Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris

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Musical dates
Title: Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Original language: English
Music: Jacques Brel
Lyrics: Mort Shuman , Eric Blue
Premiere: January 22, 1968
Place of premiere: The Village Gate , New York
Roles / people

4 singers (2 women, 2 men)

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris is an American musical by Mort Shuman and Eric Blau , the chansons of Jacques Brel rendered into English. The musical has no continuous storyline and presents the songs in the form of a revue . In the original version, which premiered on January 22, 1968 at The Village Gate , 26 pieces of music were performed. Later versions, recordings and film adaptations consisted of a different number and combination of songs.

content

The musical Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris has no ongoing plot. Rather, it consists of a series of independent songs based on originals by Belgian chansonnier Jacques Brel and translated into English by Mort Shuman and Eric Blau . It is therefore often referred to simply as a revue . John Wilson, the critic of the New York Times , spoke of the first musical without a libretto .

The cast consists of four singers, two women and two men, who, however, also do not embody any recurring roles. Instead, Scott Miller calls the piece a one-person musical for four people, a character study by Jacques Brels, his worldview and his wit. The general theme is the overpowering of people by life, from which they still do not let themselves get down. The bottom line lies in the last two songs: In Carousel the chaos and madness of the world run their climax, before If We Only Have Love resolves the conflicts and devises a positive solution.

The title Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (in German: "Jacques Brel is alive, he is fine and he lives in Paris") goes back to an idea of Nat Shapiro and parodies the post- WWII in the USA widespread warning " Hitler is alive and well and living in Argentina". The title of the musical was not changed after Brel's death in 1978 and has meanwhile become a common phrase in English.

History and premiere

Village Gate sign for the 25th anniversary of the musical

As early as 1960, the American music producer Nat Shapiro drew the attention of the writer and poet Eric Blau to a record by the Belgian chansonnier Jacques Brel. Blau translated the three chansons Marieke , La valse à mille temps (as Crazy Carousel ) and Ne me quitte pas (as If You Go Away ) for the actress and singer Elly Stone . The following year he designed a musical revue called O Oysters! into which he built the songs. They were sung by Elly Stone again, her partner was the young Jon Voight . The revue ran for three months at Village Hall in Greenwich Village , New York .

Six years later it was Shapiro again who brought Eric Blau and Elly Stone together with the musician Mort Shuman, who had also already translated some of Brel's chansons. The musical revue Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris was designed together, whereby the creative work lay mainly in the selection and order of the chansons. Shuman and Stone took on vocal parts. Shawn Elliott and Alice Whitfield were hired for the other roles . The substitute singer was Robert Guillaume . Directed by Moni Yakim .

The musical premiered on January 22, 1968 at The Village Gate . In Eric Blau's memory, only two reviews were positive and the rest of the press, including the mighty New York Times , panned the show. Production was about to end shortly after it started, but word of mouth resulted in a gradually growing audience. Eventually the New York Times also revised its judgment, and chief critic Clive Barnes wrote a hymn of praise. As a result, the Village Gate was sold out for four full years. By July 2, 1972, the production had a total of 1,847 performances. It ranked among the three off-Broadway musicals with the longest running time.

More productions

Production moved to Broadway in 1972 for 51 performances . An extension, for which, according to Scott Miller, offers from various theaters had been submitted, was rejected by the producers. The musical continued its success in numerous major cities in the United States and Canada, as well as in many other countries. There were more than 300 performances in Johannesburg , South Africa . The musical ran for two and a half years in Toronto , Canada . According to Eric Blau, there were several thousand productions in total. For the 5th anniversary of the musical, a special performance was organized in New York's Carnegie Hall , at which a total of 35 singers appeared and Brel himself spoke a few words to the audience as the evening's star guest.

In London's Covent Garden in 1988 a renewed version of the musical was launched, the lyrics and closer translated new to the Arnold Johnson on Brel'schen original. In 2006, a revival of the musical started again as an off-Broadway production at New York's Zipper Theater , in which the songs of the original were re-orchestrated, rearranged and in some cases replaced.

Adaptations

With the original cast of the world premiere, a double LP was released by Columbia Records in 1968 . This recording is missing three of the show's songs: The Statue , Girls and Dogs, and Middle Class . The arrangement of the songs also differs and has been expanded to include flute and trumpet. In 1975, a film adaptation appeared among others with Mort Shuman, Elly Stone and Joe Masiell and directed by Denis Héroux . Jacques Brel also appeared in the dialogue-free film and sang the French version of Ne me quitte pas . The film version contains additional chansons compared to the stage version, but Girls and Dogs are still missing . A recording of the full original version exists from a London production from 1994. Another film adaptation was made in 1974 by Danish television.

reception

According to Thomas Weick, the press reviews on the original 1968 production were mostly positive. Julius Novick described in The Village Voice : "This is one of the few entertainment events in New York that manages to leave you in a completely different mood than when you came home." The New York Times was critical, with one exception Shumans was dissatisfied with the performance of the actor. Variety added : “In order to be consistently satisfied, the show needs more pure brel and less jokes from the four actors.” On the other hand, John S. Wilson's second review in the New York Times was positive , according to which the singers “added the dramatic nuances in Represent Brel's songs so effectively that the original concert becomes a dramatic theatrical event. ” Finally, Time saw the“ Brel Show ”in its portrayal of human nature as“ one of the most powerful magnifying glasses available today. ”

