Hotel Chelsea

In the organizer's words:

A performative-musical homage to probably the most famous hotel in the world

"And I remember you well in Chelsea Hotel. You were famous, your heart was a legend. You told me again you preferred handsome men. But for me, you would make an exception." (Leonard Cohen about Janis Joplin in his song Chelsea Hotel #2)

For over a hundred years, the Chelsea Hotel in the heart of New York was regarded as THE legendary "artists' hotel" par excellence. Thanks to its extravagance, it was home to the art and music scene of the sixties, seventies and eighties. They were all there: Leonard Cohen, Patti Smith, Janis Joplin, The
Ramones, The Doors, The Sex Pistols and Arthur C. Clarke wrote the screenplay for
wrote the screenplay for Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

And today? Inside, the electrifying current that tirelessly drives people to be creative is still flowing. An energy that has been driving the old-established inhabitants mad for decades. In the process, they wander through the art and music history of a troubled country along old corridors full of darkness and lies. They encounter the strange, the funny, the tragic, the famous and the obscure, they all live in a haunted palace and their stories are eager to be told. Painters, filmmakers
makers, writers and musicians, they are all driven by sleepless nights full of desire and obsession. The only elevator in the house descends into the abyss again and again. A murderer creeps towards room 101 and ghosts organize a concert on the roof, whose audience are the dead of times long past ...

Director, performer and author Stef Lernous has written a homage to the Chelsea Hotel. The performance, consisting of ensemble members from Mechelen and Kassel, creates a dreamlike maelstrom of live music, art and text.

Stef Lernous has already worked twice in Kassel, with The Metamorphosis and The Physicists he has already given us the shivers. Follow the call of the strange! You have earned this pleasure! The time has come: the hotel welcomes you!

The play is a German-Belgian co-production and is supported by the Flemish Community "Flanders - State of the Art" and the "Tax Shelter" measure of the Belgian government. Co-production of Perpodium vzw.