"1789 : Les Amants de la Bastille" a revolutionary love story set to music

I'm not a great fan of musicals at the best of times, and even less so of French ones.

But occasionally I allow myself to be dragged along to one.

"You'll enjoy it, you'll see," friends who had seen the production of "1789 : Les Amants de la Bastille" during its first run in Paris, assured me.

"There's some great music, fine voices and the set is sumptuous. Plus you'll brush up your knowledge of French history," they insisted.

"Besides, you shouldn't be so snooty about these sort of things."

Moi? Snooty (and pretentious)? I hardly think so.

After all, I was the person who had recently seen the French version of "Mamma Mia"... and liked it.

Plus in recent years I've enjoyed the "Sound of Music", "West Side Story" and "Carousel" at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

All right, already so they were all transfers of original productions from Broadway or the West End.

And they weren't exactly in the mould of that 1998 gem "Notre Dame de Paris" described by The Independent when it opened in London as "a load of old bells" and which must surely have set the trend for the glut of French musicals that were to follow over the next decade or so.

Anyway, 1789-bound I was, even if somewhat sceptical.

Having heard some of the sound track on the radio and knowing that Louis Delort, a finalist in the first season of The Voice, had been cast in one of the lead roles, I didn't hold out much faith in my friends' first two assertions.

Louis Delort and Camille Lou (screenshot from "Tomber dans ses yeux " official video, 1789 Les Amants de la Bastille)

As for helping me make sense of a period in French history. I had my doubts.

On that count at least, I wasn't disappointed.

It was a French Disneyfying of events made palatable for everyone and accompanied by some frenzied dancing and uptempo but nonetheless uninspiring songs.

The run-up to the French revolution serves as a backdrop to a love story (what else?).

Robespierre, Danton, Marie Antoinette Louis XVI et al are all present and correct as are two fictional characters from both sides of the divide: Ronan Mazurier (Delort) for the "revolting peasants" and Olympe du Puget (Camille Lou) an under-governess at the royal court.

Delort is good, as is Lou. And... oh and look, there's another TV talent show contestant in the form of Sébastien Agius (Robespierre) who apparently won the inaugural season of the French X Factor in 2009.

They and the others belt out the tunes, helped by microphones cranked up to the max to overcome the pre-recorded intrumentals.

The music is...well, it seems as though Dove Attilla and Albert Cohen (the duo responsible for bringing us "Les 10 Commandements", "Le Roi Soleil" and most recently "Mozart l’opéra rock") have cobbled together the tracks that didn't quite make it into "Mozart".

Still, the audience seemed enthralled. Well at least those who weren't "watching" the whole thing through their smart 'phones while filming.

"Please don't use flash photography," the announcer had requested before the performance began.

"It's dangerous for the performers (huh?) and besides the stage lighting is sufficiently bright," he added, thereby making a nonsense of the sign at the entry to the venue which said "no cameras allowed".

Curtain up. Flash, flash, flash went the smartphones in a pattern which was to repeat itself every time there was a scene change.

Every song was roundly applauded. Children and adults alike texted furiously as they scoffed their popcorn and guzzled their soft drinks and I sighed, looking at my watch and wondering whether I could leave before the end.

It was...well a real treat for those who enjoy their French (musical) history served up Camembert-style.

Me? I think I'm musical-ed-out for the moment.

But if you're really keen to see what has, after all, been a huge success in France, "Les Amants" continues its nationwide tour with stopovers in Montpellier, Nice and Marseille before returning to Paris in November.

And then at the beginning of 2014 it'll be on the road again.

Sex on legs - "Tanguera" is back in Paris

Once again Parisian audiences are being treated to the exhaustingly energetic but sublimely sensual "Tanguera" playing at the Théâtre du Châtelet.

It's a musical but told in dance - the Tango of course.

Tanguera (screenshot from trailer)

And what makes it especially compelling is how it manages to tell the history of its own roots by going back to its beginnings (of course) and at the same time combining it with a love story typical for any era, but that was very much part of the milieu in which the Tango was born.

