Le Pustra

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Le Pustra
Also known asMadame Le Pustra
GenresCabaret, Actor, Varieté
Occupation(s)Performance artist, singer, actor
Years active2006 (2006)–Present
Associated actsAmanda Palmer, The Tiger Lillies, Klaus Nomi, Joe Black (drag queen), Marlene Dietrich
MembersPerformers: Le Pustra.

Le Pustra (born 1 July 1977) is an actor, singer and queer kunstfigur who has performed in European cabaret and variety since 2006 but is best known as the creative director of Le Pustra's Kabarett der Namenlosen. Le Pustra uses elements of Theatre, Drag and Fashion in his work and seen often in macabre white face make-up, resembling a Weimar porcelain doll or Pierrot.

Early life[]

Le Pustra was born in South Africa and in 2000 emigrated to the United Kingdom to pursue a career in musical theater. Le Pustra emerged on the London underground cabaret and variety scene in 2006.

Le Pustra's Kabarett Der Namenlosen[]

In 2012, Le Pustra created a contemporary reimagining of the cabarets and nightclubs from 1920's Berlin, entitled Le Pustra's Kabarett der Namenlosen[1][2] or Cabaret of the Nameless, featuring selected music from Friedrich Hollaender, Mischa Spoliansky, and Kurt Weill. In 2016 the project was restaged and developed in Berlin. The original show, entitled Kabarett der Namenlosen was a notorious but popular cabaret in Weimar-era Berlin from 1926 till 1932 and created by Erich Lowinsky also known by his stage name: "Elow". In October 2017, Le Pustra and the cast of Kabarett der Namenlosen performed "Das lila Lied" for the BBC Four series Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein.[3] in 2016 and 2017 American Artist, Ella Guru created two large oil paintings inspired by the show. In 2018, Irish artist Alana Richards created a series of paintings and an art exhibition based on the show's characters entitled: Morphium: Hallucinations of a Kabarett.[4]

Babylon Berlin[]

In 2020, Le Pustra made his television debut as Edwina Morell, the mysterious owner of the Luxor nightclub in season 3 of the award-winning German crime drama Babylon Berlin. Le Pustra will reprise his role in season 4 due to premiere in 2022.

Film and Television appearances[]

In 2014, Le Pustra appeared in Director Shelly Love's fantasy film The Fallen Circus[5] playing a latex-clad villain and can also be heard on the film's score as a guest musical saw player. Le Pustra's costume was designed by Oliver Garcia who have worked on films such as Maleficent and Hugo. In October 2017, Le Pustra and the cast of Kabarett der Namenlosen performed "Das lila Lied" for the BBC Four series Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein.[3] In 2018, Le Pustra appeared on Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown[6] Season 11 (Episode 6) which aired on CNN.

Music videos[]

Le Pustra performed as two characters in the music video for Black for the Occasion[7] by Faroese artist, Heiðrik á Heygum. He also appeared in the 2007 music video "Starz in their Eyes" by British recording artist Just Jack.

Theatre, Variety and Cabaret[]

In early 2011, Le Pustra co-produced and wrote a Vaudevillian all-male show entitled 'Villains'[8] which was produced in Rome's Teatro Palladium. RuPaul’s Drag Race UK contestant Joe Black (drag queen) co-starred in the show. The show returned to Rome for one night only on 5 September 2011 at the Villa Celimontana Festival.[9]

On 23 October 2012, Le Pustra was invited by Amanda Palmer to join a live musical saw performance (dubbed a Saw-chestra) and accompanying Neil Gaiman's live rendition of Leon Payne's song "Psycho". The Saw-chestra members included Le Pustra, Victor Victoria from musical duo, EastEnd Cabaret and Adrian Stout from cult Cabaret group, The Tiger Lillies.

Other Cabaret appearances include The Royal Academy of Arts, Skibo Castle, Wilton's Music Hall, The Box (London), Venice Carnival, Life Ball (Vienna), Södra Teatern (Stockholm), Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Wintergarten Varieté (Berlin), Madame JoJo's (London), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Schirn Kunsthalle (Frankfurt), [10] Coney Island[11] (New York) and Perth World Fringe Festival,[12]

Club nights include The Face by the late, Steve Strange, Torture Garden, Act ART and Club Room Service by drag queen DJ and party promoter Jodie Harsh.

