Lee Miller - Die Frau in Hitlers Badewanne
- Christine Klimaschka
- 29. Mai
- 14 Min. Lesezeit
Aktualisiert: 3. Juni
TEXT & INTERVIEW: CHRISTINE KLIMASCHKA
Was bleibt von einem Leben? Was bleibt vom Leben einer Frau, deren Dasein sich im Spannungsfeld dieser zwei Zitate bewegt hat: „I would rather take a photograph than be one“ und „At the end of my life I felt like a cow having been milked dry”. Beide Sätze stammen von Lee Miller und damit von einer der bemerkenswertesten Künstlerinnenpersönlichkeiten des 20. Jahrhunderts. Lee Miller (1907 bis 1977) war Model, Muse der Surrealisten, surrealistische Künstlerin, Kriegsreporterin, Missbrauchsopfer und Fotografin (Die vielen Leben der Lee Miller) – ihre Aufnahmen, unter anderem von der Befreiung der Konzentrationslager Dachau und Buchenwald, machten aus ihr eine der bedeutendsten Kunstschaffenden, doch ihr Werk blieb lange vergessen. Erst in den letzten Jahren beschäftigten sich Dokumentarfilme, Ausstellungen und Veröffentlichungen mit dem Leben und den Arbeiten der Amerikanerin, der 2023 veröffentlichte Film Die Fotografin (im Original: Lee) mit Kate Winslet in der Hauptrolle verhalf ihr zu weiterer posthumer Anerkennung. (Eine Frage der Perspektive)
Das Thema Frauen und Kunst, Frauen in der Kunst, Frauen als Künstler*innen findet nun in Wien inspiriert durch Lee Miller eine künstlerische Fortsetzung im Genre Oper.
Als Auftragswerk und in Koproduktion mit Needcompany, dem von Jan Lauwers mitbegründeten internationalen Künstlerkollektiv, bringt die Wiener Staatsoper am 1. Juni 2025 ein neues Musiktheaterwerk, eine tragische Kantate, im NEST (Neue Staatsoper im Künstlerhaus) zur Uraufführung: Lee Miller in Hitler’s Bathtub.
Ausgangspunkt der neuen Oper ist das ikonische Foto, für das Lee Miller sich 1945 nach dem Besuch des KZ Dachau in Hitlers Wohnung am Münchner Prinzregentenplatz in dessen Badewanne ablichten ließ: Ein Akt der Selbstbehauptung nach den erlebten Grausamkeiten.
Als Teil seiner Recherchen zu Wahrheit und Fotografie lag dieses Bild monatelang im Arbeitszimmer von Jan Lauwers und wurde Ausgangspunkt für die Oper Lee Miller in Hitler’s Bathtub, deren Libretto er, inspiriert von Opernsängerin Kate Lindsey und ihrer Zusammenarbeit an der Wiener Staatsoper für L’incoronazione di Poppea, sowie seiner Tochter, der Schauspielerin Romy Louise Lauwers, schrieb. Gemeinsam mit Komponist Maarten Seghers entstand ein neues Musiktheaterwerk über Kunst, Handwerk, Trauma, Erinnerung und die Frage, was es heißt, eine Frau und Muse zu sein: Eine Hommage an eine herausragende Künstlerin.
Jan Lauwers interessiert sich dabei für die Ambiguität der Figur Lee Millers als einer Frau und Künstlerin in einer patriarchalen Gesellschaft. Ihr Leben wird dabei nicht im Sinne einer klassischen Biografie nacherzählt, sondern dient als Ausgangspunkt für eine künstlerische Reflexion über die Rolle und Wahrnehmung weiblicher Kunstschaffender in der Gegenwart.
In der titelgebenden Rolle sind in der Uraufführungsproduktion zwei außergewöhnliche Darstellerinnen zu erleben: Romy Louise Lauwers und Kate Lindsey.
