Beneath The Dress - Review

Crazy Coqs, London

****

Back by popular demand, Frances Ruffelle brought her song cycle of a show, Beneath The Dress, to a packed out Crazy Coqs for two nights only.

In what was to prove an eclectic, coquette-ick whirl, Ruffelle ‘s one-woman one-act set drew on a collection of mainstream and left field numbers from both sides of the Atlantic. In parts whimsical and reflective, at other times outrageously celebratory, those who know the singer well may perhaps recognise the moments that she has suggested hint at autobiography.

Ruffelle’s entrance through the crowd offered a provocative wit, with the singer soon into one of her own compositions, Hit Me With A Hot Note, proving she not only possesses one of the most gorgeously controlled and distinctively timbred voices around, her writing is neat too.

Above all, Ruffelle is one of those uber-talented women who defines the craft of acting through song. The students of today need to watch her and learn, as she imbues just the right amount of melancholy into Rodgers and Hart’s Ten Cents A Dance, whilst her take on Lilac Wine the James Shelton 1950 classic and made famous in turn (depending upon your age) by Nina Simone, Elkie Brooks and latterly Katie Melua, was revelatory. Ruffelle understands her songs intimately, coaxing newly discovered nuance and poignancy from numbers we thought we knew well.

The unpredictability to the set list mirrored Ruffelle’s cutely distinctive persona. Tom Waits’ Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis is probably not often heard amidst the art-deco swirls of the Crazy Coqs, likewise the car crash of a number that is Coffee from See What I See. Each though added to the confection of reflection that made up the night.

The show wouldn’t have been complete without a nod to Ruffelle’s most celebrated creation, Les Miserables’ Eponine and with several tributes to Piaf throughout the evening, including an enchanting mash up that saw Piaf’s classic Hymn To Love segueing in and out of Les Mis’ On My Own, it is clear to see Ruffelle has a metier that's firmly rooted in the entente cordiale.

David Barber’s five piece band were excellent in support and as ever, producer Danielle Tarento’s commitment to excellence had ensured a polished turn. Beneath The Dress show has already toured widely and these two nights were not enough. Ruffelle fills the venue, not just with an audience but a gorgeous ambience too – The Crazy Coqs should get her back soon.

Frances Ruffelle - Paris Original

Crazy Coqs, London

*****

“You can’t have too much of a good thing” is the phrase and Frances Ruffelle is the proof. Barely four months after selling out London’s Crazy Coqs, she’s back with her Paris Original set and yet again the tickets are gold dust. Ruffelle believes in giving her audiences value for money and for the best part of two hours, with a five piece band and at least four costume changes, to say nothing of a set that smoothly links from jazz to rock to iconic Piaf with a sprinkling of musical theatre classics for good measure, she does just that.

Throughout, Ruffelle sparkles with an impertinent brilliance. Embodying the entente cordiale and opening with the ethereal romance of Un Homme et Une Femme, Ruffelle sets a coquettish style that’s simply way out of President Francois Hollande’s league. Her knowledge of Parisian culture and colloquialisms are a delight and whilst some of the Parisian connections to her material may be obscure, it doesn’t really matter. That her song selection includes segued nods to Boublil and Schonberg as well as Paul Simon and The Clash gives but a hint of her glorious un-conventionality and when talented daughter Eliza Doolittle sings a beautifully understated Chanson D’Amour, perched on a stool by the bar, it simply proves that every now and then even perfection can be improved upon. The young pop-star (who had loaned her mother some heels for the show!) did not upstage Ruffelle in the slightest and the kiss blown from mother to child after the cameo slot was fondly appropriate yet bursting with loving pride. 

The Piaf moments continue to wow and with schoolboy soprano Cole Emsley reprising his Jimmy Brown, Ruffelle’s sublime Non Je Ne Regrette Rien and Hymn To Love (the audition piece that won her the chance to create Eponine on stage), tears flow. There has been talk of Ruffelle’s 2013 Piaf touring, though in the turbulent world of theatre finance this has yet to be arranged. With the singer packing out the Crazy Coqs so emphatically, producers need to wake up. Frances Ruffelle attracts theatrical royalty (even Sir Cameron Mackintosh had brought his mum) and in front of such a star-studded audience Ben Atkinson’s musical direction and Romano Viazzani’s accordion grace the moment perfectly. 

Whilst this week may be sold out, Ruffelle can be seen on stage later this month in new musical The A-Z Of Mrs P that opens at the Southwark Playhouse. She only knows excellence in performance so its likely to be an outstanding show. 

