Jacques Brel

Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris

This musical is a revue of Brel's work. At the age of 23, Brel moved from Nazi-occupied Brussels to Paris, where he began to chase his dreams of a musical career. No performers wanted to sing his songs and he realised that he would have to sing them himself. This he did and found waiting for his passionate performances an ever-widening audience. By the early 1960's he was touring in the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R.

One of the musical contact he made was Mort Shuman (A Teenager In Love), who introduced his music to Eric Blau. They both loved what they heard and agreed that the songs were sure to find an American audience, but only if they were sung in English. Not wanting to turn the songs into a commercial venture, the pair eventually decided to turn them into a 'plotless' theatrical production.