DIVAS

A dancical about three of the world’s greatest female stars.
Peter Schaufuss has created a dancical that portrays three of the world’s greatest entertainers: Edith Piaf, Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland.
DIVAS focuses on the art and individuality of the three women and their differences in character. The Peter Schaufuss Ballet presents the company’s first dancical in three acts.
Peter Schaufuss describes the three acts as individual pictures drawing inspiration from songs and lyrics. The performance is a mosaic of impressions conveying an image of the times. The grand piano with its lustrous black-and-white surface reflects all the colours of life. The set design is minimal, allowing the limelight to be focused on the entertainer and cabaret artists themselves. The costumes, on the other hand, are contemporary and reflect the time and place of these great female entertainers.

French cabaret singer. Signature tunes: Non, je ne regrette rien, La Vie en Rose, Milord
Edith Piaf was literally born in the gutter. But with amazing effort and enormous talent she became one of France’s greatest stars. She began her singing career at the early age of 15 in the streets and cafés of Paris and was soon asked to perform in a cabaret. Fame soon followed in the wake of Piaf’s numerous performances at nightclubs across Europe and the USA. She appeared in several movies, among them Le Bel Indifférent (1940), which was originally a theatre play dedicated to her by Jean Cocteau. Her very emotional and powerful voice was extremely expressive.  Her rendition of Georges Moustaki’s Milord was particularly loved by the international audience.

Edith Piaf, a victim of an awful childhood, was only 147 cm in height. She ate and drank her way through life and indulged in alcohol and men in abundance. She lived life to the full and paid the price. Broken, addicted to morphine, rheumatic and almost bald she forced herself on stage to sing Non, je ne regrette rien (I have no regrets)...

German cabaret singer and actress. Feature films: Der Blaue Engel, Morocco, Shanghai Express.

Marlene Dietrich turned to German cabaret and film early in her career. She originally aspired to become a concert violinist but had to abandon the idea following a wrist injury. In 1930, Marlene Dietrich experienced her breakthrough with a lead part in the first German talking movie, Der Blaue Engel. Immediately after the premiere she left her husband and child and followed the film director Josef von Sternberg to Hollywood where a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures was in the making. During this period, Dietrich and von Sternberg shot seven feature films, among them Morocco, Shanghai Express and The Devil is a Woman. Together they created and staged Marlene Dietrich’s glamorous image. However, the partnership came to an end following the box-office failure of The Devil is a Woman. After having rejected a generous offer from Joseph Goebbels during the early years of Nazism she worked for directors such as Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles.

After World War II, she was decorated by America and France for her commitment to entertaining the troops during the war. The following 25 years, Marlene Dietrich performed as a celebrated entertainer the world over. She performed in Glassalen in Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen in 1967. She retired in 1976 to a reclusive existence and died in 1992.

American cabaret singer and actress. Signature tunes: Over the Rainbow. Feature films: The Wizard of Oz, Meet me in St. Louis and Easter Parade.

Judy Garland was introduced to show business at the early age of two when she performed in several hundred live radio shows with her two older sisters. She then embarked on a very active TV and movie career. She was awarded an Oscar and nominated for several others. Movies and TV were not the only places where she enjoyed success. She appeared in more than 1100 theatre and nightclub performances and concerts. She won a special Tony Award for the first of three Broadway shows at The Palace. Additionally, she recorded a host of singles and albums. Judy of Carnegie Hall was awarded as many as five Grammys in 1962, including Album of the Year.

Her part as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz made Judy Garland an overnight megastar, loved and admired by millions worldwide. Hiding behind her beautiful, self-assured appearance and her amazing voice was a shy and delicate young girl. No one had prepared her for the consequences of stardom, and soon drugs and alcohol became her solace in life. The rest of her career was a rollercoaster of scandals and comebacks.