Amber Iman Finally Gets to Play the Love Interest in ‘Lempicka’
Performers
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Written by Carson Kreitzer and Matt Gould and directed by Hadestown Tony winner Rachel Chavkin, Lempicka has starred Eden Espinosa as the title character since its world premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2018. Carmen Cusack played Rafaela in that mounting, but when she couldn’t continue with the musical’s development, Gould asked Iman, a longtime collaborator and friend, to step in. She’s been with the show ever since, including its well-received , and her feedback has been integral to her character’s evolution.
“A writer is writing 12 characters for a show, but my job is just Rafaela,” Iman says. “Because I’m inside of it, I’m seeing where the holes are. My job in the rehearsal room is to ask questions, to say, ‘I need information, and I think the audience needs that information as well.'”
Iman’s queries about Rafaela’s motivations, particularly why she gets romantically involved with the married artist instead of taking the money for posing and running, inspired Lempicka‘s writers to pen the song “Stay,” which shares a bit of the character’s rough upbringing and why she longs for love and companionship.
While Rafaela’s body was immortalized in Lempicka’s canvases, her story has been lost to time. That’s why her namesake character in the musical has been created whole cloth. “Tamara painted Rafaela seven times in one year. She had a huge impact on Tamara’s life,” Iman says. “She probably was a sex worker. That’s all we know. For Carson Kreitzer, our brilliant book writer, to take that tidbit of information and create a three-dimensional character is what we love; it is the reason I’m here.”
The historic Rafaela was white and European, but that’s beside the point for the African American Iman. After all, Lempicka is not a documentary. “Crawling inside of Rafaela, being able to create out of thin air how she moves, how she walks, how she breathes… that’s a challenge that I welcome,” she says. “It’s an honor to be the keeper of this person.”
She appreciates the opportunity to play such a rich, sensual role since she knows from experience that some entertainment industry gatekeepers see her race before her talent and can’t picture her in certain parts. She recalls her Shuffle Along costar, Billy Porter, telling her: “They aren’t gonna know what to do with you, so you need to figure out a way to keep yourself busy, so you don’t lose your mind while they figure it out.”
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Regina Robbins is a writer, director, native New Yorker and Jeopardy! champion. She has worked with several NYC-based theatre companies and is currently a Core Company Member with Everyday Inferno Theatre.