Daniel Boys, David Burt, Eve Polycarpou and Gina Beck Star in 'JACQUES BREL', Beginning Tonight at Charing Cross

This October 2014, Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris opens at the Charing Cross Theatre for a strictly limited six-week run from today 16 October to 22 November 2014. Press night is set for Saturday 18 October at 7.45pm. Directed by multi-award-winning director Andrew Keates, the production features an all-star cast of Daniel Boys (Avenue Q, Spamalot, Love Story - also well-known from BBC's Any Dream Will Do, 2007), David Burt (The Merchant of Venice, The Beggars People, Plague Over England), Eve Polycarpou (In The Heights, Mother Courage, Jacques Brel - National Theatre, 1970s) and Gina Beck (Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Les Mise?rables).

Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris is a musical revue of the greatest works by one of the most prolific, Belgian singer-songwriters of all time. This production uses the definitive English translations of Brel's works by Mort Shurman and Eric Blau accompanied by the orchestral arrangements by Eric Svejcar from the 2006 Off-Broadway production (Zipper Theater, New York City). The 2006 production was the longest running and most successful revival of the show, nominated for several awards including the Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle.

Often haunting, sometimes funny, heart-wrenching and vividly poetic, the songs of Jacques Brel explore the human condition through honest storytelling, with themes of joy and sorrow, love and loss, war and peace and life and death.

Charing Cross Theatre producers Steven M Levy and Sean Sweeney said that they were delighted to be presenting the much-lauded, updated 2006 Off-Broadway version. 'We feel it will have a freshness and relevance that will allow it to resonate with modern-day audiences, much as its 1968 counterpart did with audiences of that time.'

Director Andrew Keates commented that 'once the songs of Jacques Brel get into your head they stay there. Not only because of the poetry of his lyrics, but because of how they speak to any of us who have longed, loved and lost'.

Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris runs Thursday 16th October - Saturday 22nd November 2014 Monday to Saturday, 7.45pm and Saturday matinees, 3pm. 2 hours including interval. The Charing Cross Theatre is located at The Arches, Villiers Street, London, WC2N 6NL. Tickets are available priced £10 - £22.50 from the Charing Cross Theatre Box Office online or by calling 08444 930 650. For more information, visit www.charingcrosstheatre.co.uk.

The nearest underground stations are Charing Cross (on the Bakerloo and Northern lines), Embankment (on the Bakerloo, Northern, Circle and District lines) and Leicester Square (on the Northern and Piccadilly lines). The nearest rail station is Charing Cross.

Jacques Brel - Jacques Romain Georges Brel was a Belgian singer-songwriter who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following, initially in Belgium and France, later throughout the world, which was in love with his music. He was widely considered a master of the modern chanson. Although he recorded most of his songs in French, he became a major influence on English-speaking songwriters and performers such as David Bowie, Alex Harvey, Leonard Cohen, Marc Almond and Rod McKuen. English translations of his songs were recorded by many top performers in the United States, including Ray Charles, Judy Collins, John Denver, the Kingston Trio, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Scott Walker, and Andy Williams. In French- speaking countries, Brel was a successful actor, appearing in ten films. He also directed two films, one of which, Le Far West, was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973. Having sold over 25 million records worldwide, Brel is the third best-selling Belgian recording artist of all time.

Andrew Keates - Multi-award-winning director Andrew Keates' most recent productions include the recent European premiere of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahren's, Dessa Rose at the Trafalgar Studios, the hugely successful Passing By (Tristan Bates), the first London revival of As Is by William M. Hoffman and the European premiere of ROOMS - A Rock Romance (Finborough Theatre). Other productions include directing and developing the award winning professional premier of A Winter's Tale, written by Howard Goodall, Nick Stimson and himself, The Thing About Man and The Hired Man (The Landor Theatre), Conjugal Rights (Courtyard Theatre) and Just So (Tabard Theatre). Awards include winning Best New Musical for A Winter's Tale and Best Musical Production for The Hired Man in the OffWestEnd Awards. Andrew is the founder and artistic director of Arion Productions Ltd and formerly co-ran the Landor Theatre.

Charing Cross Theatre - Since 1964, there has been a theatre under the arches at Charing Cross Station, known throughout the years by several names: Gattis-in-The-arches, The Players Theatre and the New Players Theatre. The theatre was christened the Charing Cross Theatre in January, 2011 to mark the change in its ownership and the new era on which it was embarking. Although the Music Hall tradition is still honoured with periodic Sunday performances, the Charing Cross Theatre has operated as a legitimate commercial theatre since 2002. Recent productions include: The Exonerated; Thrill

Me; the transfer from Broadway of Ghetto Klown starring John Leguizamo; Facinating Aida: Cheap Flights; Facing The Music staring Patricia Routledge; the world premiere of 6 Actors in Search of a Director, written and directed by Steven Berkoff; the transfer of the King's head Theatre's production of the Tennessee Williams play, Vieux Carre; the Olivier Award-winning production of La Boheme ; the UK Premier of Jerry Herman's Dear World, starring Betty Buckley; the London revival of Finian's Rainbow; and Ushers: The Front of House Musical.

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