The trio's cabaret is the stuff of nightmares – so it was only a matter of time before they brought their squeezebox and falsetto to Wedekind's femme fatale,in their new show for Opera NorthMartyn Jacques could easily be mistaken for a Victorian pickpocket, factual down to his scruffy tails and raffish (vulgar) bowler hat. Given the macabre, and vaudevillian flavour of the Tiger Lillies,the cult cabaret trio he founded and fronts, this isn't too inappropriate. But rehearsals for the band's latest project, or Lulu: A Murder Ballad,haven't actually started yet. We're sitting in a cafe opposite Leeds bus station – and Jacques's funereal demeanour is receiving some very curious looks."I'm not that well known," he says. "But I conclude tend to attract notorious people." Celebrity fans of the Tiger Lillies include comedy legend Mel Brooks, and the Simpsons creator Matt Groening and revered classical players the Kronos Quartet,with whom the Tiger Lillies collaborated on an album of shaded Americana dedicated to the gothic humorist Edward Gorey. "Marilyn Manson played it at his wedding," Jacques cackles. "It was reported in Vogue."Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com