Getting acquainted with Jacques Brel

Lesley Stones
02/18/2010 13:14:41


Lesley Stones finally catches up on a musical secret that everyone else seems to know.

Brel, who's Brel? I hear you ask.

Oh, so you already know. Perhaps it's just me then who had never heard of Jacques Brel before. But it turns out that I do know some of his songs, which are being performed with absolute panache in Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.

Quite why I'm familiar with a song about drunken, brawling, whoring sailors in Amsterdam is a mystery. But I've certainly heard it before. And as several other songs began there was also a frisson of familiarity about them.

Brel must have had quite a life. His lyrics are stories as much as songs, and tell of love gone and love gone wrong, war and death, drinking and dying. There's even a song about losing his virginity in an army brothel, although that traumatic experience clearly didn't put him off women for long.

They're lyrics you really have to listen to, but the listening is a pure pleasure with four excellent singers and a perfect backing band. Some of the songs are still in their native French, and sound terribly sophisticated even if you're struggling to comprehend as well as listen. Most have been translated into English, and they're wordy, clever lyrics that spin fascinating tales of human frailties.

The stage setting has a mellow cabaret feel, with rich curtains and few chairs and a table for the props. The lighting by Jane Gosnell is absolutely perfect, and so good that you actually notice the atmosphere it creates. When veteran showman Graham Clarke jumps onto a box to sing The Statue his features become almost grotesquely stone-like in the dramatic lighting. In fact Clarke's face is perfectly suited to many of Brel's songs, with his lived-in, worn-out features.

The younger David Chevers is equally suited to the tales about Brel's earlier life, while Chrissy Caine brings a worldy, knowing attitude to songs such as The Old Folks, a moving tale of the decline of man into sadness and senility.

The hit of the show, however, was the brilliant Deneel Uys. Her mischievous face is wonderful for the quirky Carousel and suitably anxious for Timid Frieda. When the opening bars for Ne Me Quitte Pas began, practically the entire audience gave a flutter of recognition, and the performance by Uys was fabulous. We nearly cried right with her.

That's when the band was at its best too. The whole show demands precision and delicacy from its musicians, and the melancholy double bass adds a moodiness that enhances the words magnificently.

One song runs into the next with no dialogue between, so its not a musical revue as much as a showcase for the songs of one man. That will probably limit its appeal to people already familiar with his work, but considering that the show ran for two decades after it first opened here in the 1970s to become the most enduring musical revue in South African history, that should guarantee a pretty enormous audience.

Whether many newcomers will take a chance and book a ticket for a songwriter they've never heard of is debatable, but I'm certainly glad that I did.


Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris runs at Sandton's Theatre on the Square until March 13.

Stunning Jacques Brel hits the high notes

Peter Feldman
02/18/2010 13:55:11



Peter Feldman: "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" is a perennial favourite.

It has been staged in South Africa over the years in a variety of forms, though very few ever managed to attain the status of Taubie Kushlick's early, innovative productions at the old Chelsea Theatre in Hillbrow.

Directors Colin Law and Dean Roberts have based this production on the 2006 Off-Broadway show. It has been resurrected for a new generation and though the feel is modern and meaningful it still retains the essence of Brel with brilliant clarity.

The songs, as many know, are all dramatic monologues that cannot simply be sung, but need to be acted out by a cast of superior performers.

In British singer Chrissy Caine, who has returned to these climes after a long absence, veteran Graham Clarke, and newcomers David Chevers and Daneel Uys, they have assembled a superb, integrated cast which invests Brel's special magic with the sensitivity and understanding it demands. Backed by a faultless group, under the musical direction of DuPreez Strauss, this foursome hardly falter as they interpret a famous songbook that represents Brel's many acute observations and myriad emotions. It is all there in the body language with the performers immersing themselves in the songs to stunning effect.

Over the years I've endured many variations of the Jacques Brel theme, but the combination on stage at this presentation constitutes one of the best I've seen. There is something like 26 songs in the show. These are literate, thoughtful and theatrical numbers and are given the full vocal treatment by a polished and stylish team. Many of my favourites were nicely highlighted and helped trigger memories of the ‘70s when Brel first became known to audiences in this part of the world.

One of my best is "Ne Me Quitte Pas," a wistful song, with its alternating happy and sad lyrics, which became a pop standard for so many international singers, was sensitively handled by the impressive Daneel Uys. She also showed her range with the mix of " I Loved," "My Death," "Timid Frieda," "Girls and Dogs" and the popular "Carousel."

Graham Clarke's handling of "Fanette" ""Amsterdam," "Funeral Tango" and "Sons of Lovers" showed his versatile streak, while the imposing David Chevers took complete control of the whore song "Next" and "The Bulls." Chrissy Caine has always been a class act and her renditions of "Le Diable," "My Childhood" and "The Old Folks" struck deep within the soul.

This version of "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well" certainly struck a warmly responsive chord within this reviewer, a feeling of which I really haven't had too much of lately.


"Jacques Brel is Alive and Well" is on at the Old Mutual Theatre on the Square, Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton, until March 13.

Sparkling Brel has new spunk and appeal

Leon van Nierop
02/18/2010 11:47:34





Leon van Nierop: Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris has been re-invented and re-energised.

The show has a long and interesting history. It debuted in New York in the late sixties in Greenwich Village and was seen by hundreds of thousands of people over its 4-year run. It was then staged in South Africa by the legendary Taubie Kushlick at the Chelsea Theatre in Hillbrow with, amongst others, Laurika Rauch and Danielle Pascal and ran for close on 20 years.

This time around the show is based on the 2006 Off-Broadway New York production with new arrangements of songs by the phenomenally successful and talented musical director DuPreez Strauss, definitely one of the stars of this sparkling production.

Strauss has succeeded in reinventing and re-energising the show and giving it new spunk and appeal. One of the stars of the show is, without a doubt, Chrissie Caine. She has returned to South Africa from the UK to join the local cast and livens up the stage with her spunky and deeply felt renditions of some of Brel's most beloved songs. Mention must also be made of David Chevers's fine voice and vocal rendition. He has a great stage presence and complements the lyrics with his soulful and inspiring performances and self-confidence.

This is a stirring and successful production that was unfortunately marred by sound problems on the opening night, especially with Chevers's microphone. One can just hope that these problems will be sorted out during the run.

So if you like Brel, you might find yourself captivated and moved by this professional and imaginative production.


Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
With Chrissie Caine, Graham Clarke, David Chevers and Daneel Uys
Directed by Colin Law and Dean Roberts
At the Old Mutual theatre on the Square till 13 March 2010