„Warum zwei Frauen auf der Bühne? Vor allem, weil ich keine Biografie schreiben wollte. Das Libretto ist das Porträt einer Frau, die sich am Ende ihres Lebens fühlte wie eine Kuh, aus der der letzte Tropfen Milch herausgemolken worden ist. Eine Frau im Schatten vieler, vieler Männer. Berühmter Männer. Berüchtigter Männer. Ich wollte ein Porträt von ihr erschaffen, in dem es nicht mehr nur um Lee geht, sondern in dem sie für die vielen zum Schweigen gebrachten Frauen in der Kunstgeschichte steht." Jan Lauwers
Kate Lindsey ist eine der besten und facettenreichsten Sängerinnen unserer Zeit. Die Mezzosopranistin debütierte 2014 an der Wiener Staatsoper, wo sie bisher in zahlreichen Partien Erfolge feierte, so etwa als Nerone in Jan Lauwers’ Inszenierung von L’incoronazione di Poppea oder zuletzt als Charlotte in Werther. Sie an den renommiertesten Opernhäusern der Welt zu Gast. Die vielseitige belgische Künstlerin Romy Louise Lauwers ist Schauspielerin, Tänzerin und Autorin, arbeitet regelmäßig mit der Needcompany zusammen und gibt mit Lee Miller in Hitler’s Bathtub ihr Staatsoperndebüt.
Wir haben die beiden Frauen zu einem Gespräch über den Female Gaze – auch in Hosenrollen – getroffen, über das Spannungsfeld zwischen Kunstschaffenden und künstlerischem Objekt, Feminismus im Showbiz und die Wichtigkeit weiblicher Rolemodels.
The female gaze is a topic we are frequently discussing in our articles and in this respect we consider Lee Miller extremely interesting as a woman and as an artist. During my research I entered Lee Miller in Google search, and this is what you get:
The photo of Lee Miller in Hitler’s bathtub. But what I find even more amazing is how she is described: American model. This is how the information about her is labeled, and this is how she is defined. I find that rather disappointing, because that’s not at all what she was. The photo, actually taken by David E. Sherman, has become her most famous legacy. So, in your opinion: was it her ultimate masterpiece or her ultimate defeat? Did she do something extremely clever by directing and manipulating the spectator’s gaze, or was she playing by the (male) rules by placing the beautiful woman at the center of a photo, following the motto sex sells?
Romy Lauwers: I think she was smart. I'm quite sure that she very intentionally arranged this photo. I think it's a beautiful way of being provocative. I personally have a bit of a hate-love relationship with provocation (laughs). And I think this was the real wise way to provoke. So I'm sure it was intentional. Everything about it.
Kate: I completely agree. On the bathroom mat, you can see the dirt and dust from the concentration camp. They had just come from Dachau. Imagine what she has seen and imagine the horror and the trauma of experiencing and documenting that. So you're actually in it, but you're also stepping back to get the right photo. So I think of her walking into that scene in the bathroom and she's still kind of in that mindset after what she has experienced and there are no rules anymore like what's right and what's wrong. Insanity is sanity. And she was known for her beautiful nude photos, and what a strong artistic move to put yourself in this situation after all this horror in the nude, it's, it's like, how do you describe it? It's like two glaciers, you know, sort of crashing against each other. I think she knew exactly what she was doing.
Romy: I think she's very aware and I think she's also beyond nudity. I don't think that's a statement for her that she's naked in the bathtub, that is really, like a minor detail. If you read the articles she wrote for Vogue, she is so witty. She's very precise with her humor and sometimes funny when it comes to her art. I think humor is the wisest way to communicate and I'm pretty sure that she really saw the humor of that moment. It's so insane that it becomes funny.
Jan Lauwers wrote this piece especially for you, Kate. He says that he admires your radical freedom. And also you Romy as an artist, you are very free spirited. Is that radical freedom an artistic topic where you both connect and also connect to Lee Miller?
Kate: I think we're really different too, we have really different minds. We are two people together on stage playing one person, and in that process, we also need to adapt to what the other person needs. We're more aligned than we probably even realized in that way. Although it's also been challenging at times, because you, Romy, as an actress, can start very easily from a very open, free place. For me, in terms of process — especially with a piece like this — it pushes me out of my comfort zone of opera per se, which I find super interesting. But then it's also combined with very technical and complex music. And so I find that where Romy can go into the free space from the start, I have to figure out the structure first. I'm always much better if I understand the structure, and then my artistic freedom comes from that place. I'm always working with the music underneath. And so if the music is well composed, it provides a real subtext for the character.
Romy: It's the first time we're working with each other, so we really have to get to know each other. We're going quite fast in that. I totally see what Jan saw in Kate and why he thought we could be a good match — because we are both so willing to explore. I think it's amazing that you, Kate, have this incredibly refined singing technique but also use body expression. That combination is very special.
