STREET SINGER - Celebrating the Life of Edith Piaf

42West Nightclub
Presented by Rioult Dance New York
61 Gramercy Park North
April 24-May 16

Musical Director DON REBIC
Featuring CHRISTINE ANDREAS

According to the press release (emphasis mine):

The performances will occur in the intimate cabaret setting of 42West in The OUT NYC hotel - complete with drinks and live music for an immersive performance event. The bar lounge will open at 7pm with live entertainment. Tickets start at $25 and require an additional $25 food and beverage minimum per person.

Christine Andreas as Piaf? Fantastic idea! Immersive cabaret setting? Sleep No More and Natasha and Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 were the best theatrical events of the last few year. Also a fantastic idea! What could go wrong?

Unfortunately, a lot. Apparently this production is being run by the nightclub as if it is a regular club event where the time the doors open is just a suggestion; part of the fun is being held outside behind a velvet rope; and sitting people in curved areas where they are blocking each other’s’ view of the stage is fine.

A show starring Christine Andreas as Edith Piaf is not going to attract club kids. It is going to attract a sophisticated New York audience. Advertising food and beverage and doors opening an hour before the show begins means the audience will arrive between 7 and 8 and expect to get food and drinks. The audience will be older and not find standing and waiting behind a velvet rope exciting. They will find it annoying. When the doors finally open and none of the staff seems to know where to put people or how to serve them will also be found annoying. We were herded into the bar lounge where the “live entertainment” consisted of recorded music and a video loop advertising the Rioult Dance Company. The recorded music was inconsistently mixed so it alternated between way too loud or way too soft. None of the staff seemed to have been told what the show was advertised as because they could not answer any questions regarding the $25 minimum or how it worked between the bar lounge and the actual club room where the show was going to take place.

When they finally let folks into the club, the myriad staff trying to seat folks seamed very confused about how to read the ticket, where the seats were located or how 10 human beings were supposed to squeeze onto a banquette built for 6.

Irritating, yes, but I still wanted to see the dancers and Christine Andreas, so I was willing to sit there and crane my neck. Finally, the show started and Ms. Andreas started to sing. And she sounded as if she was singing into a can. Were they using the same sound system that the club uses for someone to speak over thumping club music? They listed a costume designer, a production designer and a lighting designer. Why not a sound designer? Every time she belted, the sound distorted like a rock guitar. It ws dreadful. I couldn’t bear it.

This is a show that might have been good. The dancers were lovely, and I can’t imagine a better choice than Christine Andreas to play Piaf, but the production was such a mess and the situation so uncomfortable and not what was advertised, that it was just annoying.

Let’s hope someone who actually knows how to produce a theater piece gets a hold of this and re-sets it somewhere else.

- Jean Tait -