Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Ute Lemper: Brecht, Bukowski, and Broken Hearts
urban excavations: Ute Lemper was framed in her recent 54 Below engagement by comfort and edginess – black leather pants topped with a short sleeveless black sheath dress. These costuming contrasts were mirrored in the juxtaposition of her elegant physicality (dancing arms and calm composure) with the grit of her lyrical substance and the smooth growls of her vocals. She dubbed 54 Below for the duration of her show “54 floors beneath the soul” and regaled us with “stories from the dark side.”
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I AM EXCITED ABOUT THIS. As long time Bukowski fan and poetry reader, this is a piece of art I can really get on board with. This isn't the first time Charles Bukowski has been brought to the musical arena. In 2010 the musical "Bukowsical" came out (a musical about Charles Bukowski). Carnegie Mellon has a lot of alumni and many of them are tied to a ridiculous number of musicals and productions. This considered, I won't comment on it. I'll just leave it at this: it exists. Poetry has a natural rhythm to it that makes it often times very conducive to music. I think it's a brilliant idea to put Charles Bukowski's work to music because I think it gets the art out to the masses while respecting the integrity of the original poem. Yes, I'm a Charles Bukowski fan through and through, but his work can be tough to read. It's not the kind of work you want to read on the beach on a nice day, it's more like the kind of work you read while everything around you turns grey and you get rained on. I think that if put to music, Bukowski's words will reach many more people because it could be an easier way to hear/read/appreciate them for many.
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