Runs until 8th February and sold out. Contact the venue for returns.

My Diamond Dozen - The Best of 2013

The Baz's Diamond Dozen 

My 12 most memorable theatrical moments of 2013, in alphabetical order:



A Class Act starring John Barr
Landor Theatre, London
Dir. Robert McWhir

John Barr broke hearts in this glorious, gut-wrenching snapshot of the life of Ed Kleban, lyricist of A Chorus Line
http://www.jonathanbaz.com/2013/03/a-class-act.html


Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter In Conversation: NT at 50
National Theatre, London

Two legends of Richard Eyre's iconic Guys and Dolls production from 1982, talked about their time at the NT
http://www.jonathanbaz.com/2013/10/national-histories-imelda-staunton-and.html


Little Shop of Horrors
Kings Arms, Manchester
Dir. James Baker

A rare example of cracking fringe theatre to be found outside the usual stamping grounds of London and Edinburgh


Macbeth starring Kenneth Branagh
Manchester International Festival
Dir. Kenneth Branagh & Rob Ashford

Possibly the best Shakespeare staged in recent years. Sublime performances in the most innovative of settings imaginable.
http://www.jonathanbaz.com/2013/07/macbeth.html


Piaf starring Frances Ruffelle
Curve, Leicester
Dir. Paul Kerryson

8 times a week, Frances Ruffelle literally became Edith Piaf, telling the singer's story from the gutter to world fame, to broken-ness and death.
http://www.jonathanbaz.com/2013/02/piaf.html


Pippin
Music Box Theatre, New York
Dir. Diane Paulus

A jaw-dropping spectacle of stagecraft. Visuals and vocals with no gimmickry, just excellence throughout.
http://www.jonathanbaz.com/2013/10/pippin.html


Richard II starring David Tennant
RSC Stratford upon Avon
Dir. Greg Doran

Tennant and Doran grasp this most political of tales, giving a classic chapter of English history a sparkling contemporary relevance.
http://www.jonathanbaz.com/2013/10/richard-ii.html


Scott Alan in Concert
O2, London

An evening of revelatory and powerful musical theatre, performed by a stellar gathering, that included Cynthia Erivo......
http://www.jonathanbaz.com/2013/08/scott-alan.html


The Color Purple starring Cynthia Erivo
Menier Chocolate Factory, London
Dir. John Doyle

Bringing this Broadway hit to London, Doyle extracted performances from his cast, Erivo in particular, that breathed life into this harrowing yet ultimately uplifting story.
http://www.jonathanbaz.com/2013/09/the-color-purple.html


The Scottsboro Boys
Young Vic Theatre, London
Dir. Susan Stroman

Another acclaimed Broadway work, Stroman gave London yet more harrowing theatre in Kander & Ebb's final collaboration, based upon a tragic miscarriage of justice in the American South.
http://www.jonathanbaz.com/2013/12/the-scottsboro-boys.html


Titus Andronicus
RSC Swan Theatre, Stratford upon Avon
Dir. Michael Fentiman

With a decent budget, fabulous creatives and a talented company, Fentiman skilfully extracted the politics, irony and dark humour of this most violent of Shakespeare's plays.
http://www.jonathanbaz.com/2013/06/titus-andronicus.html


West Side Story
NYMT at the Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
Dir. Nikolai Foster

With choreographer Drew McOnie and MD Tom Deering, Foster breathed life into the Bernstein/Sondheim classic using only an empty warehouse, steel containers and a company of astonishingly talented young people.
http://www.jonathanbaz.com/2013/08/west-side-story.html

Piaf

Curve Theatre, Leicester

*****

Written by Pam Gems

Directed by Paul Kerryson


STOP PRESS!

PIAF RUN EXTENDED IN THE MAIN THEATRE AT THE CURVE 3 - 6 APRIL 2013

SEE THE TRAILER FOR THE SHOW HERE

Frances Ruffelle

Leicester Curve’s Piaf, Pam Gems' distinctive play about the beautiful but self-destructive arc of Edith Piaf, has new life breathed into the title role by Frances Ruffelle whose immersive performance as the celebrated French chanteuse is quite simply breathtaking.

Gems pulls no punches with her writing and this play with songs is not for fans of the singer looking for a sentimental juke-box musical. Her Piaf is at times a tragic junkie, an alcoholic and a foul mouthed whore in a production that is so much more than simply a collection of some of “The Little Sparrow’s” songs.  Ruffelle’s portrayal of this brightly burning star that crashed to her death at the age of 47 is as harrowing as it is stunning.

