One of my roommates got a job at the Village Gate, an upscale (for the village) cabaret stage that usually had jazz but instead premiered a show called Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. It ran for six years, followed by a tribute in year seven to Jacques Brel himself at Carnegie Hall. I saw the show more than seven times and have fond and deeply ingrained memories of it. One of the performers who especially stands out is Elly Stone, who reminded me of Julie Harris but with a haunting voice. I love this show.
The original show debuted Off-Broadway on January 22, 1968 [1] at The Village Gate Theater in Greenwich Village and ran for more than four years. Its original performers were Elly Stone, Mort Shuman, Shawn Elliott, and Alice Whitfield. The production was directed by Moni Yakim with Production Supervision by Eric Blau. On January 25, 1972, a Fifth Year Gala, entitled Hommage à Jacques, was celebrated at Carnegie Hall with Brel in attendance. His songs were interpreted by twenty-two artists, including George Lee Andrews, Jack Blackton, Chevi Colton, Sally Cooke, Jack Eddleman, Elinor Ellsworth, Rita Gardner, Amelia Haas, Robert Jeffrey, Judy Lander, Ted Lawrie, Carolyn Leslie, Joe Masiell, Arlene Meadows, Stan Porter, Betty Rhodes, Howard Ross, Mort Shuman, Elly Stone, Fran Uditsky, Henrietta Valor, and Alice Whifield. In 1974, it was revived at the Astor Place Theatre for a limited run.
The revue, consisting of around 25 songs, is performed by four vocalists, two male and two female. Jacques Brel contributed most of the music and French lyrics; English translations were provided by Eric Blau, Stone's husband, and Mort Shuman, a Brill Building songwriter responsible for such hits as This Magic Moment , Viva Las Vegas , Teenager In Love , and others.
In 1973, Jacques Brel was produced by Ray Shepardson in the lobby of Cleveland, Ohio's State Theatre. It was intended to play for two weeks, but continued through 1975, with a 522-performance run that remained the longest theatrical run in the city's history for many years. The performance is credited as a major factor in the rescue and restoration of the theater and its adjacent venues, which are now Playhouse Square Center, the largest theater complex in the USA outside of New York City.
