Dietrich: The Epic Report (Part 1/2)
Apologies for the lateness of this post! I came back from Japan before Easter, but it has taken me this long to type all this! I just hope it doesn't prove too long to read...
Anyway, this is my review of ディートリッヒ ～ 生きた 愛した 永遠に (English title: "Dietrich: Her life, her love, forever...")
The play follows Marlene Dietrich through a large portion of her life, from her debut as an actress in Berlin in the 1920s, through her years in exile in the USA or France during the Second World War to her eventual return to Germany in the 1960s. It is mostly concerned with her private life - her relationships with her mother and her daughter, her lover Jean Gabin and friends Edith Piaf and Ernest Hemingway, and her love for her country.
First, a few links:
Official Website
With multiple pictures of the show:
Engeki Life
ChoE
Ticket Pia
TV Life
Sanspo
I begin with a synopsis of show, so that I can go go back and refer to it in the review bits. Please be warned that it may be a bit dry, so feel free to skip straight to Part 2 if you're not too bothered about the particulars of the plot. ;)
Act I
The play opens with a projected silhouette of a little girl picking flowers in a meadow, an idyllic picture interrupted by a soldier holding a gun aimed at her. Agonised people dance in a scene of bleak ruined buildings.
Marlene appears behind them dressed in army slacks singing her signature song "Lili Marlene" and we are introduced to each of the important and conflicting people and forces in her life. Her mother tells her how proud she is of her, the Nazi party calls her a traitor to her country.
The play then launches into a chronological narrative. Between scenes, the story is filled in and explained by Hemingway, who acts as the narrator throughout the show.
1920s Berlin: a demanding director (Josef von Sternberg) is searching for an actress of talent and his crew are flapping around trying to satisfy him, including the very camp costume designer Travis Banton, when a young Marlene Dietrich walks in. Although initially shocked by her being married and having a little girl, Travis sees her potential and works with her to create the iconic femme fatale.
Marlene reappears dressed in Lola Lola's showgirl attire from The Blue Angel (picture) and is immediately taken on by the director.
***
Back home, Marlene hands her mother an award that she has won and announces that she has been invited to Hollywood. She wants to go, and her husband is urging her to do so, but she is worried about having to leave her daughter Maria behind. Her mother kindly encourages her to go and promises to look after Maria.
***
Cut to a dark scene with four swastika flags. It's the 1930s and the Nazi party has come to power in Germany. A troupe of Nazis in uniform sing about the glory of Germany. They call on Marlene's mother in Berlin, demanding that she urge her now world-famous daughter to return home and star in propaganda films for the Nazi party. Marlene's mother refuses despite the Nazis' intimidation, saying that her daughter is free to do as she pleases. She writes to Marlene, warning her against coming home.
However, this simply causes a worried Marlene to return immediately to fetch her mother and daughter. She is beginning to question her vocation as an actress if it endangers her loved ones. In a touching scene, her mother persuades her to go back to America and take Maria with her. She herself refuses to leave her home in Berlin, left to her by her late husband, and she has to push Marlene away. A heartbroken Marlene leaves Berlin, realising that she will not be able to return or see her mother again for a long time.
***
Cut to Paris, where Edith Piaf is singing in a bar (with a rendition of "La Goualante du Pauvre Jean"). Marlene walks in with her husband Rudi to meet her friend Ernest Hemingway, whom she addresses as Papa Hemingway. Her daughter is enrolled at boarding school in Switzerland and she is in Europe until school starts. She expresses her love for Paris, which is free and open to all kinds of people, as Berlin once used to be.
When her husband excuses himself to go and find his mistress, Marlene explains to Hemingway that her husband is Catholic and divorce is out of the question for him. Instead they remain friends and give each other space.
Edith Piaf returns to sing "Padam Padam", which Marlene listens to with interest. After the number, Piaf argues with her lover, who hits her, pushing her over. Marlene, attracted by the commotion, comes to her rescue and catches his arm before he can hit her again. Another man, who turns out to be the dashing French actor Jean Gabin, grabs him from behind and throws him out.
Marlene compliments Piaf on her performance, to which Piaf replies that singing and loving are the only things she can do. She then excuses herself and runs out, presumably after her abusive lover.
