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Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
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In November of 2014, FSCJ Dramaworks presented Jacques Brel is Alive and Well in Paris, an off-Broadway musical created in 1968 by Eric Blau and Mort Shuman using twenty songs by folk singer-poet Jacques Brel. Born in Belgium in 1929, where his early life was significantly shaped the by World Wars, Brel spent most of his creative life in the city of Paris, performing in coffee houses and clubs throughout the city. In the 1960s and 70s, Brel’s reputation and influence went beyond French-speaking countries to the United Kingdom and the United States, with prominent artist like David Bowie and Barbara Streisand covering his songs. The show, based loosely on his life, is a one-man musical with a cast of four or more actor-singers (in this production eight performers) all portraying one character: Brel. The words are Brel’s - the opinions, insights, and razor wit. The underlying, sometimes nearly hidden optimism is Brel’s. In a sense the show is more of a character study than anything else, but is it a character study of Jacques Brel the man or of western civilization at the end of the twentieth century?
Please be advised this production contains language and content some may find offensive and may not be suitable for younger audiences.
This show ran at FSCJ's Wilson Center for the Arts November 13-16, 2014.
A recording of this performance is available in Canvas Commons for viewing by FSCJ faculty and staff. For instructions on how to access archival video in Canvas, please see our FAQ.