Fashion, Books and Art[]

In 2010, Le Pustra produced and directed a fashion video for Serbian designer Marko Mitanovski which were screened at London Fashion Week, London's Selfridges and Malaysian International Fashion Week. The short fashion film, Mr Pustra’s Lament Act II was selected to screen at Diane Pernet's Film Festival, 'A Shaded View on Fashion Film' in Milan, Italy in June 2012. That same year Le Pustra walked in London Fashion Week for designer Ziad Ghanem[13] and was invited back the following year. Le Pustra also modeled for up-and-coming fashion designer Ivana Pilja in 2013 and they collaborated once again for Berlin Alternative Fashion Week in September 2015 and March 2016. Other credits include a fashion campaign for Air Berlin, a cameo in the fashion film: 'The Dionysian' directed by Stephen Lally,

Le Pustra's image have been published in British and Italian Vogue,[14] Hunger Magazine,[15] Reuters,[16] French Playboy, I-D, Dark Beauty Magazine,[17] Spindle Magazine[18] and various published books on nightlife and clubbing culture including New Club Kids: London Party Fashion in the Noughties[19] by photographer, Oggy Yordanov, 'What Else Is in the Teaches of Peaches[20] by Peaches (musician) 'Night Flowers' by Damien Frost[21] 'Boy Story'[22] by Magnus Arrevad, 'In der Fremde: Pictures from Home' by Romeo Alaeff and 'The Fantastic World of Atelieri O. Haapala'.

In 2020 Le Pustra co-authored a chapter for the upcoming book Circus and the Avant-Gardes: History, Imaginary, Innovation[23] published by Routledge. The chapter, entitled Glam Clowning: From Dada to Gaga – A Conversation with Le Pustra explores the origin of the famous vinyl suit made famous by German countertenor and New Wave artist, Klaus Nomi.

Lectures[]

Le Pustra participated as a guest speaker for Educational Institutions including UCLA, Goethe-Institut, CIEE Berlin, University of Berlin and most recently, The Australian National University.

References[]

  1. ^ "Berlin's alternative nightlife, from cabaret to porno karaoke". The Independent. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  2. ^ Burshtein, Karen. "From Burlesque to Bauhaus, Here's Where to Find the Roaring '20s in Berlin Today". Vogue.com. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b "BBC Four – Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein". Bbc.co.uk.
  4. ^ "Sechs Wochenendtipps: Von Schnapsfestival bis Graffiti-Schau" (in German). Berliner Morgenpost. 2 March 2018.
  5. ^ "The Fallen Circus – Chapter One". Shellylove.co.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Here's what Tony and his guests had to say about Berlin". Explorepartsunknown.com. 6 June 2018.
  7. ^ "HEIDRIK - Black For The Occasion". YouTube. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Teatro Palladium, l'evento teatrale dell'anno: Villains". Roma Daily News (in Italian). 21 January 2011. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012.
  9. ^ "Villa Celimontana chiude la stagione con i Villains di Mr Pustra e Joe Black – Corriere Roma". Roma.corriere.it.
  10. ^ [1]
  11. ^ [2]
  12. ^ "Sideshow Macabré – OUTInPerth – LGBTIQ News and Culture – OUTInPerth – LGBTIQ News and Culture". outinperth.com.
  13. ^ "Exceptional models bring Matka Joanna to lifes". Retoxmagazine.com. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  14. ^ "PhotoVogue – Vogue". Vogue.
  15. ^ "Katy Kingston". Hungertv.com. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  16. ^ Hanschke, Hannibal. "In Berlin, the party goes on despite threat of club closures".
  17. ^ "Behind the Scenes with Le Pustra". Darkbeautymag.com. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  18. ^ "Spindle Magazine". Spindlemagazine.com.
  19. ^ "New club Kids by Oggy Yordanov – Waterstones". Waterstones.com.
  20. ^ Peaches; Talinski, Holger; Ono, Yoko; Page, Ellen; Stipe, Michael (16 July 2015). What Else Is in the Teaches of Peaches. Akashic Books. ASIN 1617753572.
  21. ^ "Merrellpublishers.com". Merrellpublishers.com. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  22. ^ "Magnus Arrevad Photography – It doesn't have to be boring". Boystory.org.
  23. ^ Jürgens, Anna-Sophie. Circus and the Avant-Gardes: History, Imaginary, Innovation (1st ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-0367757281.

External links[]

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