Set in the poor quarter of Boca in Buenos Aires at the end of the 19th century, Tanguera tracks the tale of Giselle, a young woman from France, who has recently arrived as part of the wave of immigration from Europe to South America at the time.

She cannot find legitimate work and gets drawn into prostitution under the "comforting arm" of Gaudencio, a gangster, pimp and drug trafficker.

From prostitution she moves into the seedy world of cabaret, controlled by Gaudencio, and discovers the Tango. It becomes her drug almost, and she in return becomes a star of the scene, quickly attracting the attention of the virtuous Lorenzo, a docker.

He of course at the end finally takes his courage in his hands and challenges Gaudencio to a fight, where the two men slug it out in mortal combat - all for the love of a woman.

Directed by Omar Pacheco, the choreography of Mora Godoy is phenomenal.

The dancers who keep the action flowing are seductive and sensual without being vulgar. There's a vibrancy, energy and speed that leaves the audience feeling just as exhausted as surely the dancers must be by the end.

Eat your heart out "Danse avec les stars".

"Tanguera" is just under two hours of electrifying moves and wonderful music combined with a choreography that'll leave even the most heavy-footed member of the public panting for more and almost ready to throw all caution to the wind and run on to the stage to be part of the performance.

All right, perhaps not. After all it would be hard (and probably painful) to even attempt to replicate what the ensemble sf capable of.

"Tanguera" draws you in, keeps you transfixed and, simply put, it's sex on legs. Not to be missed if you're planning a visit to the French capital.

So if you didn't catch "Tanguera" when it was last performed back in Paris in 2008, then now's your chance.

It runs at the Théâtre du Châtelet from October 15 - November 2 and there are still seat available!

French film festivals - the Americans are coming!

Less than a week after the announcement that US actor Robert De Niro would jury chairman at the 64th annual Cannes film festival in May comes the news that another American will be "topping the bill" so-to-speak at this year's César awards in February.

Jodie Foster, Berlin 2007 (image from Wikipedia, author Franz Richter)

Actress Jodie Foster will add her very own brand of American flair, in fluent French of course, to this country's equivalent of the Oscars next month as president of the 36th annual César awards ceremony to be held at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

While De Niro's appointment continues a trend that will have seen three out of the last four jury presidents at Cannes coming from across the Pond (Sean Penn in 2008 and Tim Burton in 2010) Foster will become the first foreigner since the late Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni to preside over the César ceremony and only the fourth American ever after Kirk Douglas (1990), Gene Kelly (1984) and Orson Welles (1982)

The choice of the 48-year-old Foster perhaps comes as no surprise as the weekly national Le Journal du Dimanche pointed out on its website.

She is, as the paper reminds its readers, "an accomplished francophone" who studied at the Lycée Français in Los Angeles.

Apart from an acting career which includes the not-so trifling accolade of winning two Oscars for best actress (1988 in The Accused and 1991 in The Silence of the Lambs) and being nominated on two other occasions (for best supporting actress at just 14 years of age in the 1976 film Taxi Driver and again in the best actress category in the 1994 movie Nell) Foster has also directed and produced.

And, as US Daily reports, she is no stranger to French cinema having "appeared in Eric Le Hung's 1977 film Moi, Fleur Bleue (Stop Calling Me Baby (Moi, fleur bleue), Claude Chabrol's Le Sang des autres (The Blood of Others) in 1984 and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement) in 2004.

The César award ceremony will take place on February 25 and be broadcast live on Canal + television.

The nominees in each of the categories will be announced on January 21 in Paris.

The double-American whammy should put paid (for a while at least) to those assertions that the French always look sniffily down their collective Gallic noses when it comes to US "culture", although perhaps both Foster and De Niro are noteworthy exceptions to the rule that "The world is turning Disney".



The making of the real The Silence of the lambs






The spoof starring Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders

Paris is alive to "The Sound of Music" - apparently

Ask many a native English speaker to hum or sing a tune from the musical "The Sound of Music" and the chances are they'll at least be able to break into song.

Most could probably make a reasonable bash at "My favourite things", "The hills are alive", "Do-re-mi", or "Climb ev'ry mountain" just to mention a few of the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein numbers that have become standards over the years.

