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Publication: Broadway World (UK)
Date: Jan. 31, 2020  
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★★★★★ 5 stars! “The dynamic pairing of Dietrich and UTE LEMPER make ‘Rendezvous with Marlene’ an unforgettable evening: stylish, graceful, heart-warming and powerful. An event not to be missed”
– Broadwayworld

Rendezvous with Marlene started with a letter. A young Ute Lemper explodes onto the French stage playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret, and the next day the French press proclaimed her “La nouvelle Marlene!”.

Filled with deference, and more than a sprinkling of modesty, Lemper wrote a letter to the ailing and reclusive Dietrich to apologise for the renewed attention – and, to Lemper’s humble mind, the unfair comparisons. A month later, Dietrich phoned an unsuspecting Lemper and, from there, a three-hour conversation unfolded into a lifetime of respect, mirroring careers with a backdrop of political unrest, and an unflinching passion for performance.

For those familiar with Ute Lemper, there is the familiar joy with which she performs – with the added bonus of a beautifully constructed narrative based around this landmark phone call chronicling Dietrich’s story. Opening to the strains of “Falling in Love Again”, and navigating through Dietrich canon and added material from Jacques Brel, Burt Bacharach and most poignantly Bob Dylan, Lemper peppers the piece with anecdotes as Marlene. Jean Cocteau once said of Marlene Dietrich that her name, “starts with a caress and ends with a horse whip”. With this in mind, a rollercoaster ride is guaranteed.

Never domestic or throwaway, Dietrich’s conversations are always high stakes. From a telephone call to Mikhail (Gorbachev), just chewing the fat over Perestroika and his relationship with Ronald (Regan), through to a bold return to her home country after being shunned for supporting the Americans during World War Two, Marlene Dietrich’s life story could add up to several full-length shows. Here, Lemper chooses the landmark events of Dietrich’s life, from leaving her homeland, to joining the Americans on the front line through to living a reclusive life in Paris.

This isn’t simply an evening about an incredible woman. It isn’t just an evening of beautiful songs performed by a world-class performer. This is a history lesson – a tale of division followed by unification. Opening on the eve of the United Kingdom leaving Europe, there is something bittersweet and powerful hearing Lemper sing Dylan’s classic “Blowing in the Wind”.

The director Billy Wilder said Marlene Dietrich was “a heck of a guy to hang out with”. The dynamic pairing of Dietrich and Lemper make Rendezvous with Marlene an unforgettable evening: stylish, graceful, heart-warming and powerful. Beautifully complemented by Vana Gierig (piano), Romain Lecuyer (bass), Cyril Garac (violin) and Matthais Daneck (drums), this is an event not to be missed.

Rendezvous with Marlene tours the UK until 8 February. Full dates here

Click here to read the article on Broadway World

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Publication: Gscene
Date: 22 Dec 2019
By : Brian Butler

Brian Butler looks forward to one of the performance highlights in Brighton 2020 – international sensation Ute Lemper revealing her career-long connection with diva Marlene Dietrich.

Put third February in your diaries now if you love the unique style of that great performer Marlene Dietrich as she is brought to life in Brighton for one night only. In 1987 Ute Lemper opened on stage in Paris as Sally Bowles in Cabaret and was immediately hailed by critics as “the new Marlene”.

This comment led to a 3-hour phone conversation between the newcomer and the old reclusive superstar. Some 30 years later Ute now recreates that conversation – about love, life, bitterness, anti-Nazism but above all the magical musical repertoire Marlene created from her signature Lil Marlene to the anti-war song of the 60’s Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

In an exclusive glimpse Ute told Gscene : “The show is deeply tragic, but also comic – Marlene claimed to have slept with everyone she worked with – some 50,000 lovers, she said.”

“I am channelling the pain of her life – it’s not a romantic version . I aim to get to the core of her life.”

That said, the show which starts with the phone chat but in a time warp has Marlene taking over the stage, is full of humanity, respect and pure love of a genius at her art.

The show is at the Old Market, Hove, on 3 February. Ticket information at the old market.com

Click here to for information and tickets
Click here to visit Scene website for this article

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Ute will be performing a special program at the Met Museum in New York City at 7pm.

“This German artist brings a depth of intelligence, a sense of history, a political and social awareness, a knowing irony to her material few can match. She is the benchmark for singers.” —West Australian Review

When Ute Lemper takes the stage, we are instantly transported to the fleeting moment of wild experimentation born of the short-lived progressive culture that bloomed in pre-war Germany. Songs by Weill, Brecht, Hollander, Spoliansky, and others will receive the passionate and acerbic interpretation that is Ms. Lemper’s signature style.

Bring the Kids for $1 (ages 6–16).

Tickets include same-day Museum admission.

Enjoy a pre-performance drink in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium. Wine, prosecco, and water are available for purchase. Doors open approximately one hour prior to the event.


Click the logo to follow upcoming events at the Metropolitan Museum, or click here to buy tickets for this event.

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November 9th, 2019 was the 30 year anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. With that in mind, I am very excited to take you to Berlin on a musical journey through time and history.

Berlin has had so many faces and chapters through the years. In this special program at the Met Museum, I will lead you through the turbulent years of the Weimar Republic, its music, cabaret and political satire, from the ‘Three Penny Opera’ of Brecht/ Weill to the wild ‘Berlin Cabaret Songs’ by Hollaender, Schwabach and Spoliansky. This ‘Dance on a Volcano’ with the Theater Songs ‘Bilbao Songs/ Pirate Jenny/ Salomon Song, and Moritat of Macky Messer’ and Cabaret Songs like ‘Life’s a Swindle/ the Lavender Song/ I am a Vamp, and Liar, Liar’ represented the climax of the Weimar culture, but was utterly shattered after 1933 as the Nazis censured and eliminated every creative and progressive force. After 1933 Eisler and Brecht had created a ‘Cabaret in the Exile’, that existed only in the not Nazi occupied territories and only for a very brief time. After 1938 everything was shut down and most of the artists were in exile or had been incarcerated in the ghettos and camps. The ‘Cabaret in the Exile’ presented a collection of highly political songs, including the ‘Water Wheel’ and ‘The Ballad of Marie Sanders’.

Following the timeline of history, I include some songs written in the Ghettos, especially Theresienstadt that incarcerated the Jewish composers and poets.

The next chapter is equally haunting, as it brings us to the utterly destroyed Berlin of 1946, with songs written for the movie ‘A Foreign Affair’. It was filmed in the ruins of Berlin. Marlene Dietrich sang these songs written by Friedrich Hollaender in this very movie directed by Billy Wilder.

I often thought that if the Nazis would not have shattered the Culture of Weimar after 1933, the 60’s would have happened already in the 40’s and right there in Berlin!

Click here for more info and to buy tickets.