Photo by Russ Rowland.

Publication: London Living Large
By: J.C.
Date: November 29, 2020

We fell in love again! Not just with Marlene, but with Ute. This production is more than an homage to the great Dietrich. Ute Lemper tells us the story and sings the songs, but she doesn’t just imitate … she channels a cultural icon. Marlene Dietrich was someone who defined the “new woman.” Sexually liberated, shocking and iconoclastic, Dietrich challenged her society and its values while anticipating ours. Politically progressive and not afraid to stand up for what she believed in, Dietrich was a portrait in political courage that should resonate for our own time. The show also examines the compelling Marlene persona and yields dark insight into the confines that is the construct of ‘celebrity’ … a topic so very relevant to today. But ultimately, this is a show about the woman herself, and Lemper offers us insight into a complex and fascinating human being while contemplating her own personal relationship with the star. This is a one-woman show that has all the expected songs but it also uses an eclectic choice of other music to present the diva. The transitions are seamless, the production values are first-rate and the cabaret act has been cleverly adapted to a new online format. The show works beautifully as it is presented and it offers a wonderful break from Covid days. It also really whetted our appetite to experience the Ute Lemper/Marlene Dietrich experience live. We’ll be first in the queue when we all get out again!