Cabaret at the Opera

  This sounds like an unlikely mix for a show -- Hurricane Katrina, tap-dancing,  a drag act and l'Opéra Comique of Paris. These have come together in the hands of Jérome Savary, the showman-actor who has directed the old opera house for the past six years (see February post). His new spectacle, A la Recherche de Joséphine, is about Josephine Baker, the much-loved American singer-dancer of mid-century Paris. It is great fun -- a blend of blues, jazz and dance with history and politics thrown in. The show, which stars Nicolle Rochelle, a New Yorker, is also Savary's swansong. (Rochelle's blog)

The director, a large-then-life fixture of Paris show-biz for decades, is being forced into retirement since he is turning 65 and the Opera is a state post. For a farewell, he has returned to his roots as jazzman and founder of le Grand Magic Circus, a company which staged anarchical musical happenings in the 1970s. I have to admit having been a big fan of Circus, with its animals and acrobats

.Savary's show is un hommage to Baker, who became a huge star in France in the 1930s as well as muse to Picasso and the cubists and a decorated resistance agent in world war two. She was the first black woman entertainer to become an international celebrity although she was never really embraced in her homeland. In his usual eccentric way, Savary sets half his show in the devastation of New Orleans after the 2005 hurricane. The story is as much about the US civil rights movement and the history of jazz as about the woman who made her name dancing in La Revue Nègre in Paris dressed only in a skirt of bananas. But it works, thanks to the energy of Rochelle and a young troupe of black singer-dancers whom Savary recruited in the USA. Savary directs the bi-lingual show like a conductor, from the side of the orchestra pit which is occupied by a band from New Orleans.

We had a glass of champagne with Savary [below with his star] in his office during the interval. The place, packed with books and clutter, is full of history. Savary likes to remind visitors that the Opéra Comique (Light Opera) was always meant to be provocative and not a museum for old chestnuts.  "This is where the director called in Georges Bizet and ordered him to rewrite the final act of Carmen," Savary said of his office. Bizet refused to delete the death scene as ordered and his opera caused a scandal on its disastrous opening night in March 1875. No-one clapped and the authorities condemned Carmen it as debauched and superficial.

Savary was long ago admitted to the serious Paris artistic establishment but a few purists still see him more as over-the-top showman than opera director.

He says that he returned to the spirit of his Magic Circus for his final show, putting together a troupe with an average age of 20 and casting Michel Dussarrat, his old ring-master, as MC of the Josephine cabaret.  "I had always wanted to do a show about Josephine Baker. I put everything I love into it -- Jazz, a troupe like a family." Jazz was one of the biggest revolutions of the 20th century, "like Picasso's cubism, it was born of l'art nègre," he says.

Some critics have found the show a little lightweight. Perhaps I'm too middle-aged and middle-brow, but I loved it. And it's great to see jazz -- albeit in light form -- getting a showcase like the Opera Comique at a time when the old jazz clubs of Paris are struggling to survive.

[poster of 1925 show with Baker]

Comments

[Maggie G]

Well, nobody has responded to this yet, Mr Bremner, so I shall take the plunge. I do like the banana skirt. And I do think there is something wrong with a system where people like Jérome Savary are forced into retirement as soon as they turn 65, while others like Jacques Chirac get to take on great responsibilities as President of the Republique, and even when they are 74 get to announce that they may just run again.

We have a neighbour, an internationally known Russian scientist, who works at the CNRS and he too had his salary cut off as soon as he turned 65. They tried everything to get it extended, as he had not been in the country quite long enough to qualify for the retirement pension, but nothing could be done. He still has his office at the CNRS where he is 'professer emeritus', but spends several months every year working in the States, where he gets paid, and right now he is in Japan for several months at the invitation of a colleague there.

Is Jacques Chirac a 'president emeritus', or does he still get paid for the job?

[ChrisLate]

Thank you for this, Mr. Bremner. It's the kind of inside stuff that's fun to read and gives us a Paris that's not covered in English elsewhere. (Calling Rochelle's Myspace page "a blog" is a bit generous, though...)

[Mary]

As soon as I read about "A la recherche de Josephine" in News from France, a free triweekly review of French news & trends, I was ready to take the 1st plane to Paris. Regardless of what the critics have to say, I am very eager to see this show. I understand that it will be back in Paris in April. I can't wait!