Marlene takes the opportunity to talk to Jean Gabin and introduce herself, just as fresh news comes in that Germany has invaded Poland. Fear and panic takes hold of the French occupants of the bar, but Jean Gabin stands up and angrily calls upon them to defend their country. Marlene quietly starts singing the Marseillaise and is gradually joined by Jean and the rest of the bar.
***
Cut to 1940: the narrator then explains that France has been defeated by the German army. Jews are being arrested everywhere and Jean Gabin is risking his life by taking part in the French Resistance.
***
A few months later, in Hollywood, Jean has gone to join Marlene, hoping to make a name for himself in the American film industry. Marlene is busy with charity concerts to collect war bonds. She does a medley number, dressed in a US army uniform, with six backdancers in ludicrous costumes covered in the American flag (including two men in tutus).
Jean is outside, feeling increasingly frustrated and useless at his inability to do anything for his homeland. Marlene comes in talking happily about the success of her fundraising event, but Jean explodes, saying he can't stand spending any more time depending on Marlene, whom he is not even married to. In the middle of this, a teenage Maria, home from Switzerland for the school holidays, condemns her mother for raising money which will go towards fighting against Germany, where her grandmother still lives. Jean declares his intention to return to France to fight with the Resistance again, saying he cannot love Marlene and fight for his country at the same time.
Marlene is left alone to cry, but determines to do more to help end (and win) the war.
***
Act II
Act II opens with a ballet dance. An angel in white dances to a melancholy tune. She notices a badly wounded soldier lying in a camp bed and dances around him, reaching out in time with him, perhaps warding off death.
***
The scene moves to a group of injured American soldiers, one of whom is Travis, making a great fuss about his broken arm and leg. As they reminisce about their home, the wounded soldier in the camp bed calls out "Mutter!" and they realise that he is a young German boy and comment on what lengths the German army will go to in war. Travis reminds them that it is time for Marlene singing "Lili Marlene" on the radio and they all gather round the radio to listen to a few bars before the machine conks out. As they are arguing about it, a car arrives, depositing an officer accompanied by none other than Marlene herself, who is now visiting the war zone in person.
She is amazed and happy to see Travis and he comments favourably on her military attire - a khaki shirt, slacks, black boots and an army hat. Marlene then accepts to sing there and then for the soldiers, but before she can start she hears the wounded boy cry out again. She goes over to him and asks him in German where he is from, to which he replies Berlin. Then, with her arms around him, she starts singing "Lili Marlene". Gradually, all the soldiers gather round and join in with gusto, including eventually the young German boy.
***
Meanwhile, although she is helping people in Germany, Marlene's mother Josephine is suffering from accusations that her daughter is a traitor. Marlene is approaching the front lines, despite the danger and is starting to think about going into Germany, when the news arrives that the Germans have surrendered and the war is over!
Marlene rejoices with the soldiers but is called over for a phone call from her mother, the first time she has spoken to her since before the war. Marlene tries to apologise for fighting on the other side, but her mother tells her that she understands and that she is very proud of her. The phone call is cut off and the narrator explains that Josephine died within the year, but Marlene was not allowed to enter Germany to attend her funeral.
***
Cut to Paris, where Jean Gabin has invited Marlene over to take part in a French film. Marlene is enjoying her popularity in France and practising her French, but Jean is frustrated that he is not getting any good work, as directors seem to consider that the time he spent fighting for France in the war was an unfortunate gap in his career. Marlene prattles on about going to dinner with Edith Piaf, who has achieved international fame and is preparing for a tour in New York, but Jean responds with impatience.
He spontaneously asks Marlene to marry him, but Marlene turns him down, explaining again that her husband is catholic and that she cannot, or will not, divorce him - he supported her when she first went to Hollywood and in any case, is the father of her daughter. Jean is upset at Marlene's desire for freedom and independence and they sing about their conflicting wishes and hopeless future.
Jean leaves and Marlene turns round to find Hemingway there. She comments that he is the only person who hasn't changed over the years and expresses regret that they had not met earlier in life. They sing a resigned but good-humoured song about lonely hearts.
