marlene' means a lot to me - it is my personal homage to that great lady. There are many portraits of Mar- lene out there, but this one is coming from my heart. Audiences are in for an incredible story; history, fate, courage, style, politics, glamour and sex, talent and a huge career."

Presented by RLN Music.

Ute Lemper's career is vast and varied. She has made her mark on the stage, in films, in concert and as a unique recording artist on more than 30 CDs over 30 years of career. She has been universally praised for her interpretations of Berlin cabaret songs, the works of Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht and the chansons of Marlene Dietrich, Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Léo Ferré, Jacques Prevert, Nino Rota, Astor Piazzolla many others and also her own compositions, as well as her portrayals in musicals and plays on Broadway, in Paris, Berlin and in the West End.

Ute was nominated for a Grammy for her CD 'Paris Days/Berlin Nights' with the Vogler String Quartet and Stefan Malzew on piano. It is a beautiful semi-classical recording, featuring songs between love and war composed by Hans Eisler, Kurt Weill, Jacques Brel, Edith Piaf and Astor Piazzolla, as well as folksongs in Yiddish and in Russian. The group did an extensive North American Tour in March and April of 2012.

Ute was born in Munster, Germany and completed her studies at The Dance Academy in Cologne and the Max Reinhardt Seminary Drama School in Vienna.

While Ute has continued to perform and revive the works of Brecht and Weill, her professional theatre stage debut in a musical was in the original Vienna production of 'Cats' in the roles of Grizabella and Bombalurina. She went on to play Peter Pan in 'Peter Pan' (Berlin) and Sally Bowles in Jerome Savary's 'Cabaret' (Paris) for which she received the Moliere Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She played Lola in 'The Blue Angel' (Berlin) under the direction of Peter Zadek and Maurice Bejart created a ballet for her, 'La Mort Subite' (Paris). Ute also appeared in many Weill revues with the Pina Bausch Tanztheater, and she created the part of Velma Kelly in London's production of 'Chicago' in the West End, for which she was honoured with the Laurence Olivier Award, and moved to the Broadway production after one year to receive the American Theatre Award.

Thursday January 30
BRISTOL
St George's Hall
at 8pm
www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk

Friday January 31
SOUTHAMPTON
Turner Sims
at 8pm
www.turnersims.co.uk

Sunday February 2
GUILDFORD
Electric Theatre
at 7.30pm
www.electric.theatre

Monday February 3
HOVE
The Old Market
at 8pm
www.theoldmarket.com

Tuesday February 4
BIRMINGHAM
The Old Rep Theatre
at 7.30pm
www.oldreptheatre.co.uk

Wednesday February 5
MANCHESTER
Royal Northern College of Music
at 7.30pm
www.rncm.ac.uk

Friday February 7
LEEDS
Leeds City Varieties
at 7.30pm
www.cityvarieties.co.uk

Saturday February 8
EDINBURGH
The Queen's Hall
at 7.30pm
www.thequeenshall.net

Recommended Age: 14+

To post a comment, you must register and login.