UTE LEMPER COMMANDS THE ELEMENTS.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

``Truly we live in dark, dark times,'' exclaimed cabaret great Ute Lemper before shedding her long coat to reveal a slinky black dress and launching into a rocking version of ``Alabama Song,'' better-known as ``Whiskey Bar.''

But, watching the blond, German-born Lemper's wildly expressive show at the Conga Room on Wednesday night (the first of three evenings) might lead you to the conclusion that things aren't that dark.

She turned the Brecht-Weill staple from ``The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagony'' into a three-act odyssey, moving from rock to funk and to a bluesy jazz. Then at the end, Lemper switched the line from, ``We must have whiskey, oh you know why,'' to, ``We must have dollars, oh you know why,'' a commentary - in Brechtian fashion - on crass consumerism.

When you use the phrase ``perform a song'' with Lemper, the emphasis is on perform. Lemper doesn't just sing; every song is acted out - really acted out. She's an amazing sight on stage, as even the raising of her eyebrows is part of the act. Not that Lemper doesn't have an exquisite voice, she does - perhaps not as perfect as some, but one of pure artistry.

Her show is part musical monologue, part travelogue, with Lemper moving you through time and space. She began with a gypsy song (one of her latest interests) before moving to ``Buenos Aires,'' by Argentine tango great Astor Piazzolla, from her new album, ``But One Day.'' Throughout the evening, there were stops in the Weimar Republic of the 1920s, vamping it up with ``Sex Appeal,'' a Yiddish song, a Russian song, a snatch of ``Lili Marlene.'' She also did Joni Mitchell's ``Black Crow'' and Jacques Brel's ``Amsterdam,'' as well as one of her own, ``Lena.'' Between tunes, Lemper pattered on as she amusingly and intelligently conducted you on the trip.

At the end, Lemper returned to Brecht-Weill with a jazzy ``Mack the Knife,'' a la Bob Fosse, complete with a bowler hat, and for an encore, ``The Bilbao Song'' from ``Happy End.'' And indeed it was a happy evening.