Review: CHRISTINE ANDREAS Brings Paris to 54 Below

Sleek and elegant, Christine Andreas moved with grace as she took to the stage at 54 Below for Christine Andreas: PARIS TO BROADWAY on March 8, 2024.  Clad in a dark cherry silken gown adorned with fuchsia embellishments and matching cape, Andreas began the evening to the enraptured and filled to capacity audience.  Known for her rendition of the famed French chanteuse Edith Piaf in her recent show, Piaf - No Regrets, the patrons excitedly anticipated what was to come.  

To quote the famed Piaf herself - C’est Merveilleux! This reviewer was overwhelmed by Christine Andreas’s magical and bewitching voice.  Beginning with “La Mer,” which she sang in both French and English, Andreas captivated all in that room.  If you closed your eyes, you could imagine the languid, blue sea of France's Cote D’Azur undulating in the hot sun. The sonorous songstress proceeded forward, with a flurry of Edith Piaf’s famed songs. From “Valse D’Amour” and “L’Accordeoniste”, to the show stopping “Sous Le Ciel”, Andreas’ vocals had this reviewer riding the rollercoaster of emotions that these intense songs evoked.  Piaf, the diminutive “Little Sparrow” had lived through poverty, death and World War, and thus her songs reflected the survival of the working class on the streets, aptly called “chanson realiste.”  

Next turning to her command of Broadway, the two-time Tony Nominee brought renditions of the renowned  “I’m in Love With a Wonderful Guy” from South Pacific, “They Say It’s Wonderful” from Annie Get Your Gun, and “Show Me” from My Fair Lady, to life with her belting yet sultry voice.  Her Grammy-nominated producer and composer husband, Martin Silvestri, accompanied her on the piano and the accordion throughout the show.  Together they presented “Continental Sunday” from Silvestri and Joel Higgins’ West End production, The Fields of Ambrosia. 

Showcasing her vocals from the works of Charles Trenet, Oscar Hammerstein II, Irving Berlin, Burt Bacharach to Frederick Loewe and Alan Lerner, Christine Andreas transported mesmerized theatergoers on an enchanted voyage through the streets of Paris and then onto Broadway in a not so distant past world.  A world that told stories of life beginning with Medieval troubadours of old and continuing on through to the 20th Century with singers such as Edith Piaf.

No my friends, we weren't finished yet.  It was Christine Andreas’s final song, the piece de resistance,  a compilation which started with the Cole Porter classic, “I Love Paris” and finished with the Piaf jewel, “La Vie En Rose” which had everyone on their feet cheering.  Christine Andreas poured every ounce of her soul into this ballad which was to become the signature song that gave international acclaim to the petite powerhouse named Piaf.  C’est Magnifique!! 

Christine Andreas: PARIS TO BROADWAY at 54 Below featured phenomenal chansonnier, Christine Andreas, and Music Director, Martin Silvestri.  

Find great shows to see on the 54 Below website HERE