CABARET VILLE MAGAZINE.
P70. Cont'd
from P69
CABARET: THE GREATEST SINGERS OF ALL
TIME
WHO ARE THOSE
FEMME FATALES?
Photos
from L to R: Josephine Baker, circa 1927, Mistinguet, the queen of the
French cabaret, circa 1935.
So many
readers in the United Kingdom asked me who is the best cabaret entertainer
in the United States? And I replied: "There is no such thing as the best
cabaret entertainer!" For the world of cabaret is immense and so is
its personification on stage. Some artists are singers, purely singers with
occasional appearances on the screen or on the tube. They are typically
cabaret singers, such as Amanda McBroom, Andrea Marcovicci, Anna Bergman,
Caroline Nin et al. Others are cabaret concert artists like Barbara Cook,
Kate Westbrook, Barb Jungr, Lorna Dallas and Anne Kerry Ford. And few other
superb cabaret entertainers are simultaneously all of the above, such as
Susan Egan, Bernadette Peters, Lorraine Serabian and Liza Minelli. And of
course, there is a very special league which outcasts all the others. They
are the legends and 100% authentic CABARET super divas and goddesses like
Gabriella Ferri, Ute Lemper, Marlene Dietrich, Juliette Greco, Barbara,
Edith Piaf (to certain extent, because she was much more than a cabaret
chanteuse). Also, we have the tragi-comic theater-cabaret leads like Cindy
Benson, or traditional cabaret concert artists who once upon a time shined
brilliantly on the big screen like Anne Kerry Ford and Julie Andrews.
Photo:
Gina Gershon.
EACH CHANTEUSE IS DIFFERENT.
Another
national/international group of cabaret divas remained "untouchable artists"
like Eartha Kitt, Rita Moreno, Chita Rivera, Cleo Laine, Paulette Attie,
Josephine Baker, Sabah, Amalia Rodriguez, Sarita Montiel, Mistinguet,
Marinella, Mina, etc... Do you need more styles and more different cabaret
goddesses with distinct style and unique persona? Revere these: Karen Akers,
the great Betty Buckley, the one and only Raquel Bitton, the larger than
life, Nicole Martel and the magnificent Simone Marchand who worked for me
for approximately 6 consecutive years at my boite-floorshow cabaret "Le
Marquis de Rochambeau" in the United States. Each one of them has a very
singular theatrical aura and a well-defined cache. But of course, many of
them share a common denominator, once their performances have been crafted
and scenario-graphed by commercial and extravaganza Broadway productions.
In that category, I would not hesitate to call upon Susan Egan, Bernadette
Peters, Liza Minelli et al. And how about the cabaret-show of the
flashy-dashy Broadway productions with a lot of skin on stage? Some big
names pop up before my eyes, vedettes like Deborah Gibson, Jane Leeves,
Gina Gershon, etc...In other words, different strokes for different folks
and vice-versa. There is no way you can establish an analogy between Nina
Simone and Bette Middler or compare the super duper Marisa Berenson with
Brookes Shield!
CABARET
VILLE MAGAZINE. P71WHO WAS OR IS THE BEST
SALLY BOWLES? WHO IS THE BEST CABARET STAR IN AMERICA?
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A CABARET CHANTEUSE?
According
to the American cabaret goers, critics and cabaret artists, Edith Piaf is the
godmother of cabaret. The ultimate figure of a super CABARET DIVA. How wrong
they are! For, Piaf was never considered by the French as a cabaret singer!
Besides, she never performed on stage as a cabaret singer or as a
cabaret-entertainer. Also, she never starred in any musical or a cabaret
picture. Would you still call her a cabaret star, the same way you call Susan
Egan, Julie Andrews and Liza Minelli? How would you
define the stardom status and category of a cabaret star in the United
States? Does she have to star in a major cabaret motion picture, take the lead
of a cabaret show on Broadway, perform at Pizza on the Park or at Le Moulin
Rouge? Or it would be enough to sing intimate cabaret songs in a cozy and
"intimate" small cabaret-night club room? Does the repertoire of songs chosen
by a cabaret singer establish the definition and characteristic nature of an
"Authentic Cabaret"? Who is more of a cabaret songwriter, Cole Porter, Weill,
Aragon, Prevert, Jean Cocteau, or Jacques Brel, Gilbert Becaud, Jean
Constantin? Would you consider Berlin, Joplin, Sondheim, Armstrong, Al
Jolson, Louis Prima as authentic as those French cabaret songwriters and
composers who wrote the songs of Piaf, Patachou, Mistinguet, Josephine Baker,
Line Renauld, Jocelyne Jocya, Juliette Greco, Catherine Sauvage, Maurice
Chevalier, Charles Trenet, Damia, and Lucienne Boyer? Especially, when it
comes to the true essence and spirit of a traditional Parisian Cabaret, or a
1920's or 1930's Berlin original Kabaret? I doubt it.
THE CABARET SONGWRITERS: DIVERGENCE AND CONVERGENCE
Photo:
Nina Simone.
