Given that the American musical revue Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris was one of the most successful productions in the history of Silo Theatre, the company might have thought about reviving it.
It has been seven years since Silo ended a hugely successful 2005 season with the cabaret-style show featuring songs by the Belgian singer, songwriter and actor. Widely regarded as one of the godfathers of modern music, Brel's songs - he wrote around 300 in his brief lifetime - have been covered by an extensive list of musicians including Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone and Marianne Faithfull.
The passionate, sardonic wit of his songs may suit those luminaries, but it's harder to imagine how they worked for the likes of Sheena Easton, Olivia Newton-John and Nana Mouskouri who have also recorded versions. Then again, it proves how mutable his work is. And therein lies the point. When Silo decided to return to Brel, artistic director Shane Bosher opted for a whole new challenge: creating a cabaret-noir tribute show from scratch to reinterpret songs written mainly in the 1940s, 50s and 60s for a contemporary audience.
The result is Brel, a genre-defying production described by director Michael Hurst as a cross between a concert and a recording session combining the talents of a disparate range of performers. Two of our most high-profile rock musicians, Jon Toogood and Julia Deans, join two of our most celebrated musical theatre performers, Tama Waipara and Jennifer Ward-Lealand, along with Balkan-influenced musical trendsetter Dr Colossus.
The job of rearranging the songs has fallen to Dr Colossus founder Leon Radojkovic who is working closely with Hurst. Hurst, who appeared in a 1981 version of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, says they are moving away from the accordion and more toward electric guitars.
