Marshall Heats Up The Stage in 'Brel'

I recently had the most amazing experience when I got the chance to check out JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS, which is currently playing at the Zipper Theatre on West 37^th Street until February 25^th.  First of all, DON'T MISS THIS SHOW!! I caught the show with two replacements to the original cast, namely Constantine Maroulis of AMERICAN IDOL fame and Jayne Paterson. I am not sure what the show was like previous to their joining the cast but these two talented performers melded seamlessly with the outstanding performances of the two remaining cast members, one of which was the magnificent Robert Cuccioli of JEKYLL AND HYDE fame.  The other actor was someone that I had not heard of but, I have to tell you, her performance was flawless on all levels.  Her name is Gay Marshall.

Marshall made her Broadway debut as Diana Morales in A CHORUS LINE. Her one woman show PIAF: LA VIE L'AMOUR played in the States and took her to Paris where she played Grizabella in the original French production of CATS. Living in Europe inspired her to write IF I WERE ME, a comedy that she performed in Paris and took to the Edinburgh Festival where it was voted #2 on the Fringe. In Paris she has appeared in many English speaking plays and French musicals with Roger Louret at the Follies Bergere, and the original version of CAMILLE CLAUDEL in the title role. She now performs regularly in America, most recently in JACQUES BREL at Capital Rep, and as Denise in both Goodspeed and Paper Mill's productions of THE BAKER'S WIFE. For her work in the current production of JACQUES BREL at the Zipper Theater, she received a nomination for Drama League's "Distinguished Performance Award".

It's funny because I actually could have called this article Gay Marshall IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS, because she actually does live there! I had a chat with her after seeing a performance of BREL to find out what makes her tick.

TJ:       Your voice is so spectacular and it's resonant and full of emotion. Is that a natural thing for you or did you have to work at that for a long time?

MARSHALL:     Wow, that's a good question. The thing is that I was trained as an actress and I went to English drama school. I loved singing so much but I never really thought I was any good. I think it's the lyrics of the song that bring that into my voice because I am really an actress. I don't know how you would work on an emotion vocally. I think you would hurt your throat, you know what I mean? "OK, now I have got to be intense." Those songs are so compelling and especially Marieke and Sons of. These are things that spring from your gut, kind of like when I did Grizabella. Those notes are not hard to get out because it's such a passionate plea. "Don't leave me alone" I do think it's hard to come through with a lot of resonance and beauty in an upper register if you don't have something that's really meaningful to sing. I think that's tough. I'm very impressed by people that do that.

TJ:       Now you were familiar with the music of Brel before the show obviously.

MARSHALL:     My husband introduced me to the music of Jacques Brel. I didn't really have any interest in him….I didn't know about him. Then Jean-Louis, my husband, told me that it was just the music of his childhood and that he just adored it. He made me adore it. We listened to it a lot. And then, I did a concert of Piaf and Brel in Paris. That was interesting to sing Piaf and Brel for the French because if they hated you, you couldn't blame them, you know?

TJ:       Your French accent is impeccable!

MARSHALL:     It's much easier to do a French accent when you sing than when you speak because you know what you are going to sing. When I speak French, I've got a good accent but I have American inflections, which makes people say, "Where are you from?" They don't think I'm American but they don't necessarily think I'm French. People either think I'm Spanish or German. I did Morales in A CHORUS LINE and people stop you and say, "Are you Spanish?" and I think "Thank you!" Being sort of Irish, white-bred? You know?

TJ:       And speaking as Timothy Joseph Patrick Fitzgerald, there's nothing wrong with that. You know what I mean, dear.

MARSHALL:     Of course, of course!

TJ:       How did you get involved with BREL?

MARSHALL:     I was really lucky. I think that timing and luck does have a lot to do with what happened to me. I had done a show that I wrote…a comedy about being an American actress in Paris and there was a pretty eclectic group of songs mixed with these different comic sketches. I took it to the Edinburg Festival because it did really well with it in Paris. It's in English. I took it to the Festival to see if it would fly with an audience that didn't actually experience what I was talking about….and it did!  We taped it and Gordon (Greenberg) saw it. He then contacted me to come in and audition for THE BAKER'S WIFE. That went very well and it's a good thing it did because I flew to New York to audition…I mean if you don't get the job, that's a little depressing, So I'm very lucky I got the job. BREL was very close to Gordon's heart. He's been wanting to do that show for a long time. All the elements conspired to bring him together with the producer, who was also in love with the material. At first, we did it at Capital Rep up in Albany and had a wonderful run there. I really enjoyed being up there. The theatre director there, Maggie, is a dream and it went very well. We had Eric Svejcar as our musical director, who did the arrangements and was original music director on this production. He talked about bringing it to off –Broadway and those are the kind of things you don't want to hope for because once you start counting on it, it may never come through. And then this producer he ran into, Dan Whitten, was really wanting to do the project. It was just serendipitous that when we did THE BAKER'S WIFE at Papermill, they happened to get together and start talking about doing BREL. They went scouting for theaters and just loved the Zipper, as one can understand. It's such a great place. Did you know the Zipper before you came to see the show?

TJ:       No, I didn't but you're right. I loved it as a venue. The intimacy of the theatre makes for quite the evening of theatre.

MARSHALL:     Yeah, it's got a very warm atmosphere.

