Also this issue:

On the Job
Publicist and performer Christine Barbush is taking on Philly’s arts scene.
-Trish Boppert

Modern Marvel
Munakata Shiko's prints illuminate the PMA.
-Susan Hagen

Camelot/Broadway Love Affair
-Debra Auspitz

Time/Travel
-Morgen Rossmair

Mary Knott
-Paul Burress

August 15-21, 2002

theater

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris

by David Anthony Fox

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in ParisThrough Aug. 25, Classic Theatre Productions at The Playground at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., 215-563-4330

Ah, Jacques Brel. In the 1950s, the street-wise style of this Belgian-born songwriter and singer captivated Paris. His little chansons, sardonic snapshots of love in all its bittersweetness, found their moment. Brel’s own sexy-ugly presence contributed to the love affair: photos of him with a cigarette inevitably clutched in his crooked teeth were omnipresent symbols of rakish chic (think Belmondo on a motorcycle).

A decade later two producers -- Eric Blau and Mort Shuman -- took the chance that Brel would prove equally popular in America. They translated a number of Brel songs into English, and fused them into an extended revue for four performers, calling it Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.

But would the material, which even in the vernacular retained its distinctly continental flavor, appeal to New Yorkers?

Bien sur. Jacques Brel was a smash hit, chalking up more than 1,800 performances at The Village Gate.

I was too young to catch the first wave of Brel-mania, but I certainly remember it continuing into the '70s. My friends and I played the cast album till it was more scratches than music. We smoked Gauloises, and fancied ourselves so much more sophisticated than our fellow high school classmates. (That they were listening to the likes of Creedence Clearwater contributed to our smugness.)

But can one go home again? Soon after, I discovered the songs of Brecht/Weill, Coward, Sondheim -- all more trenchant and cleverer than Brel's. Indeed, Brel's songs are the sort for which the French have an entire vocabulary (boulevardier, gamin, piquant), but by the 1980s the rest of the world found them merely twee. (Don't forget that the French also love Jerry Lewis. Now and then their collective sanity goes en vacances.)

I had thought Jacques Brel more or less gone for good. So imagine my surprise to find a 35th anniversary revival right here in Philly. I approached it with both nostalgia and trepidation. How would it all work now?

Pretty much like it always did. The more melodramatic pieces ("Next," "Amsterdam") feel dated, but the best songs ("Carousel," "If We Only Have Love," "Sons Of") retain their individuality and charm. There's not much binding together Jacques Brel, but it has a nice sense of forward momentum, and (at 90 minutes) doesn't overstay its welcome.

Part of the show's success is that it's always worked with all kinds of different performers: the more motley the crew, the better. You don't need a great voice to sing Brel, and you don't need to be a great actor. What you need is enthusiasm, sincerity and performance savvy, and the four singers in Classic Theatre Productions' show -- Rene Goodwin, Jennifer Governor, Zebediah Homison and John O'Hara -- all score the requisite points. Barry Brait wisely directs for speed and fluidity. He makes the single mistake of overstaging "Funeral Tango," but mostly keeps things elegantly simple. Ed Hagopian (on piano) and Robert Smith (percussion) provide fine support.

What was most pleasing about it all was the audience. On a stifling Sunday in August, the Adrienne was packed to capacity with a crowd that enthusiastically hung on every moment. For them, at least, the material clearly retains its magic.

Maybe it will for you too. In any event, the CTP presentation is more than adequate for those wishing to discover -- or revisit -- the Brel phenomenon.