***
Edith Piaf is on tour in New York. She is making a big hit on the stage, but she is unhappy and lonely, stranded among English-speakers and separated from her lover, the boxer Marcel Cerdan. Just as she is agitatedly demanding that her agent cancel the remainder of the tour, Marlene turns up in her dressing room with a bottle of champagne and flowers, saying "Bonjour, Piaf!" Piaf immediately perks up and the two sing "Someone to Watch Over Me" together.
Then in walks Piaf's lover Marcel, to her utter amazement. He is in New York for just a few days to teach boxing to children. Marlene graciously takes her leave and leaves them together, with Piaf looking happily up in the clouds with Marcel. He suggests that the pair go dancing. When Piaf protests that she can't dance, he encourages her to practise with him there and then, leading to a short duet dance number to an instrumental of "La Vie en Rose".
***
Follows a song between the main characters set in a quaint Parisian location, called "Bonsoir". Marlene, Jean and Hemingway sing about the time passing, goodbyes and memories, then Piaf and Marcel sing about their true love for each other.
***
Marcel is on a plane to New York to visit Piaf, for whose sake he decided to fly instead of taking the much longer boat journey. Tragically, the plane crashes and he is killed.
Piaf falls apart at the news, as Marcel is her greatest love and she blames herself for his death. As Piaf begins wishing herself dead, her friend Marlene tries with little success to comfort her, telling her that Marcel wouldn't want her to give up and asking her whether she will stop singing even though Marcel loved her singing. When Piaf angrily responds that Marlene can't understand what she is going through, Marlene turns round and says that she has suffered plenty of loss in her life, but that it is a point of pride with her that she has never given in to sorrow and dejection. She gets up, pulling Piaf with her, pushing and helping her to sing again, until Piaf can stand alone and sing. At the end of a few verses, Piaf collapses (dies?) and Marlene finishes the song, crying over her friend.
***
Back in New York, Marlene's now grown-up daughter Maria, who has become an actress herself, is frustrated at living in her mother's shadow, leading to a silly song with the maid about Marlene's ever-growing international fame.
Marlene comes in with Travis, laughing at the idea that she might play Marylin Monroe's mother, even though, as Maria points out, Marylin is a year younger than her own daughter. Growing serious, she tells Maria that she intends to go back to Berlin. Maria opposes the idea, saying that her mother will not receive the warm welcome in Germany that she accustomed to elsewhere and worrying that it may be dangerous. Nevertheless, Marlene is determined to go, as Germany is her homeland and she made a promise to her mother to return one day.
Alone again, Marlene sings "Adieu", a song about the long path she has walked and the people she has met along the way who have now passed away - her mother, Jean, Piaf, Hemingway.
***
In Berlin, people have gathered to protest Marlene's return and are demonstrating with banners saying things like "Yankee, go home!" and defaced American flags. Even though it has been 15 years since the end of the war, people still resent Marlene for abandoning her country, taking US nationality and fighting on the other side. Marlene, accompanied by Maria and Travis, is surrounded by protesters on her arrival and questioned on her actions. She claims that Germany is her homeland, that she only gave up her German nationality because the Nazis took over and only left her mother behind at her own request. She loved Germany and fought from abroad to free it from Nazi control, as most Germans were unable to do from within the country.
From the crowd emerges the young German man that she met back in the war camp, during the war. He stands up for her, although the others remain unconvinced, and she finds hope in his understanding. She tries to explain that she did not take any actions lightly and that her decisions caused her pain. She sings of her love for her hometown (a reprise of the song she sang when she left her mother alone in Berlin) and then segues into "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?". The crowd has calmed down and gradually all start to cry quietly, moved by her song and their own sorrow. Marlene moves among them, comforting them one by one, calming their anger, until even the most militant have relented and join in the song.
***
The people gradually move away, followed by Travis and Maria, and Marlene is left alone with the angel, who dances around her, expressing her happiness and serenity at having returned to her homeland.
Finally, Marlene reappears, dressed all in a white suit and tailcoat. She reprises "Lili Marlene" and "Adieu".
***
The bows came in this order (I think!): the chorus in two groups; then in pairs, Marcel and Maria, Jean and Piaf, Hemingway and Josephine; then on their own, Travis, the angel and Marlene. Then applause for the orchestra, who were behind the main set, then usually two or three curtain calls (except on the last day when there were more like five or six!)
