Jacques Brel - Review w/Pix

[EugLoven]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 3:28am

JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS
JULY 25, 2006

I was told before I came to NYC, that as much as I have a desire to see everything I can on Broadway, to not forget about the hits Off-Broadway. I've found some of the most spectacular and innovative theatre experiences to be off of the Great White Way, and decided to endulge myself (yet again) in the intimacy of the highly-reviewed revival/revue of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.


Jacques Brel... is currently playing at the Zipper Theatre on W.37th between 8th and 9th.



The chairs in the Zipper Theatre are literally recycled car and bus seats and benches!


The Zipper Theatre is interestingly designed, with a restaurant and bar lounge as the lobby that leads into the theatre

"Directed by Gordon Greenberg, with music direction by Eric Svejcar and choreography by Mark Dendy, the show transforms Brel's astonishing musical compositions into a theatrical experience that has enthralled audiences for nearly four decades. The original show opened in 1968 at The Village Gate in Greenwich Village and ran for more than four years. With a cast of four actors and three musicians, the show celebrates Brel's timeless relevance and enduring passions."


"Jacques Brel wrote songs about people actively questioning their own values as well as the rising tide of conservatism around them. With a cast of four actors and four musicians, the show celebrates Brel's relevance and enduring passions. Translated from the French by American poet Eric Blau and lyricist Mort Shuman, the show is a blend of ballads, tangos, boleros, rock and classics. Each piece tells a story, examining themes of love, war, adventure, broken dreams, people from all classes, being young, growing old and death, but always remembering life has much humor in it."

The theatre is more like a cabaret, with a small elevated stage and chairs facing it from 3 angles. The rows only go up to Row G (where I sat) and the lighting is cute and colorful. The Zipper is a relatively new and hip theatre that was once a zipper factory. My only objection is the fact the audience members can bring their alcoholic drinks in with them. I sat two rows behind three terribly belligerent and obnoxiously loud people who were throwing back glass after glass of wine and ultimately singing, clapping, swaying, and laughing throughout the entire show as if it were a sloppy bacchanal!


I was thrilled with the four-person cast! Firstly, Drew Sarich! Prior to Lestat, I knew nothing about this talented international stage star. He toured Europe for 6 years in several productions and has a close following in Germany and Austria. Then he played Armand in the vampire-flop and his voice was finally appreciated by American audiences. He just joined the cast of Jacques Brel... taking the role formerly played by Rodney Hicks (in all of the production shots below). The music of Jacques Brel... is delightful for Sarich because it truly lends itself to what Drew is good at, and doesn't push his skills into the wings.

Additionally there was Robert Cuccioli, the original Jekyll and Hyde! His voice is boisterous and proud, almost characteristic of Marc Kudisch, but more sing-songy and sexy. Gay Marshall was also fantastic who made her Broadway debut as Morales in A Chorus Line. Her voice is honest, rich, sharp, and carries a sort of credibility... that the voice has been to and seen it all. Trusting. The fantastic quartet of unique voices was polished off with the demure and precious Natascia Diaz, who had a delicate voice of a tired angel.

To sum up my experience, Jacques Brel... was so stunningly beautiful and sorrowful that I lost count of how many times my eyes teared-up. I was covered with goosebumps throughout nearly the entire show. Something about the combination of these 4 voices was heavenly. After the opening number ("Alone") I was already anxious to give a standing ovation. Truly, I don't think there is a better sounding quartet of voices on or off-Broadway right now, sans the Jersey Boys.



When looking at these photos, keep in mind that Drew Sarich is now playing the role formerly filled by Rodney Hicks. Natascia Diaz was adorable in this song, "Timid Frieda". Jacques Brel's music is infectious and wonderful, which apparent from the first note of each of his musical poems. This scene was like a cautious nursey rhyme, sung on tip-toes as a young woman (with her valises held so tightly in her hands) makes her way through the streets of Paris, hunted by lustful men.

