Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris
Spring, 2017
Written By: Eric Blau & Mort Shuman, Music by Jacques Brel
Directed By: Jaybird O'Berski
Professor Jaybird O'Berski directs an undergraduate cast in an intense musical revue featuring the songs of Jacques Brel. Brel's songs explore the glories and humiliations of love, the passage of time, and, unflinchingly, death. According to music and theater critic William Ruhlman, Brel occupied a position in French popular music roughly comparable to that of Bob Dylan in the U.S., writing and singing personal, serious songs of greater depth and individuality than most pop. Unlike Dylan, however, Brel's music, drawing upon cabaret styles, has an overtly theatrical flair. The material lends itself to dramatic interpretation because each song defines a character and tells a story, as in "Amsterdam," a song in which a sailor salutes the city's prostitutes.
Performances run April 6, 7, 8 and 13, 14, 15 at 8:00p in Sheafer Theater.
Sunday matinees at 2:00p on April 9 and 16.
Tickets are now on sale at tickets.duke.edu
CAST
Molly Albright
Will Burns
Tomas Delgado
Savi Elliot
Watson Goh
Emily Levinstone
Chidinma Nnoromele
Cuquis Robledo
Ashley Sage
Alonzo Saxton
CREW
Savannah Holmes, stage manager
Angela Zhu, assistant stage manager
Anne Driscoll
Yodit Gebretsadik
Vihasa Govada
Neera Mohammed
PRODUCTION TEAM
Jaybird O'Berski, Director (Duke faculty)
Torry Bend, Set Designer (Duke faculty)
Katharine Whalen, Costume Designer (guest artist)
Liz Droessler, Lighting Designer (guest artist)
Louis Landry, Music Director & bandleader (guest artist)
Dana Marks, Voice Coach (Duke faculty)
GUEST ARTIST MUSICIANS
Luis Rodriguez
Ittai Korman
Eric Mrozkowski