When I’m working, my goal is always to portray — to honor — the person I impersonate. But I will always honor myself as well, as an artist, as Romy. On stage, I always aim — without it being arrogant — to express my opinion, my story, what I think of this story, what I feel. That’s very important to me.
Kate, do you think your background in sports psychology contributes to the way you express yourself so vividly?
Kate: I think it definitely helped me through a period of trying to find more freedom on stage. With acting, I have to organize myself around the music, but if I work with the music correctly, I can feel the support it provides — and I can use that in the right way. It becomes a vehicle for me and the character.
With spoken text, you have to create the music within it. You have to create your own rhythm, and that feels very exposed.
What works in the relationship with Jan and Romy is that the art form can encompass more than just the very classic sense of what opera is. The art form can expand into other things — we can experiment with what the art form can do.
Going back to the phrase naked and to Lee Miller and nudity: as women, we are always looked at. In the system we live in, we are validated by our appearance — we are constantly being evaluated. And for you, as actresses and singers, being looked at is part of your job. How do you cope with that? Is being looked at and expressing oneself also a form of power — or is it a burden?
Romy: I think it's a power — it's a way to take control. When I'm on stage, I see my body as a tool to create images. I have one layer — my voice — through which I act, and then I have another layer — my body — with which I can show a lot of images. In a way, it's actually easier, because with the voice I have to use emotions, but with my body, I can express many emotions without actually feeling them.
I try to really let go of my ego and all kinds of vanity. That allows me to see my body as something objective — a tool for creating images. And that gives me so many possibilities: freedom and control. I think it's a gift.
Kate: It’s during the rehearsal period when you can freely experiment in a safe space. After you’ve been working in this way, then it’s much easier to begin to bring that personal creation out into the open for other people to finally see. For me, that’s an important process to have in building a new piece. I’m an introvert, so I have to work through that in my experimentationsin the rehearsal room so that by the time we have an audience I’m not fighting against that part of myself anymore. I’ve always struggled with the artifice of the image of the opera singer. I've always felt it doesn't work for me. I think it works for other singers, but there's a certain expectation of how you present yourself as an opera singer and that's gone back for generations. Walking into the room and doing the glamorous thing. Basicallywhat happens is that the image overtakes the ability to inhabit something else fully because you're constantly conscious of the image that you’ve built up for yourself rather than the art itself. For me, it just doesn't feel super authentic. And as I get
older I’m less and less interested in maintaining any image of myself that feels unauthentic.
Romy: It's funny how it immediately becomes so much about beauty, about glamour, about having to get dressed up. For me, that’s a no-go. That’s what I meant when I talked about letting go of vanity. There is no reason to be afraid of being ugly on stage, because ugly doesn’t exist. Especially when you’re naked — you cannot be ugly, it’s just a body.
Every body is so interesting and beautiful; a body cannot be ugly. Clothes can be ugly. So for me, on stage, it’s so important to get rid of all these standard ideas and find freedom in your physicality — because then you can do so much more.
You are 30. I guess you are 44. I’m 57. I wasn’t brought up to these standards. I always had to behave nicely, look nicely. It’s very interesting for me to hear from you how you feel about that. And thank you for being so open.
Romy: I don't think it has anything to do with age, by the way. I think you can get very stuck on having to be beautiful in your twenties as well.
Kate: It's not a system that is built to support the aging body. And that's hard. I think not a lot of women even feel comfortable enough to talk about it, openly. I think we are sort of brought up to adhere to this ideal female image. And eventually most of us hit this point in our lives when we just want to be as we are. Then we have this inner fight with ourselves. How do you straddle that line between society's expectations and your own desires?
Romy: For me, it’s so much easier on stage than in life. There’s a big difference. I’m not a very naked person in the world. On stage, I love playing with my body. Being looked at in life, like in a café, is annoying — but on stage, if you’re not looking, I’m like: “Hello, I’m right here!”
Romy Lauwers & Kate Lindsey | Fotos: Christina Kaiser
As we were just talking about expectations, all of us here sitting around the table are mums. Kate, you have a son, Romy, you have two daughters, Christina has two daughters, and I have one daughter and two sons.
How do we, as women, raise our kids — our daughters and our sons? I don’t want to sound pathetic, but how can we make things better? How can we help them grow up in a society where we truly have equality, not just talk about it? How do we do this?
Romy: We are all role models, and I believe our children learn by the way we live.
Kate: I grew up in a pretty old-fashioned family. It was a very patriarchal system. And I’m grateful to my parents, who somehow knew they could encourage me to explore a world beyond that.
