Feature: Celebrate the City of Lights with our Favorite French Showtunes
By: Matt Tamanini Jul. 19, 2015
Paris Je t'dore! And Vive La France! French-flavored Broadway shows and songs are tres magnifique. The romantic "City of Lights" and the allure of a French accent has served as the inspiration for many musicals throughout the years. And since France and all of the world's Francophiles celebrated Bastille Day earlier this week, BroadwayWorld's Jeff Walker and Matt Tamanini are taking a look at shows and tunes that make us go "oo-la-la!" Whether they are set in Paris, Nice, or St. Tropez, or they are in the language of love, all of these songs and musicals make us feel French all over.
"I Love Paris" from CAN-CAN
by: Jeff Walker | @jeffwalker66
While high-kicking showgirls and debonair gentleman can be found in many a musical, they perhaps represent none better than CAN-CAN. Librettist Abe Burrows (who knew his way around comedy having written the book for GUYS AND DOLLS) and the super-sophisticated, world-traveling musical genius Cole Porter sent audiences back to the days when the leggy dance routine raised eyebrows and temperatures in Belle Epoche Paris of the 1890s. The show was also a valentine to all things French, and starred native chanteuse Lilo as La Mome Pastiche. The score contained such gems as "It's All Right with Me" and "I Love Paris," which have become standards.
Video: Kate Baldwin and the cast of last fall's "Broadway-bound" CAN-CAN at the Paper Mill Playhouse
"C'est Moi" from CAMELOT
by: Matt Tamanini | @BWWMatt
Contrary to France's modern military reputation, the nation's fabled Sir Lancelot was always the first into battle, and was the centerpiece of King Arthur's Round Table. In CAMELOT, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's 1960 musical retelling of the Arthurian legend, Lancelot is a cocksure knight utterly confident in both his moral and military supremacy.
Originally played by legendary baritone Robert Goulet, we first meet the character in "C'est Moi" as he is using the French phrase to extol his own numerous virtues.
Video: Nathan Gunn from the 2008 Lincoln Center concert production
"The Phantom of the Opera" from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
by: Matt Tamanini | @BWWMatt
Did you know that Gaston Leroux's novel "Le Fantôme de l'Opéra" is partially based on actual events that took place at the Paris Opera? Though the fictional Opéra Populaire is the setting for THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA that we are all now familiar with, it remains in Paris, and the passion and pageantry of Parisian culture and society is on full display in Andrew Lloyd Webber's show. The glorious costumes, the Phantom's seduction, Raoul's jealousy; it is all just do delectably French.
Video: Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo from the 2012 Classic BRIT Awards
"The Best of Times" from LA CAGE AUX FOLLES
by: Matt Tamanini | @BWWMatt
Based on the 1973 French play by Jean Poiret, LA CAGE tells the story of Georges and Albin, a gay couple who owns a St. Tropez nightclub. When their son falls in love with the daughter of staunchly conservative parents, Albin, who performs as drag queen Zaza, dons a more traditional costume to become "Mother."
Though set against the decadent and extravagant St. Tropez backdrop, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES is as traditional of a love story as any Parisian romance.
Video: Kelsey Grammer, Douglas Hodge, and the cast of the 2008 Tony-winning revival
"The Parisians" from GIGI
by: Jeff Walker | @jeffwalker66
A musical about a young Parisian girl's preparation to become a cultured courtesan may seem like edgy fair, but GIGI is about as edgy as a French silk pie, especially as seen in the recent Broadway revival. Originally created by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe for a big budget, all-star MGM film of 1958, GIGI did not last long on Broadway in either 2015 or its first attempt in the early 1970s. The show GIGI remains a charming and tuneful adaptation of French author Colete's novel with the same name. The recent Broadway "revisal" (with a new book and rearranged tune-stack) did boast Broadway vets Victoria Clark, Dee Hoty, and Howard McGillin. Making her Broadway debut in the title role, Vanessa Hudgens made the leap from her former Disney fame and current film and pop singing career. The most recent version includes the classics "I Remember It Well" (do yourself a favor and watch masters Hermione Gingold and Maurice Chevalier from the original film), "Thank Heaven for Little Girls," "The Night They Invented Champagne," and more.
Video: Leslie Caron lip-synching to Betty Wand from the original film
"One Day More" from LES MISERABLES
by: Matt Tamanini | @BWWMatt
Just to be clear, LES MIS (or LES MIZ if you prefer) is in no way about the French Revolution. The revolution ended in 1799, while LES MIS begins in 1815 and ends around the 1832 June Rebellion. That being said, it would be difficult to image a musical more French than LES MISERABLES. Frenchmen Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg first adapted the classic Victor Hugo novel in Paris in 1980. Five years later, with an English translation by Herbert Kretzmer, the show debuted in London's West End, where it continues to run to this day.