***
Phew!!!
Comments on the show in Part 2! :)
Anyway, this is my review of ディートリッヒ ～ 生きた 愛した 永遠に (English title: "Dietrich: Her life, her love, forever...")
The play follows Marlene Dietrich through a large portion of her life, from her debut as an actress in Berlin in the 1920s, through her years in exile in the USA or France during the Second World War to her eventual return to Germany in the 1960s. It is mostly concerned with her private life - her relationships with her mother and her daughter, her lover Jean Gabin and friends Edith Piaf and Ernest Hemingway, and her love for her country.
First, a few links:
Official Website
With multiple pictures of the show:
Engeki Life
ChoE
Ticket Pia
TV Life
Sanspo
I begin with a synopsis of show, so that I can go go back and refer to it in the review bits. Please be warned that it may be a bit dry, so feel free to skip straight to Part 2 if you're not too bothered about the particulars of the plot. ;)
Act I
The play opens with a projected silhouette of a little girl picking flowers in a meadow, an idyllic picture interrupted by a soldier holding a gun aimed at her. Agonised people dance in a scene of bleak ruined buildings.
Marlene appears behind them dressed in army slacks singing her signature song "Lili Marlene" and we are introduced to each of the important and conflicting people and forces in her life. Her mother tells her how proud she is of her, the Nazi party calls her a traitor to her country.
The play then launches into a chronological narrative. Between scenes, the story is filled in and explained by Hemingway, who acts as the narrator throughout the show.
1920s Berlin: a demanding director (Josef von Sternberg) is searching for an actress of talent and his crew are flapping around trying to satisfy him, including the very camp costume designer Travis Banton, when a young Marlene Dietrich walks in. Although initially shocked by her being married and having a little girl, Travis sees her potential and works with her to create the iconic femme fatale.
Marlene reappears dressed in Lola Lola's showgirl attire from The Blue Angel (picture) and is immediately taken on by the director.
***
Back home, Marlene hands her mother an award that she has won and announces that she has been invited to Hollywood. She wants to go, and her husband is urging her to do so, but she is worried about having to leave her daughter Maria behind. Her mother kindly encourages her to go and promises to look after Maria.
***
Cut to a dark scene with four swastika flags. It's the 1930s and the Nazi party has come to power in Germany. A troupe of Nazis in uniform sing about the glory of Germany. They call on Marlene's mother in Berlin, demanding that she urge her now world-famous daughter to return home and star in propaganda films for the Nazi party. Marlene's mother refuses despite the Nazis' intimidation, saying that her daughter is free to do as she pleases. She writes to Marlene, warning her against coming home.
However, this simply causes a worried Marlene to return immediately to fetch her mother and daughter. She is beginning to question her vocation as an actress if it endangers her loved ones. In a touching scene, her mother persuades her to go back to America and take Maria with her. She herself refuses to leave her home in Berlin, left to her by her late husband, and she has to push Marlene away. A heartbroken Marlene leaves Berlin, realising that she will not be able to return or see her mother again for a long time.
***
Cut to Paris, where Edith Piaf is singing in a bar (with a rendition of "La Goualante du Pauvre Jean"). Marlene walks in with her husband Rudi to meet her friend Ernest Hemingway, whom she addresses as Papa Hemingway. Her daughter is enrolled at boarding school in Switzerland and she is in Europe until school starts. She expresses her love for Paris, which is free and open to all kinds of people, as Berlin once used to be.
When her husband excuses himself to go and find his mistress, Marlene explains to Hemingway that her husband is Catholic and divorce is out of the question for him. Instead they remain friends and give each other space.
Edith Piaf returns to sing "Padam Padam", which Marlene listens to with interest. After the number, Piaf argues with her lover, who hits her, pushing her over. Marlene, attracted by the commotion, comes to her rescue and catches his arm before he can hit her again. Another man, who turns out to be the dashing French actor Jean Gabin, grabs him from behind and throws him out.
Marlene compliments Piaf on her performance, to which Piaf replies that singing and loving are the only things she can do. She then excuses herself and runs out, presumably after her abusive lover.
