Edith Piaf: An All-Star Celebration
Edith Piaf: An All-Star Celebration
54 Below, NYC, August 14, 2015
Reviewed by Ron Forman for Cabaret Scenes
54 Below celebrated the centennial of the birth of Edith Piaf by featuring a quintet of vocalists, all of whom, in their own unique ways, captured the essence of The Little Sparrow. Whether singing in English or French, Francesca Capetta, Gay Marshall, Jenny Lee Stern, Carole J. Bufford and Molly Pope were uniformly excellent. Host Scott Siegel, as is his wont, provided interesting and amusing anecdotes about Piaf’s life
The very beautiful Capetta opened with a dramatic and emotive “La vie en rose,” Piaf’s signature song. Marshall, who is today’s foremost interpreter of the life and music of Piaf, followed with two numbers in French and English: “Lovers for a Day” and her own translation into English of “La foule.” The very dynamic Stern performed “Les trois cloches,” followed by a story about her receiving a love letter in French, in the eighth grade, which was borrowed from “À quoi ça sert l’amour?”. Bufford stopped the show with her thrilling dual-languaged “My Man.” Pope performed a very lively “Milord.” After saying that she appreciates a singer who always sang in a manic mode, Pope shifted gears and did a soft “Mon Dieu.” Marshall returned and movingly described the life of a French prostitute before an even more moving “Pigalle.” Capetta’s evocative facial expressions enhanced her performance of “If You Love Me (Really Love Me),” the hit English version of the Piaf-penned “L’hymne à l’amour.” Bufford came back for the dramatically performed, perfect closing number, which truly described Piaf’s life, “Non, je ne regrette rien.”
Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews
