LEMPICKA: A New Musical
We meet Former Famous Painter Tamara de Lempicka in 1975 Los Angeles, and in her opening song, she assures us of two things; first, that “history is a bitch and so am I,” and second, that she had the great misfortune to love two people more than she loved her own life —at the same time. The rest of the show from Carson Kreitzer (book, lyrics, concept) and Matt Gould (book, music) does a fine job of illustrating the first claim — she’s a bad bitch in the best sense of the word, ready to do the work and find her own way — but stumbles badly when it comes to the second. Yes, our heroine gives up her body to get her aristocrat husband out of a Soviet cell in the wake of the Communist Revolution, which is a helluva thing. But after the couple flee to Paris with their infant daughter, we have only her word that she loves the guy, and small wonder. He’s a bum: classist, sexist, racist, self-pitying, arrogant, the list goes on. Later, when his rival for Lempicka’s affections —muse/chanteuse/whore Rafaela —sings that she can see what Tamara sees in him, it’s hard not to giggle. Oh, and about that second great love: not so much. Lempicka is an artist, with all the narcissism that title sometimes implies; Rafaela inspires her, makes her work sing and her loins burn, but they’re lovers, not friends.
The story we’re shown is a personal tragedy, but it’s played like a doomed but heroic struggle against the times and their troubles. That’s due in no small part to the thrum and throb of the music, which permeates the proceedings and seems to be aiming at Non-Stop Over-the-Top Show-Stoppers. The rare descent into moderated emotion becomes thrilling, especially when it’s rendered by Amber Iman’s Rafaela (sadly, she is no longer part of this particular production). The show is Broadway-bound, it seems, and will probably do just fine: the scenic and projection design are first rate, and there are plenty of rousing sights and sounds. But it’s strange that the Strong Woman at the center of things gets upstaged in that department by more than one of those who surround her.
When
Ongoing until Sunday, July 24, 2022
Hours
| Sundays, 2pm & 7pm |
| Tuesdays, 7:30pm |
| Wednesdays, 7:30pm |
| Thursdays, 8pm |
| Fridays, 8pm |
| Saturdays, 2pm & 8pm |