According to Olivier Todd, the American audience was enthusiastic about the Belgian chansonnier. The songs were sung in churches and on peace marches. The American Bible Society called If We Only Have Love the motto for an international Bible Week from. The musical also enjoyed international success. Only in France was the original Brel preferred and could not get used to the modifications of the chansons when, for example, You're Not Alone , originally a song about friendship between men, is performed by a woman in a musical. For Todd, too, much of the style and rhythm of the chansons was lost when they were translated into English, and he judged: “A Brel chanson is salted, peppered and sugared. Some American versions only leave a bland, sweetener-like aftertaste. "

Brel himself remained aloof from the musical dedicated to him, which he understood as a kind of obituary for himself. It was not until a year after its premiere that he saw a performance for the first time. When asked about the great success of the musical, he replied: “Americans like me because I'm not American. You would like Brassens as well. "

The musical had a huge impact on David Bowie .

Pieces of music

Original production from 1968

  1. Overture
  2. Marathon (Les flamandes)
  3. Alone (Seul)
  4. Madeleine
  5. I Loved (J'aimais)
  6. Mathilde
  7. Bachelor's Dance (La bourrée du célibataire)
  8. Timid Frieda (Les timides)
  9. My Death (La mort)
  10. The Girls And The Dogs (Les filles et les chiens)
  11. Jackie ( La chanson de Jacky )
  12. The statue (La statue)
  13. Desperate Ones (Les désespérés)
  14. Sons of ... (Fils de ...)
  15. Amsterdam
  16. The Bulls (Les toros)
  17. Old Folks (Les vieux)
  18. Marieke
  19. Brussels (Bruxelles)
  20. Fanette (La fanette)
  21. Funeral Tango (Le tango funèbre)
  22. The Middle Class (Les bourgeois)
  23. You're Not Alone (Jef)
  24. Next (Au suivant)
  25. Carousel (La valse à mille temps)
  26. If We Only Have Love (Quand on n'a que l'amour)

Additional songs in the 1975 film

  1. The Taxi Cab (Le Gaz)
  2. My Childhood (Mon Enfance)
  3. The Last Supper (Le Dernier Repas)
  4. Song For Old Lovers (La Chanson Des Vieux Amants)
  5. Ne me quitte pas , sung by Jacques Brel

2006 revival

first act

  1. Le Diable (Ça Va)
  2. If We Only Have Love
  3. Alone
  4. I loved
  5. Jackie
  6. My Childhood
  7. Madeleine
  8. Bachelor's Dance
  9. Fanette
  10. Le Moribond
  11. The Desperate Ones
  12. Timid Frieda
  13. The Girls And The Dogs
  14. statue
  15. Sons Of
  16. Amsterdam

Second act

  1. The Bulls
  2. Brussels
  3. Ne me quince pas
  4. Middle class
  5. Old folks
  6. Funeral tango
  7. My death
  8. Marieke
  9. Song For Old Lovers
  10. Next
  11. No Love You're Not Alone
  12. Carousel
  13. If We Only Have Love

literature

  • Eric Blau, Mort Shuman: Jacques Brel is alive and well & living in Paris. Dramatists Play Service, New York 2000, ISBN 0-8222-1905-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Inside Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris . Background analysis by Scott Miller.
  2. ^ "The first librettoless musical". Quoted from: Reflections Written By Eric Blau - Spring 1999 ( Memento of the original from October 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Mort Shuman's website. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mortshuman.com
  3. ↑ a b c Reflections Written By Eric Blau - Spring 1999 ( Memento of the original from October 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Mort Shuman's website. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mortshuman.com
  4. ↑ a b Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris in the Internet Broadway Database (IBDb).
  5. ↑ a b Biography ( Memento of the original from November 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Mort Shuman's website. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mortshuman.com
  6. ↑ Olivier Todd: Jacques Brel - a life . Achilla-Presse, Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-928398-23-7 , p. 435.
  7. ↑ Olivier Todd: Jacques Brel - a life , pp. 436–437.
  8. ^ Alan Clayson: Jacques Brel. La Vie Bohème . Chrome Dreams, New Malden 2010, ISBN 978-1-84240-535-2 , p. 195.
  9. ^ Charles Isherwood "Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well" in a Reorchestrated Revival at the Zipper Theater . In: The New York Times, March 28, 2006.
  10. ↑ 1960’s on Mort Shuman 's website.
  11. ↑ 1970’s on Mort Shuman 's website.
  12. ^ Jacques Brel er i live, har det godt og bor i Paris in the Internet Movie Database (English).
  13. ↑ "this is one of the few entertainments in New York that can send you out feeling really differently from the way you felt when you came in.", "What the show needs to become consistantly satisfying is more genuine Brel and fewer hijinks by the." cast of four ”,“ who project the dramatic nuances of Brel's songs so effectively that what is basically a concert becomes an intensely moving theatrical event. ”All quotations from: Thomas Weick: The reception of the work of Jacques Brel . Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1991, ISBN 3-631-42936-3 , p. 165.
  14. ^ "The Brel show is one of the most powerful magnifiers currenty in use". Quote after Alan Clayson: Jacques Brel. La Vie Bohème , p. 138.
  15. ↑ Olivier Todd: Jacques Brel - a life , pp. 433, 435.
  16. ↑ Olivier Todd: Jacques Brel - a life , pp. 436–437.
  17. ↑ Lindsay Kemp: "It was as if the Archangel Gabriel had descended from heaven". In: Zeit Online. March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2017 .