The
truth is, American cabaret songwriters have absolutely nothing in common with
the traditional German and French counterparts!! Particularly, the
contemporary American cabaret writers, composers and songwriters. In France
and Germany, the pioneers and creators of the early Cabaret music, wrote
CABARET MUSIC for CABARET BOITES, meaning small nightclubs, cafe-cabarets'
revues. The American counterparts write big time music for big time flashy
dashy cabaret productions for huge stages and elaborate productions. Bigger is
better in America! The difference is enormous, like day and night. The
American modern cabaret world has lost its romanticism, lyricism and intimacy.
And these luxurious and extravagant American cabaret (Broadway) productions
killed the mystique, the risqué, the delightful macabre-film-noire aura, the
cabaret noire genre of the early era of Montmartre and Rue Le Pic .
Consequently, this new kind of lavished productions has redefined the
character of cabaret in America, imposed and dictated upon truthfully honest
cabaret artists in the United States, new rules "governing" makeup, wardrobe,
choreography, decor, stage set, stage lighting techniques, musical
arrangements, acting style, accents, sensuality-sexuality physiognomic
projection and contours. The list is endless. Fortunately, we still have a
great number of authentic artists who prefer to perform in a cozy and charming
small boites and clubs which convey an ambiance of intimacy and romance. Amid
all these new musical and theatrical changes and distortions, it has become
quasi impossible to define the cache and persona of an AUTHENTIC AMERICAN
CABARET "ARTISTE"!! Therefore, comparing one American cabaret artist with
another cabaret artiste, is like the French say "Chercher midi a quatorzes
heures!", meaning verbatim "looking right now for a time which has already
elapsed hours ago or searching for a time yet to come! In other words, this is
an impossibility. Please excuse my French!
CABARET
VILLE MAGAZINE. P72SOPHISTICATION OF THE
CABARET SINGER
Photos: The legendary Nina Simone, composer,
arranger, writer, activist, thinker, cabaret and concert superstar,
songwriter, world-traveler, Doctor Honoris Causa, humanist, philanthropist.
She was adored in Europe. The French worshiped her!
Photos: From L to R: #1.Lorna Dallas and
Queen Mum in the UK. #2. Lorna with Al Hirschfeld during her Carnegie Hall
debut. Dame Dallas is highly admired in Europe, and particularly in the United
Kingdom. The Europeans "see" in her, the perfect lady of entertainment. Quite
a contrast with Britney Spears and Janet Jackson!
In
my humble opinion, and contrary to the common belief, a CABARET SINGER IS
MORE SOPHISTICATED AND TRUTHFUL THAN AN OPERA PRIMA DONNNNNNNNA!! For, cabaret
is the sincere echo and vibes of human drama, tragedy, mishaps, truthfulness,
adventures, expectations, escapades, dreams, fantasies, visions, the sacred
and the damned, the sublime and the grotesque of each single second of our
lives. The cabaret singer is more than an artist singing romantic songs on
stage, leaning against a piano or just sitting on a chair at one corner of the
stage dramatically choreographed and positioned. A cabaret singer is a healer,
a therapist, a raconteur, a story-teller, a philosopher, a challenger, a
confident, a friend, a poet, and a part of the night with all its secrets,
magic, mysteries, lights and shadows. So, if you want to decide or select
which American cabaret artiste is better than another, you probably should
take into consideration all of the above and rethink priorities and visions in
your life, in case, you feel that cabaret emanates a part of your life on
stage. Honestly, we don't know WHO IS THE BEST SALLY BOWLES? WHO IS THE BEST
CABARET STAR IN AMERICA?!
CABARET VILLE MAGAZINE. P73
SOPHISTICATION OF THE CABARET SINGER
In
my humble opinion, and contrary to the common belief, a CABARET SINGER IS
MORE SOPHISTICATED AND TRUTHFUL THAN AN OPERA PRIMA DONNNNNNNNA!! For,
cabaret is the sincere echo and vibes of human drama, tragedy, mishaps,
truthfulness, adventures, expectations, escapades, dreams, fantasies,
visions, the sacred and the damned, the sublime and the grotesque of each
single second of our lives. The cabaret singer is more than an artist
singing romantic songs on stage, leaning against a piano or just sitting on
a chair at one corner of the stage dramatically choreographed and
positioned. A cabaret singer is a healer, a therapist, a raconteur, a
story-teller, a philosopher, a challenger, a confident, a friend, a poet,
and a part of the night with all its secrets, magic, mysteries, lights and
shadows. So, if you want to decide or select which American cabaret artiste
is better than another, you probably should take into consideration all of
the above and rethink priorities and visions in your life, in case, you feel
that cabaret emanates a part of your life on stage. Honestly, we don't know
WHO IS THE BEST SALLY BOWLES? WHO IS THE BEST CABARET STAR IN AMERICA?!
However,
those magnificent artistes who made their mark on the American and World
Cabaret are difficult to forget. Among the most illustrious and classiest
stars who positively influenced and enriched the American Cabaret were or
still are:
Marlene
Dietrich Julie
Wilson Lena
Horne Kaye Ballard
Ma Reiney Anita
O'Day
Maragret Whiting Mary Cleere Haran
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