Every Moment Has A Song

Original Cast: “Madeleine” (1968)

From the 1968 Off-Broadway revue Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, for which French songwriter/singer/actor Brel himself provided music and French lyrics, which were (brilliantly) translated to English by Eric Blau and cast member Mort Shuman, one of only four vocalists featured in the musical.

The original Off-Broadway production lasted four years, spawned a film version, and led to even greater stage successes around the globe.

Paris, Dublin, Sydney, Copenhagen and Amsterdam were among the cities that had successful runs. And a production in Johannesburg, South Africa became the longest-running theatrical production in that country’s history.

Perhaps most importantly, this musical gave the world definitive English-language versions of many fine Jacques Brel compositions, making the soundtrack a great primer on the work of one of the era’s greatest songwriters.

New productions of the musical have continued be presented from New York to Canada to Dublin to Singapore and as recently as 2017.

To the uninitiated I recommend adding this soundtrack to your collection or playlist. Jacques Brel hasn’t been with us since 1978, but the revue that features his brilliant work is indeed still alive and well.