The play moves at a pace from Piaf’s troubled early years. The supporting cast context the passage of time skilfully, as key people in the singer’s life are introduced. Whilst many of the cast play several roles, Laura Pitt-Pulford plays Toine, Piaf’s best friend and fellow prostitute from the early years, throughout. Pitt-Pulford has a track record that defines a commitment to excellence and this performance is no exception as she portrays the hard-edged cynicism of a street girl through the years.  Tiffany Graves’ Marlene sings Falling in Love Again with a deliciously authentic sound.

The six men in the company cover a multitude of parts. The versatile Russell Morton, as her young Greek husband she married shortly before her death, beautifully duets with Ruffelle. Oliver Boot delivers an emphatic masculinity throughout, from hard edged cop to the champion boxer who wins Piaf’s love before being tragically killed in a plane crash and Dale Rapley shifts through several key characters in Piaf’s life effortlessly most notably as the gay promoter who chances upon her street singing and transforms her to professional performer.

But it is Ruffelle who defines this show. Shifting from gamine minx, to a morphine abusing broken-bodied frailty, injured from car crashes and addiction, her performance is almost Hamlet-like such is the totality of effort that is demanded from her. Crippled and dying, she switches from shooting–up to commanding the spotlight in the fantasy recalls of Piaf’s numbers, with ease. When she sings in French her voice is a sublime tribute to Piaf, whilst when she sings in English the distinctive timbre and twang that defined her creation of Eponine some 27 years ago, is still there. Ruffelles’s acting is first class throughout with Andrew Whiteoak’s effective wigs provide the finishing touches to her embodiment of the French legend. 

The staging is simple, with effective use of brickwork, cobbles (a nice Parisian touch from designer Simon Scullion ) and excellent lighting from Arnim Friess. Musically, the three piece band are a delight. Piaf demands an authentic French sound and Zivorad Nikolic’s accordion playing, under the talented Ben Atkinson’s direction and orchestration, creates a Parisian atmosphere that only needs for a whiff of Gauloise to be complete.

Paul Kerryson has delivered another well-crafted piece of theatre to this remarkable regional powerhouse. Hopefully the production will tour and maybe arrive in London too. Yet again, the people of Leicester are spoilt with such a gem on their doorstep.

Runs to 16th March

Piaf - The Songs - Review

Pleasance Theatre, Islington

****

This review was originally written for The Public Reviews

Simply staged, with roses adorning two tables, and a white backdrop, Eve Loiseau as Piaf evoked “ the Little Sparrow” with a delightful precision and clarity in an evening that paid homage to the French legend. Opening with La Vie en Rose, Loiseau delivered Piaf’s classic with an authentic yet fragile strength and on closing one’s eyes, it was possible to truly hear the subtleties and nuances of Piaf’s timbre in Loiseau’s performance. The quality of her mimicry put me in mind of Tracie Bennett’s recent Garland, and Jane Horrock’s wonderful Little Voice.

The set list for the evening was well thought out and included most of Piaf’s classic hits, together with a sprinkling of lesser known numbers. At times, Loiseau interjected with stories of Piaf, marking out not only the singer’s achievements but also the tragedies of her difficult life.

But whilst the music and singing were superbly performed, the production as a whole was less than perfect. The show’s first half was beset with sound faults that should have been picked up in rehearsal and the backdrop was an extremely creased fabric. Much of the performance’s visual impact was created by back projected stills and grainy archive footage shone on to the backcloth and the poor quality of this screen created an air of unprofessionalism that the performers did not deserve. The lack of programme to credit the performers and creative team also did them a disservice.
Accompanying Loiseau were Fiona Barrow on violin, and Edward Jay on accordion. Their delightful performances were as evocative as those of the singer. The show’s overture and subsequent entr’acte, whilst perhaps a little too long, were delightfully atmospheric, lacking only the pungent smell of Gauloises to replicate the air of 1950s Paris.

Notwithstanding the various flaws, the show packed a punch. Act One included such gems as Padam Padam and Autumn Leaves and the second half built to a skillfully manipulated climax with Loiseau singing a feisty Milord, before closing the show with Piaf’s signature tune Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, that had many of the audience clearly moved.

Loiseau treats her material with a combination of respect and excellence and she and her musicians are 5 star performers in a show that needs just a little tightening up. If you enjoy the Piaf sound, then go: you will not be disappointed.