But that's not necessarily the case here in France, as the popular presenter and comedian, Laurent Ruquier acknowledged on his daily radio show last week, when he and his assembled crew, were hard pushed even to name one song.

That could be about to change though because the 1959 musical is (unbelievably) receiving its first staging in this country, and once again it's audiences at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris who are enjoying some of the unquestionably most memorable and singable songs in the history of musicals.

The Sound of Music, or "La Mélodie du bonheur" as it's rather poetically called in French is 50 years old.



Reviews for Spanish director Emilio Sagi's staging have been full of praise. "A little jewel" said the national daily, Le Monde.

"The audience was on its feet, applauding enthusiastically," wrote Le Figaro after opening night.

Indeed it is rather special. It's a Broadway musical which combines opera singers in the lead roles of Maria, the soprano Sylvia Schwartz and as Georg von Trapp, the baritone Rod Gilfry, alongside established actors/singers such as Kim Criswell as the Mother Abbess.

And that's not forgetting, for Le Monde, "the seven adorable and lively offspring of the Baron" or the Orchestre Pasdeloup under the musical direction of Kevin Farrell as well as the Choeur du Châtelet, the choreography and acting, which after almost two months of rehearsals offer audiences a polished and rounded production.

But there's something missing especially for those who might be more familiar with, and therefore hoping for, the schmaltz and kitsch of the Oscar-winning 1965 film version.

It's somehow just not as escapist or as heartwarming, and of course there's no Julie Andrews.

The spark seemed to be missing.

Although there were some laughs at the mannerisms and light comic touches throughout, and applause after each "number", on the whole members of the public at Saturday's matinee performance remained polite and restrained, perhaps reflecting on the fact that they only had a few days left to prepare for Christmas, or were wondering what had happened to the heating in the auditorium.

And then there were some rather puzzling and distracting French surtitles, projected either side of the stage throughout the performance that rather missed the nuances of Hammerstein's lyrics.

Among the critics there has been general enthusiasm for the production with the recommendation that it's a "must see" for those in Paris over the holiday season.

Perhaps the best way though is to judge for yourself.

Or you could always settle down with a DVD of the film in the comfort of your own home and indulge to your heart's content.

The Sound of Music continues its run at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris until January 3, 2010.

Paris sways to the sounds of the Soweto Gospel Choir

Audiences at the Théâtre du Châtelet in the French capital this past week have been delighting in the sights and sounds of the Soweto Gospel Choir.

In a run lasting just six days, the group has been serving up its own mix of traditional African gospel songs along with US spirituals, reggae and popular music all combined with the colour and power of dance in what is described on its website as "sharing the joy of faith through music with audiences around the world."


"Certainly not unique" began perhaps rather harshly the review in the French national daily Le Monde, pointing out that there are dozens of gospel choirs in South Africa.

"And not necessarily perfect either" it continued, maybe not too far off the mark as the sound levels weren't always faultless although that might well have had more to do with the venue than the voices.

But the sheer energy and enthusiasm from the choral ensemble complete with some powerful dance moves demonstrated clearly why the group has quickly built up an international reputation since it was formed in 2002, garnered two Grammy awards for its albums and won plaudits and fans around the world.

As even Le Monde had to admit, there's no getting away from how impressive the Soweto Gospel Choir is, or its appeal.

"The depth and quality of voices, the fascinating energy of the dances, the shimmering colours; with the Soweto Gospel Choir, all conspire to seduce the public," it enthused.

And the Paris audience certainly seemed to be seduced.

Even as the group made its way through the first selection of African traditional songs which might not have been familiar to an initially rather polite and unnecessarily restrained public, any inhibitions those in the audience might have had were quickly cast aside as they began clapping in time and warmed to the rhythm.

That's surely the strength of the choir: its ability to make an audience relax and (collectively) get to its feet to join in.

From African traditional the group switched to songs that had no religious undertones but were nonetheless "spiritual" and familiar to anyone.

Bob Marley's "One Love" was given the gospel treatment and a rendition of "Bridge over troubled water" had the two lead singers giving inspirational rafter-raising performances of the Simon and Garfunkel classic.

