Tiger Lillies to release Lulu, homage to Pandora's Box and Louise Brooks

The Tiger Lillies are a British Grammy-nominated three piece band with a cult following who have toured the world with works of musical theater including Shockheaded Peter and The Gorey End; they have also released nearly 30 CDs, and, it turns out, been inspired by Louise Brooks.

Due out soon is Lulu, their homage to the actress and her role as Lulu in Pandora's Box. Here is a video clip, shot in Russia, this past September. The Tiger Lillies are seen performing a song (or two) from their forthcoming release.

According to an article in the St Petersburg Times (a Russian newspaper)

Speaking in a backroom of Helsinkibar during the band’s September visit, Jacques said the new album and show, “Lulu – A Murder Ballad,” is based on Frank Wedekind’s plays,“Earth Spirit” (1895) and “Pandora’s Box” (1904).

The plays follow Lulu, a social climber turned prostitute in Berlin, Paris and London at the turn of the century, and inspired Georg Wilhelm Pabst’s 1929 silent film “Die Büchse der Pandora” (Pandora’s Box) starring Louise Brooks as Lulu. The plays also served as inspiration for Austrian composer Alban Berg’s 1935 opera “Lulu,” which was left uncompleted at the time of the composer’s death and premiered as a complete opera nearly forty-four years after Berg’s death. A collaborative album by Lou Reed and Metallica, “Lulu,” was also inspired by the plays and was released to mixed reviews in 2011. “We’ll do quite a lot of ‘Lulu’ songs,” Jacques told The St. Petersburg Times.

Commissioned by Opera North, the national opera company for the north of England and written by Jacques, the 20-song show “Lulu – A Murder Ballad” will premiere in London in January.