BONJOUR MONSIEUR BREL, the stage production that premiered earlier this year at the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival to an enthusiastic reception will tour the Eastern and Western Cape over the festive season.
In BONJOUR MONSIEUR BREL, Jacques Brel's imaginative texts are sung by Jannie du Toit in four languages, with accompaniment from a music ensemble of the highest order: Susan Mouton on cello and Coenraad Rall or Chanie Price on piano. The 80-minute show was compiled by Juanita Swanepoel and features musical arrangements by Clinton Zerf and Matthys Maree and Afrikaans translations by Naomi Morgan. Morgan's translations compare favourably with other translations of Brel's texts, and the production features several of Brel's most popular hits as well as some of his lesser known but equally brilliant songs.
Du Toit has been a highly regarded Brel interpreter for decades. His first interpretations of Brel were in the 1988 in production VAN BERLYN TOT BAPSFONTEIN with Laurika Rauch. He has also appeared in productions like DE KLEINE MAN and JANNIE EN DIE TANNIE with Christa Steyn. His most recent appearance in a Brel production was BREL IN BROOKLYN, once again with Rauch and with Steyn at the piano and Sergio Zampolli on the accordion. A recording of 22 Brel songs, JANNIE DU TOIT SINGS BREL, is currently available on CD.
BONJOUR MONSIEUR BREL will play the following venues: the Old Mill Theatre in Paarl on 5 December at 19:30 (with bookings on 021 872 or 083 207 8257), the Montagu Country Hotel in Montagu on 6 December at 19:00 (with bookings at the hotel itself), the Drostdy Theatre in Stellenbosch on 7 December at 20:15 (with bookings on 087 943 2459, by email or the Drostdy Theatre website), the Riebeeck Valley Hotel in Riebeeck West on 9 December at 18:00 for 19:00 (with bookings on 022 461 2672 or by email), Die Boer in Durbanville on 16 December at 20:30, with meals served from 18:30 (with bookings on 021 979 1911), the NG Kerk in Franschhoek on 17 December at 19:00 (with bookings on 021 876 2431), Weskusplek in Jacobsbaai on 18 December at 12:00, with meals served at 13:00 (with bookings on 022 715 3333/22 or by email), the Leani Nursery in Groot Brakrivier on 19 December at 19:00 for 19:30 (with bookings on 044 620 2565 or info@leani.co.za), at Die Waenhuis in Stilbaai (with bookings on 082 496 1573), the Nature's Valley Kerksaal on 21 December at 19:00 (with bookings on 044 531 6820) and the Marina Martinique Club Hall in Jeffery's Bay on 22 December at 18:30 for 19:00 (with bookings on 082 451 1084 or 076 781 3912).
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