Natascia also shined during her crooning and lonely ballad, "Old Folks" which hardly left a dry-eye in the house. Like a music box. I cried, again, thinking of my newly widowed grandmother. "And have they laughed too much? Do their dry voices crack talking of times gone by? Have they cried too much?"


Robert Cuccioli owned the stage in his wild, beastly power-ballad "Jackie" where he plays a washed out man, drowning away his dreams where he would have revelled in his days long-passed. His voice shook the deepest chambers of my heart. So alive! Booming! The kind of male actor dripping in ecstacy and with such a passion for the lyrics, he can't contain it, it brims and spills all over the stage and audience.

Another song Robert excelled at was "Amsterdam" which closed Act I, which truly effected me. He tells the story of the sailors on the port, with rotten teeth and tales that will sink to the sea with them. Only Robert sang with a growing intensity to the point where he was yelling, shouting the lyrics like a man shouting for his life... that what he had to say was all he needed to tell the world! Quaking.


Drew Sarich's first song was very cheerful and funny, made of the right chemistry equation that makes a perfectly addictive pop song: Catchy chorus, repetitive rhythm, and bouncy beats. In "Madeleine" Drew wide-eyed and innocent, clutches a bouquet for his true love who never arrives. The tune almost felt like riding in an old buggy, boucing on slippery leather seats with no seat belts. This strapping young man only wants to go to the picture show with the girl everyone tells him he's not right for... and he'll continue to wait though she'll never come.

Though it wasn't clear if the four actors portrayed four distinct characters of just a collection of nameless souls, but Sarich's songs all reflected him as a young man who later is called off to war and dies. He is a happy boy in "Madeleine" but later cries behind tears when he sings his farewell before going into battle... I cried silently here because while Brel wrote the music during Vietnam, the story is timeless and I came to think of my friends who have died in Iraq.


Sarich also blew away the audience in his vicious song, "Next", where a returned soldier cannot bear hearing the title word. All his life he's always been next, and its brought disgusting, vulgar, or unfortunate results. He fumes. Drew brings the house to a dead silence as he clutches a chair, defending himself.


Gay Marshall broke all the hearts in the theatre representing the aged maternal soul who has seen far too many young men and women die, come and go, with her remaining. The tired mother who watches and remembers. Many of her songs ("Ne Me Quitte Pas") were not in English, but one did not need to know French to know what they were about.



I sat behind a white-haired old woman who knew the show from over-playing her vinyl record. At intermission she told me a song in Act II ("Marieke") was going to break my heart. When Gay sang it, it did. The final song, "If We Only Have Love" carried the message I wish every boy and girl could be sung before going to bed every night of their childhood. Every night. Repeated over and over to every child.


The long-lasting standing ovation at Curtain Call, accompanied by several gutteral "Bravos!" and me wiping tears.

This show was not all about sadness! I'm sorry if it's appearing that way. No, instead it was just a mirror to today's world, beautiful and flawed, that truly evoked emotion where the only response was tears, a quiver, goosebumps. If you want to truly be moved by an intimate theatrical experience, to be wooed by some of the softest words written for music, do not miss Jacques Brel...!

AUDIO: http://jacquesbrelreturns.com/jbaudio.htm
2 Songs from Revival Cast

VIDEO: http://ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=14&aid=60844
NY1 Teaser/Review
Updated On: 7/29/06 at 03:28 AM

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 3:30am

Im dying to see this show, since MelissaErricoFan recommended it, and i think he has great taste for theatre.

Eugene: Did you get to see Bridge & Tunnel?

[EugLoven]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 3:39am

Unfortunately, no, I did not get around to seeing "B&T" after my first failed attempt. I leave NYC (after 41 days) to go back home to SF next weekend, and have no available evenings to see anything else.

I am quite satisfied with the dozen shows I saw while here. I've also got good taste in theatre, sir! Haha

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 3:50am

I think I'm gonna have to see this again, now that Drew is in it.