JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL & LIVING IN PARIS Plays in English at The Gladstone This November

Sacrilege? Not according to the famous singer, actor, and songwriter Brel himself, who loved this musical revue. This Off-Broadway success was created in 1968 by Mort Shuman and Eric Blau to showcase Brel's French hits-in English. Brel saw the show many times, and said that Shuman and Blau had lifted his songs away from him, and given them to the world. The show ran for five years, with a total of 1,847 performances. Meanwhile, its director opened a second production in Toronto that same year, which became the longest-running Off-Broadway show in Canada.

And with good reason. Even if you were born after 1968, you know these songs, which have been covered by everyone from Ray Charles and Nina Simone to Leonard Cohen and David Bowie. Brel's work has a devoted following in France, where it is even better known than Edith Piaf's. In fact, his powerful "If We Only Have Love," which closes the show, was included during France's national memorial service last year for the attacks against Charlie Hebdo and the Jewish supermarket.

Four singers, one legend. The show, which has been called the first "libretto-less musical," features 25 of Brel's songs-songs of pain, power, and passion-performed by two women and two men.

Brel's music underlines the experience of the heart. This project sits close to the CREATIVE TEAMS' hearts. Director Eleanor Crowder first saw it as a teenager in Kingston. Richard Cliff returns to the professional stage as a singer after an absence of 22 years. Rachel Eugsterreturns to Jacques Brel, a production of which was one of her first professional engagements fresh out of conservatory. Robin Guy returns to musical theatre, in which she last appeared as Maria in The Sound of Music. Adrian Zeyl returns from his current home in Toronto to performJacques Brel in his hometown-in the venue of his professional debut. Stage manager Jane Vanstone Osborn returns to set design 30 years after her last design. The team is rounded out with music director Scott Richardson and accompanist Rowena Pearl.

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

November 2-12, Tuesdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; matinees at 2:30 p.m. on November 6 and 12

Tickets can be purchased at The Gladstone: http://thegladstone.ca/jacques-brel.html

Group Discounts (8+): thegrouptixcompany.com, 1-866-447-7849, or info@thegrouptixcompany.com

About Bear & Co. Compelling theatre, close to home. Eleanor Crowder (actor/director/ producer) and Rachel Eugster (actor/music director/lyric soprano) form the core of this professional indie collective:

www.bearandcompany.ca.

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