Play combines humor and music

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" is a bit of an anomaly among pieces for the stage. It is a musical, but it is also a revue in another sense, and a character study of one man's opinions and beliefs in another sense. \nThe production opens tonight at the at 8 p.m. and plays nightly through Nov. 1 except Sunday with matinees Saturdays at 2 p.m at the Wells-Metz Theatre. \nIn a show without a linear plot or discernible characters, one must ask: What is the focus of this 'musical'? The answer is ideas. The life of one Jacques Brel and his lyricism, translated from French, are presented in this production, originally created by Eric Blau and Mort Shuman. \nThese songs were "written to be sung in clubs and coffee houses in France and Belgium," said author Scott Miller. The show was originally written for four performers who sing, dance and portray Brel and his thoughts. Each of the 26 songs serves as a one-act musical on the struggle to survive, growing old, sex and war.\nThe inaugural off-Broadway production opened in 1968 and ran for over 1800 performances for five years. \nBrel was born in Belgium in 1929, but lived in Paris most of his life until his death in 1978, twenty-five years ago.\n"Hopefully the audience will reevaluate the human condition and a person's place in society and their relationships with one anothe,r" said IU professor and Emmy Award-winning director/ choreographer George Pinney. \nHe believes "the songs' meanings can be revealed through dance," and has added two additional cast members to give a modern dance approach to the production. The production also includes a small orchestra composed of an electric keyboard, guitar,bass and drums. \n"I hope that in a university environment people would want to broaden their horizons," Pinney said. "An old theater rule states that 'an audience will accept any device or artifice in a production as long as it is introduced within the first 10 minutes.'" \nMusicals do not appeal to everyone, and many people might just write off musicals because of the conventions employed or personal taste. Many can accept the use of soliloquy in Shakespeare, yet using song as the language of musical theater is just too artificial? All art is artificial on some level; the difference comes in how open the audience is to the subject and presentation.\nBrel's lyrics read more like poetry than any other literary form with a great amount of imagery and specific structure. Words that normally would be stressed in a reading purposely lie on the off beats in his music and more than a third of the score is in variations on triple time. The audience must actively participate in this production to really receive the full depth of the production.\n"Theater, at its best, is always dangerous," said Hallie Flanagan, the former head of the Federal Theatre Project. \nBrel is definitely infused with cynicism, wicked satire and biting social commentary from the lyricist, yet centers on what it means to be human. So come prepared, ready to think, ready to be open and ready to use multiple senses at once.\nTickets are $17 for adults and $14 for students and seniors (Monday through Thursday). Student rush tickets are also available for $10 cash and a student ID. For ticket information call 855-1103, or purchase tickets through Ticketmaster at 333-9955 or www.ticketmaster.com.\n-- Contact staff writer Nikolas Priest at npriest@indiana.edu.