“Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris”

Audition dates:   Sunday Oct 5, Tuesday Oct 7 at 7pm.
Possible callbacks:    Thursday Oct 9

Auditions for Schenectady Light Opera’s third show of the 2008-2009 season will be held at the SLOC House at 826 State St., Schenectady.  Registration for the auditions will start at 7pm, and the auditions themselves will start at 7:30pm. 

Show dates are January 9-11, 15-18 and possibly 23-25, 2009.  And, yes, there will be a reduced rehearsal schedule during the Christmas Week (The Grinch will stay with Suessical).  Staffing includes Producer Jenney Depew, Director Allan Foster, Musical Director Andrea Merrill, and Choreographer Donna Hatch. 

Jacques Brel was the premier French folk writer/singer during the 1950-1970’s. His songs explored facets of love, life, human foibles, war and death.  His work, however, was relatively unknown in America except to those in the music business.  Two of these people felt it had such value that it should be translated and introduced to audiences on this side of the Atlantic.  And so “Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well and Living in Paris” was born on January 22, 1968 at the Village Gate Theater in New York’s Greenwich Village.  It was advertised as the first “libretto-less” musical and featured 25 of Brel’s songs, translated.  It ran there for over four years to packed houses, after which it enjoyed strong receptions at such places as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, and a number of capital cities around the world.  It was a shame that Brel died at 48, only 10 years after the Village Gate opening.

There will be 5 people in the cast, 3 men and 2 women.  The major selection criterion is the ability to interpret songs to the audience, and to blend within the group.  Reasonably strong voices are an asset, and there are occasional close harmonies.  The melodic music is variously vivacious, haunting, tender, dramatic, “gutsy” or combinations of all of the above.  Ages should be above 25 (how much above that will depend on the mix of people that audition).

The vocal ranges are quite narrow, with solos always being “within the staff” and group numbers only a little wider.  Solo ranges are as follows:

Woman 1  -   soprano,  middle C to E. 
Woman 2  -   soprano or alto,  D to D
Man 1  -        baritone,  D to E
Man 2  -        tenor, G to F#, (one G')
Man 3  -        baritone,  D to E

For the women, a vocal sound tending towards a French cabaret singer sound (which sometimes can be quite light with sopranos) would be an asset – as opposed to an amplified American Idol sound.  No French accents will be used (the songs are all in English except for a part of one Women #1 song which is in Flemish – we have a coach!!).

Auditioners are asked to sing 16-32 bars from music they feel is appropriate for cabaret entertainment (a Brel song is not necessary, and cabaret/show tunes are OK).  Accompaniment should be used, and an accompanist will be available.  They will also be asked to read from short prepared sets (perusal time will be given), and be part of a brief movement/dance audition (there is no dancing in the show, but there is a fair amount of stage movement).

Jacques Brel….Paris” occupies a special place in SLOC’s history, in that it was chosen to be the opening show when this SLOC House first opened 36 years ago in 1972.  Some of us remember the excitement of creating a theater and opening a cabaret-type show at the same time.  SLOC also reprised “Jacques Brel…..Paris” in 1986.

People are encouraged to listen to “French” singers on YouTube (search: Jacques Brel, Edith Piaf, Elly Stone, Mort Shuman).  The CD of the original show (Elly Stone, Mort Shuman, Shawn Elliot, and Alice Whitfield) is available from Amazon.com for about $8 plus shipping – don’t opt for the subsequent movie sound track.  If you have further questions, or are interested in obtaining sheet music of a Brel song, call Allan Foster at 438-5540.

“FACTOIDS”

Brel was born in Belgium (hence the Flemish in “Marieke”).  He came from a middle to upper class family, and was expected to take over his fathers cardboard box business.  Never happened.

At the age of 20, and with limited means, he moved with his wife and two small children to Paris to write songs – the then-center of the art world.  He soon realized he would not break into that market, so he started to crisscross France singing his own songs, doing as many as 250 one-night-cabaret/concert stands for a few years.  His reputation was actually made on that circuit, and it paved the way for his permanent return to Paris for the latter part of his life.

The translators for “Jacques Brel … Paris” were Eric Blau (a producer/publicist), and Mort Shuman (a song-writer whose dossier included 20 million records for the likes of Ray Charles and Elvis Presley).  Both had lived in France for quite a time, and Mort knew (and was trusted by) Brel. 

Mort Shuman made his stage debut in the opening cast of  “Jacques Brel ….. Paris”

The director of the original “Jacques Brel …. Paris” was Moni Yakim, whose background included being a mime in Marcel Marceau’s group.

The SLOC Opening of “Jacques Brel …. Paris” in 1972 was a howling success.  The only somewhat-less-than-perfect comment was that the quality of the (free) wine should be moved up a notch.  It was, but not until the next show!