Did Critics Find Jacques Brel Alive and Well at Off-Broadway's Zipper?

The musical revue Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris has returned to New York. The tuner, which was directed by Gordon Greenberg and features Robert Cuccioli, Natascia Diaz, Rodney Hicks and Gay Marshall, opened at off-Broadway's Zipper Theatre on March 27. Were critics happy the show lives on?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

Edward Karam in his Broadway.com Review: "If you're going to revive Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, you couldn't ask for a better venue than the funky Zipper Theatre… While the quartet of singers is outstanding, many of the songs, particularly in the first half, are so hyperkinetically staged that it seems Greenberg doesn't trust either the work or his personnel… Perhaps Greenberg was trying to find a thread to tie all the songs together, but each is a distinct journey in itself, and the interpreters are clearly up to the task of selling them individually. Still, it's good to hear the songs, and for anyone who is unfamiliar with Brel, this revival is a bracing introduction to a memorable body of work."

Charles Isherwood of The New York Times: "Gordon Greenberg, the director of this powerfully sung revival, recognizes that Brel's popularity in America derives from a specific cultural moment... Although he and his terrific musical director, Eric Svejcar, have rearranged the order of the songs and reorchestrated some, Mr. Greenberg presents the material in nostalgic wrapping paper… The evening's most quietly enchanting performer is Gay Marshall…"

Marilyn Stasio of Variety: "With its disreputable location and junkyard decor, the Zipper proves the dream setting for this timely revival of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, which introduced Yanks to Brel's emotionally bruising songs of love and loss and postwar Euro angst. While this new edition remains entirely faithful to the spirit of the 1968 cabaret show that ran four years at the Village Gate the Zipper of its day before transferring to Broadway, helmer Gordon Greenberg has heightened the cynicism of the Belgian troubadour's impassioned song narratives, giving a whole new audience a chance to connect with the fierce antiwar poetry of earlier generations."

Peter Santilli of The Associated Press: "Brel's songs and spirit are celebrated with imagination and authenticity in a promising revival of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, now on view at off-Broadway's intimate Zipper Theatre. What is important to understand about this tribute is that Brel's universal appeal was twofold: He was exceptional both as a songwriter and as a singer... Under the direction of Gordon Greenberg, Brel's trademark dramatic style is faithfully re-created by a talented four-person cast."

Elysa Gardner of USA Today: "In his radiant revival of the 1968 revue Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris at the Zipper Theatre, director Gordon Greenberg captures what made Belgian-born poet/musician/raconteur Brel's oeuvre at once distinctly of a certain place and time and enduringly universal. Brel can, in the wrong hands, seem effete or depressing. But Greenberg and his cast emphasize the yearning at the core of Brel's bittersweet melodies and darkly probing lyrics, which expose the scars of lost innocence and the fine line between dreams and madness. Under the expert musical supervision of Eric Svejcar, who also performs, Robert Cuccioli, Natascia Diaz, Rodney Hicks and Gay Marshall—all strong singers and supple presences—supply a life force that breathes through the elements of despair, decay and alienation."

Rob Kendt of Newsday: "While director Gordon Greenberg has mounted an energetic, mostly fluid new production full of satisfying period touches, it paints Brel's world mostly in primary colors. It's not as if a smiley face has been plastered over Brel's passionate tunes, but the renditions here are stark enough to make us think of the old comedy and tragedy masks. You may start to think that Brel was manic-depressive: Jaunty rag follows dirge-like lament, dainty waltz follows blistering cri de coeur. And Greenberg's four-member cast does not shy from the extremes… Once we're acclimated to the show's haphazard layout and oversized emotions, it settles into the rhythm of a souped-up cabaret."