Hommage à Piaf (Piaf a 100 ans...Vive la Môme!) : Victoriaville, November 11.

Photo source: http://spectramusique.com/artistes/spectacles.aspx?idA=89

The Piaf a 100 ans show is truly enjoyable, incredibly satisfying without being cheesy (I admit I was a little bit apprehensive before going to see it). What a great idea it was not to have an actual Piaf character, which would be a fail whichever way you might attempt to do this. Instead there were bits of Piaf in all characters on stage, as well as - eventually - in every audience member, which in my mind is the best kind of tribute to her.

Every performer was given an opportunity to be him/her self, inhabited his/her songs completely, there was a perfect match every time. At times it sounded a little bit like a voice pageant, but there was enough emotion, energy, camaraderie and truly amazing voices to make it a great listening experience.

The women ruled this show, and the men let them do it. On stage we saw women for various tastes. There was a blond, Sylvie Moreau, a lovely fille de joie with a [broken] heart and a poignant stage presence. There was a brunette, Florence K with her luminous sensuality and an amazing voice (I should go see her solo show one day!). And then there were 2  "women in pants": one, Marie-Thérèse Fortin, an elegant and vivacious narrator, sometimes a singer and a soul of the show throughout, and another one an imposing Betty Bonifassi with a striking voice, but a bit shocking visually ("le gamin du Paris" look), with a no-makeup "morning" face and her baggy pants, short jacket and knitted arm warmers looking like they were randomly picked out of a Salvation Army truck for an amateur theater production. Nothing amateur about her voice though, it's a voice that could break glass.

As for the men, besides the musicians of the small on-stage orchestra, there were two singers. Yann Perreau, a comic (or lighthearted) relief, was lighting up the room with his upbeat hits. And then there was Daniel Lavoie, who brought the whole universe with him...

It was a rare opportunity to see Lavoie showing his theatrical side. His character is a bit mysterious, an incognito perhaps, could even be the owner of the place, who knows... For others you almost could tell a biography or pinpoint a profession, but Lavoie's character despite being very comfortable in the bar setting (having innumerable drinks, chatting with the clients and the barman, but sometimes just staring inside himself), is a guest in this demi-monde crowd, but of course his likes also have place in Piaf's world (I kept waiting for Yann Perreau to appeal to Daniel during his rendition of "Milord", but he never did). But make no mistake, that polished "monsieur très distingué" is keeping dramas, heartbreaks and life wisdom under his suited and hatted surface. It all comes through when the man in the hat takes over the microphone and turns into Daniel Lavoie, with all his stage settings turned up a notch. The famous powerful cello voice works in perfect tune with the singer's heart and soul just like it always does, and the audience is holding its breath. As for his choice of songs, it's curious how all 4 of these Piaf songs are dark and beautiful and surprisingly "lavoiesque". It's Lavoie and his worldview that shine through unmistakably in his takes on music and compassion in l'Accordeoniste, passion and memory in C'est d'la faute à tes yeux, existential hopelessness in Je sais comment and love and eternity in Hymne à l'amour.

l'Accordeoniste

C'est d'la faute à tes yeux

Je sais comment

Hymne à l'amour

A little note about C'est d'la faute à tes yeaux: this song is rarely mentioned in reviews, but it's a great song about the nature of passion. No, Lavoie on that stage doesn't look like he killed anyone literally, but metaphorically crimes of passion don't have to actually involve blood. It's a song about passion that turns your life upside down, burns you down and never really goes away even after it's gone. And oh that magnetic refrain!..

A curious and charming detail: on stage there were 4 members of the public dressed in their own version of the 1950-s garb, chosen as a result of an online competition. Not sure I personally would've chosen to stare at the backs of the performers throughout the show (especially as visually spectacular as this one!), but for those who did it must've been an unforgettable experience.

As for the audience in the audience seats, it was a special pleasure for me to observe people show so much love for the long-gone Piaf and so much love and gratitude for the excellent Quebec performers!

A special credit goes to Yann Perreau for creating this show with taste and love. 

If a musical album from the show is ever made, I would gladly buy it.