Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
| Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris | |
|---|---|
Original Cast Recording
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| Music | Jacques Brel |
| Lyrics | Jacques Brel (trans. Eric Blau and Mort Shuman) |
| Book | Eric Blau and Mort Shuman |
| Basis | Lyrics and commentary by Jacques Brel |
| Productions |
1968 Off-Broadway |
1968 Off-Broadway
Regional productions
1995 West End
2006 Off-Broadway revival
Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris is a musical revue of the songs of Jacques Brel. Brel's songs were translated into English by Eric Blau and Mort Shuman, who also provided the story. The original 1968 Off-Broadway production ran for four years and spawned international and regional productions, as well as a West End production and Off-Broadway revival, among others. A film adaptation was released in 1975.
In 2013, David Bowie included the cast recording in a list of 25 of his favourite albums, "Confessions of a Vinyl Junkie".
The revue debuted Off-Broadway on January 22, 1968 at The Village Gate Theater in Greenwich Village and ran for more than four years. Its original performers were Elly Stone, Mort Shuman, Shawn Elliott, and Alice Whitfield. The production was directed by Moni Yakim. The revue, consisting of around 25 songs, is performed by four vocalists, two male and two female. Brel contributed most of the music and French lyrics; English translations were provided by Eric Blau, Stone's husband, and Mort Shuman, a Brill Building songwriter. On January 25, 1972, a gala entitled "Hommage à Jacques" was celebrated at Carnegie Hall with Brel in attendance. His songs were interpreted by twenty-two artists.
The show enjoyed considerable international success. In 1968 Yakim directed a Canadian production in Toronto featuring Robert Jeffrey, Judy Lander, Arlene Meadows, and Stan Porter. In the 1970s, a production by Taubie Kushlick in Johannesburg, South Africa became the longest-running musical production in that country's theatrical history. A cast recording was released and is regarded as containing the definitive English-language versions of some of the songs. During that decade the show also enjoyed successful runs in Sydney, Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen.
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