TJ:       OK, now, you are working with such amazing talent on BREL. It must be so satisfying for you as a performer to be working with such a gifted cast.

MARSHALL:     It was really, no kidding, like a dream come true. I had been working in Paris for a while and the approach to theatre there is so different. I wouldn't say it's worse. I used to say I didn't like it but then I understood it's a different culture, a different approach, a different history….it's a different tradition. I come from such a strong background of a totally different approach. Americans take their work pretty seriously, which I like. I was just dreaming of coming back to the states to work. As much as I miss my husband while I'm here, it's worked out fabulously as he's been really busy and he's been able to come over and visit regularly. But like I said, it was a dream come true.

TJ:       So, your home is in Paris?

MARSHALL:     Yes.

TJ:       That must be exciting?

MARSHALL:     I do prefer New York. I think Paris is gorgeous and there's so much going on there culturally. Every time you take a walk, you notice something else on the street that so glorious. For what I want to do, I really prefer New York.

TJ:       Tell me about your one-woman Piaf show.

MARSHALL:     Well, I'm getting that in the works to do here. I don't have a place or dates but I have interest in it. I don't want to put a curse on it but I'd be surprised if it didn't happen. The thing that I like about the show is that I think it gives a fuller picture than the sort of standard idea one has of Edith Piaf, She was really joyful person who wrapped everybody around her little finger and who had more energy than an army. Nothing stopped her. That's what got me so passionate about her story. I read the story of her life before I heard her sing, so it wasn't like I heard a record and said. Oooh, who's that?"  I read this book about her and it blew me away, all the kinds of things that she went through that were tragic in the second half of her life. Her rise to fame was like a storybook. I was unbelievable. You know, singing on the street to a cabaret on the Champs-Élysées to the biggest music halls in Paris to Carnegie Hall and Las Vegas…I mean astounding. Someone who had literally nothing and made it just from sheer will and determination. So that's what got me about her story. And then, I won a contest, a Piaf singing contest, in 1984 or 1985 and the prize a week in Paris at the Grand Hotel. So, when I went there, I scattered it out so that I could meet people that knew her when, because she died in 1963. I got a pretty well-rounded view of her. She was an astoundingly fragile person with a powerful presence and worked like a dog and made everyone around her work like a dog. She was a bit of a tyrant but she didn't ask of anyone else what she wouldn't put out herself. So there was a balance there. I lucked out because a lot of these people have passed away since then. I think it gives a pretty well-rounded picture of her.

TJ:       You'll have to keep me posted on the happening for this show. Sounds like it will be a treat for all. What's your favorite song to sing in BREL?

MARSHALL:     You know what, a lot of people ask me that! And I don't know what to say because I don't have a favorite song. I really love this material…I really love them all!! The one that is the most fun to sing is the opening number, Le Diable (Ca Va), the sort of incarnate devil and it's sort a giggly fun. The audience and I are all in this together because we're delighting in the way that the world has gone way off the track. It's just kind of gleeful and fun.

TJ:       Ok, now I know you need to go have some fun with BREL, so I will ask you about five favorite things which will tell a little more about Gay Marshall off stage. Here we go….what is your favorite city?

MARSHALL:     Wow!! That's such a rough one!! I'm so torn between New York, Paris and Cleveland.

TJ:       Cleveland?

MARSHALL:     Yeah, I'm from Cleveland! I don't think I could live there anymore but sure can visit. Gee, I have to say New York and I hope Paris doesn't get mad at me.

TJ:       We'll make sure they understand that. OK, how about your favorite past time activity?

MARSHALL:     Can I have two?

TJ:       Sure!

MARSHALL:     I love to play the piano and I love to sew. I love to make things. I make everything! I am looking at a coat I made which is rather spectacular . It's camouflage material cut like a 1950's shirt-waist dress, a huge skirt on it, lined with red cashmere. It cost me an ulcer, I think because I'm not really a craftsman. I never learned how to sew, I just figured it out. The collar and the cuffs gave me indigestion but I absolutely love to make things. I put myself through drama school making leather bags and jackets and stuff like that.

TJ:       Boy, you are talented!

MARSHALL:     Well, someone showed me how.

TJ:       Well, I am impressed. How about your favorite theater composer?

MARSHALL:     I want to say Stephen Schwartz because I love him and I know him and I loved working with him and I loved singing the songs that I sang. And also Harold Arlen.

TJ:       Favorite holiday?

MARSHALL:     Well, my husband and I love to get away on our own holiday to Biarritz right after the summer. It is heaven!! There's just rocks and cliffs and ocean and fabulous walks to be taken and beautiful sunsets to be seen. Oh, I love that place!

TJ:       Sounds wonderful!  Final thing…if you were not an actor, what would you picture yourself doing as an occupation?

MARSHALL:     Hmmm, I've thought about this. I'm really interested in what makes people tick because when you create a character, you have to know that person through and through. So I must say I am fascinated by psychology. I'd be interested in that.

TJ:       Well, I know you have a show, so thank you so much for such a great interview!

MARSHALL:     My pleasure!

So you know the deal, folks! JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS plays the Zipper Theatre, 336 West 37th Street. The showwill close after the February 25th performance at the Zipper Theatre. For tickets call (212) 239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com or www.jacquesbrelreturns.com.  For now, be well and remember, theatre is my life. Ciao!!