Some more traditional gospel songs, a sketch "In the canteen" which illustrated the group's ability to add humour to the performance, the instantly recognisable "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and some more spectacular dancing.

Throughout the choir swayed, leaned, shuffled, and clapped in rhythm. The audience too got in on the act keeping time to the beat. Clearly the exuberance and enjoyment of those performing on stage was infectious.

And then all too soon it was the final song "World in Union" made famous by, among others of course, the South African male choral group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo.



The audience demanded - and got - a two-song encore: more magnificent dancing accompanied Johnny Clegg's "Asimbonanga" and the gospel standard that probably everyone knew, "Oh Happy Day", which inevitably brought the whole theatre to its feet.






It's hardly surprising then that wherever it performs the Soweto Gospel Choir elicits descriptions such as "Spirited and spectacular", "Sheer jubilation...earthy and unrestrained...the rhythm of life" or "Sparky, spiritual and spellbinding".

And few at the Paris performances will have found fault with any of those and similar reviews - probably hoping that it won't be too long before the choir makes a welcome return.

The Soweto Gospel Choir completes its short run at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris with a final performance on Monday November 9.

Alvin Ailey in Paris - dancing with attitude

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre (AADT) is back in Paris, playing to packed houses in a three-week stint at the Théâtre du Châtelet.

Even those with only a passing interest in contemporary dance are likely to have heard of Alvin Ailey, and if you haven't and are lucky enough to catch one of the company's performances either here in Paris or the other European venues during its international tour, you'll be in for a treat.

It's all part of the company's 50th anniversary celebrations and coincides with the French capital's festival of dance "Les Etés de la Danse", now in its fifth year and aimed at (so the promotional material goes) bringing "quality dance performances to fans" and at the same time "allowing a wider section of the public to discover an art form all too often reserved for those 'in the know'".

Indeed what better introduction could there be for anyone to dance than the AADT? Its founder, the late Alvin Ailey is one of those choreographers acclaimed for bringing both African-American cultural expression and the tradition of American modern dance to stages around the world.

And its current artistic director, Judith Jamison, who took over the reigns when Ailey died in 1989, has very much continued along the same vein, ensuring that the 30-strong company retains its legacy of being a "cultural ambassador to the world".

But how do you possibly reduce 50 years into a couple of hours? Well the answer is you don't. It's just not possible.

Instead what Paris audiences are getting at the moment is a selection of some of the most memorable routines, either choreographed by Ailey or inspired by him, and to an extent what you see depends on which of the three different performance you've booked.

This past weekend saw the company performing programme B, and although it didn't include the roof-raising classic, "Revelations" - arguably Ailey's most recognisable work, setting dance to spiritual, gospel and blues music - there was still more than enough for those in the audience to catch a glimpse of the genius of the man, the legacy he has left us through the work of other choreographers he influenced, and proof that music in not the only "universal language".

From the force and energy of Twyla Tharp's choreography in "The Golden Section" to accompany music by David Byrne, when the dancers power their way through a series of seemingly effortless moves which to mere mortals would surely be impossible, to Hans van Manen's three-man "Solo" with its stunning agility and grace set to Bach.

Then Camille A. Brown's work "The Groove to Nobody's Business" in which the dancers add a new dimension (is it possible) from the very opening strains of Ray Charles' music and a score by Brandon McCune as "strangers meeting at a subway station"

And finally - sadly all too soon - "Love Stories", choreographed by Jamison herself along with Robert Battle and Rennie Harris with some reworked music of (Little) Stevie Wonder, touches that had the audience predictably on its feet demanding more and getting just the briefest of encores.

The whole performance (with breaks) runs just short of three hours. The dancers make the transitions in musical styles appear effortless if the expressions on their faces are anything to go by. But of course it's surely far from being that even though each sequence slips seamlessly into the next.

The AADT will be performing here in Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet until July 26, then it's off to the Tivoli concert hall in the Danish capital Copenhagen from September 14-20, winding up the international tour in Athens from September 24-27.

There's really only one recommendation to make. Go see it if you get the chance.