In 1954, the Cole Porter Musical Silk Stockings, based on the Ernst Lubitsch movie Ninotchka starring Greta Garbo, premiered on Broadway. The Garbo part of a frigid, Russian party official was played to great acclaim by a German actress who had been plucked by Hollywood (and put on ice): Hildegard Neff.
During the 2-year run, Neff, who had never sung onstage before, utterly destroyed her vocal chords and developed a unique, smokey singing style that caused Ella Fitzgerald to quip: "Hildegard Neff is the world's greatest singer without a voice".
Neff would later become one of Germany's most beloved singer/songwriters of the 60s and 70s.
This Friday, Isengart is honored to interpret a couple of songs from Silk Stockings at a downtown tribute to Cole Porter, produced by Burlesque star Amber Ray and featuring a wide array of burlesque and cabaret performers, backed by the excellent jazz band Grandpa Musselman and his Syncopators.
LET'S MISBEHAVE IN THE FLESH
A COLE PORTER TRIBUTE
Friday, January 30
10:30 PM
The Living Theatre
21 Clinton Street
Lower East Side, NYC
$25
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