In the new musical “Lempicka,” the titular artist is burdened with the additional challenges of being a woman, and bisexual — and by being cursed to live in interesting times.
Before Tamara de Lempicka’s vibrant uses of color, line, and form made her an Art Deco icon, she was forced to flee revolutionary Russia with her wealthy husband, Tadeusz Lempicki, whose release she somehow finagled after he was arrested by the Bolsheviks.
This is where we first meet her in “Lempicka,” sitting on a Los Angeles park bench nearly four decades later, bemoaning the lack of culture surrounding her.
Tamara still has her memories, though, of the beauty that will soon unfold onstage as her life is revisited — and of something else.
In “Lempicka,” the character of Rafaela serves to emphasize Tamara’s identity and trials as a queer woman, long before that adjective had become associated with self-affirmation.
“Lempicka” reaches its musical and dramatic peak after that, in the show’s final, stirring 20 minutes or so.
Ms. Chavkin and her design team ensure the social and political intrigue informing Lempicka’s life, and this account of it, are not overshadowed.
Raja Feather Kelly’s choreography is also key, offering a mix of energy and discretion seldom seen on Broadway stages these days.
One of the best musicals of the last half-century, “Sunday in the Park with George,” was centered around the 19th-century painter Georges Seurat and, more broadly, the emotional and creative challenges that ambitious artists had to deal with. In the brand-new musical “Lempicka,” the lead character faces the added difficulties of being a woman and a bisexual person in addition to being doomed to live in fascinating times.
Her wealthy husband Tadeusz Lempicki, whose release she managed to secure after he was detained by the Bolsheviks, and she were forced to leave revolutionary Russia before Tamara de Lempicka became an iconic figure of the Art Deco movement thanks to her brilliant use of color, line, and form. When they arrived in Paris, Lempicka’s vivid, bold portraits, some of which featured nudity, captivated the aristocrats who frequently served as her subjects as well as the outcasts who stoked her spirit of adventure.
Lempicka, whose mother was born into the Jewish faith, and whose father was also Jewish, became a refugee once more in 1939 after Hitler’s ascent. She moved to America with her second husband, Baron Raoul Kuffner. Her descendants would later find out that her mother was Jewish as well. That’s where we first see her in “Lempicka,” sitting on a park bench in Los Angeles almost forty years later, lamenting the lack of culture around her.
However, Tamara still remembers something else in addition to the beauty that will soon be revealed onstage when her life is relived. She asks the audience, “Have you ever loved someone more than life itself?”. I was extremely fortunate to fall in love twice. Sadly, I was able to fall in love with them both simultaneously. “.
It will be revealed that the baron is not one of these lovers, and Tamara, as she is portrayed here, will grow to love him but not with much passion. Our heroine is speaking of Tadeusz and a woman called Rafaela, who is supposedly named after the subject of “La Belle Rafaela,” painted in 1927. It is believed that Rafaela was a prostitute and one of Lempicka’s many sexual partners, providing inspiration for several of her canvases.
Before the term “queer” was even connected to self-affirmation, Rafaela’s role in “Lempicka” highlights Tamara’s identity and struggles as a woman. Additionally, the well-known director Rachel Chavkin—whose credits include “Hadestown,” “Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812″—has chosen actresses who convincingly embody the fierceness of each of these women and their compelling relationship.
With a platinum-blonde bob that makes her resemble Madonna from the 1990s (a devoted Lempicka fan, of course), Eden Espinosa, reprising her role as Tamara, gets to use the belt that resembles a siren and the combination of strength and vulnerability she exhibited during her multiple runs as Elphaba in “Wicked.”. Granted, the vocal showcases she provides are rarely as melodic as they are flamboyant, thanks to the collaboration of lyricist Carson Kreitzer and composer Matt Gould on the book, which is based on Ms. Kreitzer’s concept.
Rafaela, played by Amber Iman, has a little bit better luck. She receives a few jazz and blues-infused scorchers that highlight the actress’s shimmering, gorgeous alto. The trajectory of her earthier character also enables Ms. Iman to deftly balance a sense of pained fragility with an almost guttural sass, demonstrating that the former is, at least in part, a defensive tactic.
While playing a less interesting role, Andrew Samonsky sings beautifully as Tadeusz, who is essentially a husband who loves his wife but feels threatened by her success and ambition. Thankfully, Ms. Kreitzer and Mr. Gould eventually show the baroness to be more sympathetic and give Ms. Leavel a meaty ballad in the second act. Nathaniel Stampley plays the part of the baron with a gentle dignity, while Beth Leavel plays the overtly snobbish first wife.
Around the last, moving twenty minutes of the performance, “Lempicka” reaches its pinnacle of drama and music. Before that, though, its most constant pleasures are, appropriately enough, visual: Peter Nigrini’s vibrant projection design incorporates allusions to the groundbreaking art that served as the inspiration for the musical, and Riccardo Hernández’s set, which is full of jutting angles that are emphasized and bathed in color by Bradley King’s lighting.
Ms. Lempicka’s life and this account of it are not overshadowed by the social and political intrigue that Chavkin and her design team make sure to highlight. As the character Marinetti, modeled after the groundbreaking Italian futurist, George Abud gives a puckish performance. Here, he’s shown as a determined rebel who helps Tamara develop a look appropriate for the Machine Age. However, just like the real Marinetti, he succumbs to fascism, and his downfall—along with France’s—is chronicled with harsh, unsettling imagery.
Another important aspect of the performance is Raja Feather Kelly’s choreography, which combines a level of discretion and energy that is rarely seen on Broadway these days. Even with their dazzling moves, his dancers evoke real people, whether they are adding a little street scene embellishment or playing a more significant role in violent military acts or lighthearted antics. The same lesbian nightclub hosts at least one of each. ).
Tamara’s goal is to depict that life, and even if “Lempicka” falls short of the brilliant virtuosity of its subject—or of superior musicals, for that matter—it ought to at least pique viewers’ curiosity about her compositions.
