Ute Lemper: Rendezvous with Marlene

The grand dame had tracked down her up-and-coming young colleague and called her to thank her for her letter. After Ute received the French MOLIERE Award for her performance in *Cabaret* in Paris, she wrote a postcard to Marlene Dietrich, sending it directly to 12 Avenue de Montaigne, where Marlene had lived since 1979. Ute essentially wanted to apologize for the media attention she’d received. And then the phone rang. They talked about their lives, their work, and their style; their love for Rilke; their complicated relationship with Germany; their grief; and their fascinations.

How I’d love to eavesdrop and listen in on these two showbiz legends. Ute was just starting her theater and music career. Marlene Dietrich, on the other hand, was already looking back on a long, fulfilling life full of films, music, incredible collaborations, love stories, and fame. Berlin, 1992.

Six days before Ute’s premiere as Lola in *The Blue Angel* at the Theater des Westens—the very role that had made Marlene a star in 1928—Marlene Dietrich died in Paris. After a glamorous funeral at La Madeleine, Marlene finally returned to Berlin to find her final resting place.

Ute Lemper, now a global star in her own right and long regarded as the “new Marlene,” recounts this story in her new program, taking her audience 30 years back in time and sharing her conversation with Marlene.

She tells Marlene’s story and sings her fabulous songs from every chapter of her life, from her Berlin cabaret years to her fabulous collaborations with Burt Bacharach.