Customer Reviews

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris [2006 Off-Broadway Recording]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It should be noted that this is NOT the original, or even a revival (though I believe they call it that). This is a reworking of the original. It has deleted many of the songs from the '60s version, including "Marathon". Now before you wail too loudly, the replacement will knock your socks off: the powerfully rendered "Ca Va" sets the tone with an even darker humor than the original. There are other additions and deletions, but I swear, you won't mind. And you won't have to decide which version is better, because they are different. Also having seen this production (the week before this recording was made), sitting in my living room in Kansas I was transported back to the Zipper Theatre and the magic created by this spectacular cast and their incredibly talented musical director (you hear him singing on the "The Middle Class"). Sit back, close your eyes and enjoy!

I may be slightly biased because i've seen this show with this cast seven times so far, but it is utterly magnificent. the cast album is beautiful and the vocal ranges are spectacular. Each song is a complete story, some dealing with love, despair, anguish, war, ageing, joy and just about all aspects of human emotion.

If you saw the show in the sixties or have the CD from that show, you will totally disregard it after you have heard this cast. These performers are so talented that they are thrilling. You owe it to yourself to experience the joy of this cast album.

...but the off-Broadway revival of which it's a recording was fantastic. Like unbelievably fantastic. I was raised on Brel (a younger brother was named after him), and this is simply the finest I've ever heard. Buy it, but it, buy it.
Everyone involved should be very, very proud. Kudos!

I had heard of Jacques Brel, and I knew two songs from the show. But what made me buy the CD was the performer Gay Marshall who I had seen in Las Vegas when she performed the role of DIANA in A CHORUS LINE in the 1980's.
Surprise surprise! She was terrific, of course, and I fell in love with the rest of the show, which I will recommend to community theatres to produce here. I am also buying the DVD---break a leg, Gay! Teri

I saw the orginal off Braodway show in 1969 and over the years always had either a LP or a CD. The Orginal is great and so is this revival. I hope that another and another returns and returns to the stage. The lyrics cut to the bone over and over again with a mixture of cynism and love that no one else has. This CD and the orginal CD are not identical. It has some songs that the orginal does not have I like the additons very much, in particular "Childhood". But, "Madeline" and "Brussels" are on the orginal and really are great songs. For that reason alone you should buy both, or consider creative downloading.

What this CD has that the orginal does not have is Gay Marshell. She owns her songs. It is as if Brel wrote with her in mind. Until I heard her sing I did not appreciate the female lead songs such as "Sons of" and "Marieke".

I prefer by a slight margin the orginal versions of "Amsterdam" and "Jackie" over the ones performed here. There is more of edge in the older version that I prefer over the newer one, but that may be more a matter of what I have become accustomed to. If you want to buy only one of the two I suggest this one because of Gay Marshell but both are great. I like comparing the songs. There was a revival in London. That CD has the same songs as the the orginal off Broadway show. There is not a cut on the English CD that I consider better than the versions on the other two, but simply because they are singing the songs of Brel it is a CD worth listening to and better than most. The songs are timeless every generation should have its own show.

The 2006 production of this show was excellent, and the CD is also excellent. Some thrilling and some very moving performances by a very talented group of singers.

We just had the privilege of attending the production of "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. It was an amazing performance which made me excited about finding a really good quality CD. Amazon recommended this recording and I ordered it. After listening to it last night I must sadly report that I was disappointed. The quality of the performances by the New York production was very inferior to those of the Stratford Festival. If you can make it to Stratford before the end of the season, you will LOVE this show.

Lowell Dodge, M.D.