Having played a lot of trouser roles in opera (where I play boys), I’ve spent a lot of time getting into the physicality of being a guy. And having played soccer for years — I played with the boys until I was 11 — I had to be one of them.
It’s interesting how you move through the world when you’re working with your masculine side. I think it’s a valuable thing to be able to play with and model for our children: being able to say, „You have both sides in you. You might have been born a boy, but you have your inner feminine, your soft side — and both sides are okay to express and explore.”
We won’t judge you if you need to cry as a boy. Boys are allowed to cry. You’re a girl and want to play with the boys? Then go do it and show them who’s boss.
You know my proudest moment? I initially hated being the only girl on the soccer team with these boys. But then I started to excel on the team — doing better than the boys, scoring goals. Suddenly, I realized I could go head-to-head with every guy on that playing field, and they began to respect me. I felt such a strong sense of power from that, even as a little girl of six years old.
And another thing about raising a boy: we are quite mindful that my voice is respected just as much as my husband’s when I say something.
Romy: I know what you mean. It's not that he has the last word. It's also. Mom has the last word.
Kate: Exactly. Make space for mom’s voice. Everyone is to be respected. And we want him to be brought up with a clear respect towards girls and women in his life.
Romy: I think it’s about just trying to be honest with them, trying to see them for who they are, and not judging them.
Lee Miller had a special relationship with her father, which seems to have been extremely problematic. Romy, speaking of father-daughter relationships, how do you work with your dad? Can you switch between the roles of daughter and professional?
Romy: We are beyond the father daughter role when we're working. I just feel we know each other very well. There's a big trust. I think that's what you would feel more than me being his daughter. We've been working together for a long time
For how long have you been working together?
Romy: I started when I was 17. I think that's how we found each other. How we know each other. How we can see each other, I think that is really our relationship. I think we still don't know how we are in a not working kind of situation.
Kate: It's interesting to observe because he really listens to you. And he respects your thoughts and ideas. That play father to daughter is quite interesting because that's quite rare. But would you say that you serve as a muse for him as well?
Romy: I would hate those words.
Kate: He wants to work with you. He wants to create with you.
Romy: Trust and freedom really is the ultimate thing to have in order to achieve something. So I think we both are super lucky to have that and to have that loyalty towards each other.
You were talking about trust and support in your work. These days, one reads a lot about women supporting women. How do you experience that in real life?
Kate: From the operatic perspective, for me a lot depends on how I walk into the rehearsal room because that sets the tone for what happens. I know what my goal is: to create a creatively safe space for everyone in the room.
If there are difficult personalities, what calms down the diva stuff is actually befriending the fear inside that person that’s creating the situation, and having some level of compassion — this is very psychological — for the child inside them who is going through something.
That’s what I do with conductors too, because I have to see the child inside them as well and try to understand what they really need to feel safe or in control. So I have to get myself to a compassionate place, even when sometimes what I really want to do is tell them to stop picking on me! (laughs)
When it comes to women supporting other women, for me it’s about supporting the process and the people in the room, so everyone feels empowered to do what they need to do.
Another factor is that there’s a deeper level of professionalism and respect in the creative space nowadays. Compared to past generations, I feel people simply behave better with each other in terms of professionalism.
Romy:: I'm all for being supportive. I think we have to be.
What's the biggest question you have about Lee Miller’s life?
Kate: My husband makes documentary films, and he’s gone into conflict zones. He was in Syria, Gaza, the West Bank, and Ukraine.
It’s hard to understand that drive to go straight into danger, even when you’re really close to that person. They want to find the story that needs to be told.
The camera becomes like a lens of safety, somehow, through which you can see the world — always looking for the perfect shot that will illuminate the story.
Romy: “What the fuck!” is my question. What the hell are you doing? What are you thinking?
I think it’s so strange to become a war photographer in the first place. And I think it’s incredibly brave that she said, “I’m going to take this picture, put it in Vogue, and tell this story. Show the world what happened.”
I have so much respect for her, but I just don’t get it.
Uraufführung: 1. Juni 2025, 15.00 Uhr
Weitere Termine: 3. & 4. (10:30 Uhr) / 5. (19.00 Uhr) / 6. (19.00 Uhr) / 7. (15.00 Uhr) / 9. (11 Uhr) Juni 2025
NEST – Neue Staatsoper im Künstlerhaus | Karlsplatz 5, 1010 Wien