Marlene takes the opportunity to talk to Jean Gabin and introduce herself, just as fresh news comes in that Germany has invaded Poland. Fear and panic takes hold of the French occupants of the bar, but Jean Gabin stands up and angrily calls upon them to defend their country. Marlene quietly starts singing the Marseillaise and is gradually joined by Jean and the rest of the bar.
***
Cut to 1940: the narrator then explains that France has been defeated by the German army. Jews are being arrested everywhere and Jean Gabin is risking his life by taking part in the French Resistance.
***
A few months later, in Hollywood, Jean has gone to join Marlene, hoping to make a name for himself in the American film industry. Marlene is busy with charity concerts to collect war bonds. She does a medley number, dressed in a US army uniform, with six backdancers in ludicrous costumes covered in the American flag (including two men in tutus).
Jean is outside, feeling increasingly frustrated and useless at his inability to do anything for his homeland. Marlene comes in talking happily about the success of her fundraising event, but Jean explodes, saying he can't stand spending any more time depending on Marlene, whom he is not even married to. In the middle of this, a teenage Maria, home from Switzerland for the school holidays, condemns her mother for raising money which will go towards fighting against Germany, where her grandmother still lives. Jean declares his intention to return to France to fight with the Resistance again, saying he cannot love Marlene and fight for his country at the same time.
Marlene is left alone to cry, but determines to do more to help end (and win) the war.
***
Act II
Act II opens with a ballet dance. An angel in white dances to a melancholy tune. She notices a badly wounded soldier lying in a camp bed and dances around him, reaching out in time with him, perhaps warding off death.
***
The scene moves to a group of injured American soldiers, one of whom is Travis, making a great fuss about his broken arm and leg. As they reminisce about their home, the wounded soldier in the camp bed calls out "Mutter!" and they realise that he is a young German boy and comment on what lengths the German army will go to in war. Travis reminds them that it is time for Marlene singing "Lili Marlene" on the radio and they all gather round the radio to listen to a few bars before the machine conks out. As they are arguing about it, a car arrives, depositing an officer accompanied by none other than Marlene herself, who is now visiting the war zone in person.
She is amazed and happy to see Travis and he comments favourably on her military attire - a khaki shirt, slacks, black boots and an army hat. Marlene then accepts to sing there and then for the soldiers, but before she can start she hears the wounded boy cry out again. She goes over to him and asks him in German where he is from, to which he replies Berlin. Then, with her arms around him, she starts singing "Lili Marlene". Gradually, all the soldiers gather round and join in with gusto, including eventually the young German boy.
***
Meanwhile, although she is helping people in Germany, Marlene's mother Josephine is suffering from accusations that her daughter is a traitor. Marlene is approaching the front lines, despite the danger and is starting to think about going into Germany, when the news arrives that the Germans have surrendered and the war is over!
Marlene rejoices with the soldiers but is called over for a phone call from her mother, the first time she has spoken to her since before the war. Marlene tries to apologise for fighting on the other side, but her mother tells her that she understands and that she is very proud of her. The phone call is cut off and the narrator explains that Josephine died within the year, but Marlene was not allowed to enter Germany to attend her funeral.
***
Cut to Paris, where Jean Gabin has invited Marlene over to take part in a French film. Marlene is enjoying her popularity in France and practising her French, but Jean is frustrated that he is not getting any good work, as directors seem to consider that the time he spent fighting for France in the war was an unfortunate gap in his career. Marlene prattles on about going to dinner with Edith Piaf, who has achieved international fame and is preparing for a tour in New York, but Jean responds with impatience.
He spontaneously asks Marlene to marry him, but Marlene turns him down, explaining again that her husband is catholic and that she cannot, or will not, divorce him - he supported her when she first went to Hollywood and in any case, is the father of her daughter. Jean is upset at Marlene's desire for freedom and independence and they sing about their conflicting wishes and hopeless future.
Jean leaves and Marlene turns round to find Hemingway there. She comments that he is the only person who hasn't changed over the years and expresses regret that they had not met earlier in life. They sing a resigned but good-humoured song about lonely hearts.