Along with THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (another French-set musical that we will discuss later), LES MIS helped usher in Broadway's British Invasion of the 1980s. With soaring melodies and stirring characters, the musical continues to bring new fans to Hugo's epic work today.
Video: Ramin Karimloo and the 2014 Broadway Revival cast
"Liza" from AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
by: Matt Tamanini | @BWWMatt
With a script by Lerner (remember him from earlier?) and score of interpolated Gershwin classics, the AN AMERICAN IN PARIS film tells the timeless story of American GI and a young French woman. This classic movie musical, starring Gene Kelly and native-Parisian Caron (how could you forget her?) created Hollywood history and winning six Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Earlier this year, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS made its Broadway debut bringing to the stage the songs, dances, and characters that generations have grown to love. Starring New York City Ballet star Robert Fairchild as Jerry Mulligan and the Royal Ballet's Leanne Cope as Lise, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS garnered 12 Tony noms, winning four, while maintaining the sweeping romance or the Paris streets.
Video: Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope on LIVE! WITH KELLY AND MICHAEL
"If We Only Have Love" from JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS
by: Jeff Walker | @jeffwalker66
The long-running Off-Broadway show gained a cult following, with audiences enamored of Brel's distinctive tunes with new English lyrics by Eric Blau and performer Mort Shuman. The trippy film version from the mid-70s, is described thusly on IMDB: "Three attendees at a puppet theater don various roles in order to sing a variety of songs by Jacques Brel, all while hippies and other eccentrics cavort about them." Luckily, the musical has returned to stages in London, New York and regionally with the Brel score and without the wacked-out vibe from the film. One of Brel's soaring melodies with a message that is very apropos for our time is "Quand on n'a que l'amour" which is known in English as "If We Only Have Love."
Video: Mort Shumann, Elly Stone, and Joe Masiell in the 1974 film
"Paris Makes Me Horny" from Victor/Victoria
by: Matt Tamanini | @BWWMatt
Perhaps with the exception of fries, toast, and dressing, France's biggest export is undoubtedly love. While many a Frenchman has been known for his grand romantic gestures, they are also known for their physical romantic prowess as well.
Whether taken by the accent, cuisine, or landmarks, in the 1995 musical VICTOR/VICTORIA, Norma Cassidy sings about all the reasons that Paris makes her horny. The song is a wonderfully comic whirlwind around the globe, which highlighted the incredible talents of Rachel York.
The show, like the 1982 film starred Julie Andrews as a woman pretending to be a woman pretending to be a man. Despite earning the show's only Tony nomination for her work, Andrews declined the honor, as she thought that the rest of the cast, crew, and creative team were disrespected by their omissions.
Video: Rachel York (along with Tony Roberts and Julie Andrews) in the original Broadway production
"Glitter and Be Gay" from CANDIDE
by: Matt Tamanini | @BWWMatt
Based on the classic French satire by Voltaire, Leonard Bernstein's operetta CANDIDE tells the story of the ever-optimistic title character and his search to be reunited with his beloved Cunegonde after a series of increasingly unbelievable events threaten to keep them apart. With Candide believing that his love has been the casualty of a war in their native Wastphalia, he sets off into the world, never knowing that Cunegonde is actually alive and well in Paris.
In CANDIDE, Bernstein, and the six people credited with providing lyrics, have crafted an homage to the operettas of years gone by, and after years of refining the show, it has become a standard of theatre and opera companies around the world. A few months ago, Jeff included the show's "Make Our Garden Grow" in our April Showers and Young Love feature.
Now, there are many more musicals set in France (SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, SCARLET PIMPERNEL, BEN FRANKLIN IN PARIS, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, and THE BOYFRIEND, just to name a few), and plenty of showtunes with French roots (think "Ah, Paris!" from FOLLIES, "Paris Original" from HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, or "Les Poissons" from THE LITTLE MERMAID), so let us know what you would add to the list in the comments below or on Twitter at @jeffwalker66 and @BWWMatt.
Jeff and Matt will be back next month with a new showtune special feature dedicated to the "Dog" days of summer. In the meantime, if you enjoyed this list, check out our January feature on the Most Hummable Sondheim Songs, February's Valentine's Day list of Broadway's best Anti-Love Songs, March's Ides themed collection of Shakespeare Inspired Showtunes, our odes to April showers and young love, Jeff's collection of Songs of Lust to celebrate May, and Matt's Birthday showtune party. Jeff and Matt also write about TV, movies, and theatre in Washington D.C. (Jeff) and Orlando, Florida (Matt).
Videos