Why ‘Lempicka’ is a Must-See: A Deep Dive Into the Art and Life of an Icon

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The curtain rises on a bench in a Los Angeles park in 1975, where an elderly socialite sits before a blank canvas and looks back on her life. Musical Lempicka stage-rails the tempestuous life of the real-life Art Deco icon Tamara de Lempicka with bold theatricality.

Born into the distinguished Lempicki family and married to Tadeusz, Tamara enjoyed the comforts of aristocratic life. The Bolshevik Revolution forced her into exile in Paris and upended everything. To support her family, she picked up a brush and reinvented herself as an artist. The show confronts, without flinching, one woman’s desires, struggles and uncompromising devotion to art amid tumultuous modern history.

The production’s stage design is the first thing that seizes your attention. Cold, elegant linear structures create the backdrop while tactile lighting drenches the space in color, visually realizing the Art Deco aesthetic. The set—inspired by Lempicka’s paintings—functions as a painting in its own right. Small frames set on either side of the stage present her works and period footage in a compact, organic sequence that follows the drama’s flow. It’s a choice that gives the play dimensionality rather than serving as mere wallpaper, revealing a director’s refined visual sensibility.

Blank expressions, distant gazes, smooth surfaces and sharp lines render sensual women. Like Lempicka’s canvases, the musical speaks frankly about desire. It refuses to flatten her into a simple success story or a passive victim of history. Instead, it renders her as a layered figure navigating love, ambition and survival through the upheavals of the Russian Revolution and World War II. The line, “You can’t change the world. The only thing you can change is a square canvas,” embodies a woman who accepts limits while concentrating on what she can shape.

Kim Sun-young, who plays Lempicka, described the role as “very complex.” “She’s an icon who led a dramatic, glamorous life,” Kim said, “but I found something universal in her.” She added, “A woman trying to live true to herself within the conditions she’s given offers modern audiences a way to see themselves.”

The score completes the production with both force and variety. Crossing rock, R&B and other genres, it stamps the protagonist’s passion amid historical upheaval onto the audience’s ears and hearts. Standout numbers like “Woman Is” and “The New Woman” are tributes to Rafaela—Lempicka’s muse—and to the many women who affirmed themselves and lived autonomously through chaotic times.

The actors’ performances make a sometimes selfish, often baffling Lempicka feel persuasive and urgent. Kim Sun-young, Park Hye-na and Jung Sun-ah each bring distinct facets to the title role, while Cha Ji-yeon, Rina and Son Seung-yeon as Rafaela unleash sensual, kinetic energy with breathtaking vocal power. Composer Matt Gould said, “When I first saw the Korean actors’ performances, I cried my eyes out.”

Discovering Lempicka’s paintings woven into the production is one of the show’s rewards. In the final scene, her major works appear on stage, layering life and art into a single tableau. Director Rachel Chavkin said, “Lempicka elevated fragile humans on the canvas and made them symbolic, even divine. Our goal was to capture the raw energy of her paintings onstage while honoring the women she painted.”

The show premiered on Broadway in 2024 and earned three Tony nominations that year, including Best Actress and Best Featured Actress. This Asian premiere has tightened the production since Broadway—several scenes have been reinforced, and the overall polish has improved. It runs at COEX Artium’s Woori Bank Hall through June 21.