“Music, champagne, dancing—wonderful things that make you forget, until you find something to remember,” Ute Lemper laughs dramatically perched on a barstool close to the Café Carlyle’s grand piano, skin showing through her skirt’s slit. She chides the audience, “Stop looking at my legs. They are not that good. I just know what to do with them.” This was opening night of Ute Lemper's show at the Café Carlyle, “Rendezvous with Marlene,” this week, and many of her fans attended to hear the leggy redhead recount the history that forms this tribute performance to the legendary Marlene.
From there, a mix of history and songs continue through the night. For Marlene’s sympathies with war protesters in the ‘60’s, Lemper sings Pete Seeger’s “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” in English and German. Portraying Dietrich’s complicated relationship with her home country’s wartime activities, she sings Hollaender’s “Ruins of Berlin” and “Black Market.” Evoking the 1928 film Blue Angel, she sings “Lola” and “The Boys in the Backroom.” On the personal side, Mercer’s “When the World was Young” comes with a story about Edith Piaf, as “Que Reste T’Il de Nos Amours/ I Wish You Love” is for Marlene’s daughter Maria who abandoned her.
This “rendezvous” with Ute Lemper brings a distinct European feel to the Carlyle, with Vana Gierig (from Munich) on piano, and Frenchmen Romain LeCuyer on bass and Cyril Garac on violin. Channeling Dietrich in layered renditions of cabaret, from stage and film, Ute Lemper seems perfectly at home, ending her set by raising a glass to Marlene.
Graphic Design: Salpeter Ventura
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