Fest Fast Facts

1. Lempicka is inspired by the tumultuous life story of Art Deco artist Tamara de Lempicka, who captured her era with bold, elegant portraits of European expatriates, wealthy Parisians, elegant men and women of ambiguous sexuality, and seven canvasses in one year of a woman with black hair and green eyes, who is rumored to be a prostitute. The lush, sensual portrait Beautiful Rafaela still manages to shock us with its breathtaking intimacy, nearly ninety years after it was painted.
2. Featuring a contemporary pop score with allusions to 30’s Parisian jazz, Lempicka focuses on the time between the great political upheavals of her life: the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, and the outbreak of World War Two. In the midst of this chaotic world, she finds the woman who will be her great love and muse, Rafaela.
3. The musical features an array of women characters of various ages, types, and colors who don’t fall into traditional female archetypes. They are strong, empowered people who make their own choices and drive their own stories.
4. An epic, cinematic story, Lempicka has always been envisioned staged simply, with scaffolding and swaths of silk in the colors of her paintings. The set itself becomes a percussive instrument, as the cast creates part of the soundscape by banging, stamping, and “playing” the metal of the set.
5. The show has been shaped by four workshops and several readings. We are looking for producing partners for the next stages, including a movement workshop and full production.