***
Edith Piaf is on tour in New York. She is making a big hit on the stage, but she is unhappy and lonely, stranded among English-speakers and separated from her lover, the boxer Marcel Cerdan. Just as she is agitatedly demanding that her agent cancel the remainder of the tour, Marlene turns up in her dressing room with a bottle of champagne and flowers, saying "Bonjour, Piaf!" Piaf immediately perks up and the two sing "Someone to Watch Over Me" together.
Then in walks Piaf's lover Marcel, to her utter amazement. He is in New York for just a few days to teach boxing to children. Marlene graciously takes her leave and leaves them together, with Piaf looking happily up in the clouds with Marcel. He suggests that the pair go dancing. When Piaf protests that she can't dance, he encourages her to practise with him there and then, leading to a short duet dance number to an instrumental of "La Vie en Rose".
***
Follows a song between the main characters set in a quaint Parisian location, called "Bonsoir". Marlene, Jean and Hemingway sing about the time passing, goodbyes and memories, then Piaf and Marcel sing about their true love for each other.
***
Marcel is on a plane to New York to visit Piaf, for whose sake he decided to fly instead of taking the much longer boat journey. Tragically, the plane crashes and he is killed.
Piaf falls apart at the news, as Marcel is her greatest love and she blames herself for his death. As Piaf begins wishing herself dead, her friend Marlene tries with little success to comfort her, telling her that Marcel wouldn't want her to give up and asking her whether she will stop singing even though Marcel loved her singing. When Piaf angrily responds that Marlene can't understand what she is going through, Marlene turns round and says that she has suffered plenty of loss in her life, but that it is a point of pride with her that she has never given in to sorrow and dejection. She gets up, pulling Piaf with her, pushing and helping her to sing again, until Piaf can stand alone and sing. At the end of a few verses, Piaf collapses (dies?) and Marlene finishes the song, crying over her friend.
***
Back in New York, Marlene's now grown-up daughter Maria, who has become an actress herself, is frustrated at living in her mother's shadow, leading to a silly song with the maid about Marlene's ever-growing international fame.
Marlene comes in with Travis, laughing at the idea that she might play Marylin Monroe's mother, even though, as Maria points out, Marylin is a year younger than her own daughter. Growing serious, she tells Maria that she intends to go back to Berlin. Maria opposes the idea, saying that her mother will not receive the warm welcome in Germany that she accustomed to elsewhere and worrying that it may be dangerous. Nevertheless, Marlene is determined to go, as Germany is her homeland and she made a promise to her mother to return one day.
Alone again, Marlene sings "Adieu", a song about the long path she has walked and the people she has met along the way who have now passed away - her mother, Jean, Piaf, Hemingway.
***
In Berlin, people have gathered to protest Marlene's return and are demonstrating with banners saying things like "Yankee, go home!" and defaced American flags. Even though it has been 15 years since the end of the war, people still resent Marlene for abandoning her country, taking US nationality and fighting on the other side. Marlene, accompanied by Maria and Travis, is surrounded by protesters on her arrival and questioned on her actions. She claims that Germany is her homeland, that she only gave up her German nationality because the Nazis took over and only left her mother behind at her own request. She loved Germany and fought from abroad to free it from Nazi control, as most Germans were unable to do from within the country.
From the crowd emerges the young German man that she met back in the war camp, during the war. He stands up for her, although the others remain unconvinced, and she finds hope in his understanding. She tries to explain that she did not take any actions lightly and that her decisions caused her pain. She sings of her love for her hometown (a reprise of the song she sang when she left her mother alone in Berlin) and then segues into "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?". The crowd has calmed down and gradually all start to cry quietly, moved by her song and their own sorrow. Marlene moves among them, comforting them one by one, calming their anger, until even the most militant have relented and join in the song.
***
The people gradually move away, followed by Travis and Maria, and Marlene is left alone with the angel, who dances around her, expressing her happiness and serenity at having returned to her homeland.
Finally, Marlene reappears, dressed all in a white suit and tailcoat. She reprises "Lili Marlene" and "Adieu".
***
The bows came in this order (I think!): the chorus in two groups; then in pairs, Marcel and Maria, Jean and Piaf, Hemingway and Josephine; then on their own, Travis, the angel and Marlene. Then applause for the orchestra, who were behind the main set, then usually two or three curtain calls (except on the last day when there were more like five or six!)
***
Phew!!!
Comments on the show in Part 2! :)