Isabelle Georges paid tribute to Maury Yeston at Comédie Nation, Paris. Picture: Victor Tonelli/ArtComArt
Broadway au Carré – Isabelle Georges Sings Maury Yeston was performed at Comédie Nation, Paris.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
For its special anniversary celebration, Broadway au Carré, a monthly event at Comédie Nation, gave us the special treat of having French triple threat and Edinburgh Festival Fringe regular Isabelle Georges paying a tribute to her so-to-speak mentor Maury Yeston, Broadway composer of Nine, Grand Hotel and Titanic.
Georges’ artistic love affair with Yeston started when she was cast in the French version of Titanic at the Opéra de Liege and the composer met her at the dress rehearsal. He subsequently offered her his song cycle December Songs, which she performed at Théâtre de Renard in 2004. Yeston then invited her to record the show for PS Classics in both French and English.
The first part of her act was a re-creation of that too rarely performed show followed by a selection from other Yeston musicals. Highlights were duets with her longtime singing partner, Frederik Steenbrink, from ‘No Moon’ (Titanic) to ‘Unusual Way’ (Nine).
On his own, Steenbrink delivered a song from the little-known Yeston Bible musical In the Beginning, and ‘Love Can’t Happen’ from Grand Hotel. They ended their emotionally charged selection with ‘New Words’, also from In the Beginning and ‘Mélodie de Paris’ from Yeston’s ill-fated, albeit excellent, musical Phantom.
Georges’ encore was ‘Strange’, a song especially written for her by the famous Broadway composer. The tribute was brilliantly accompanied at the piano by Yann Ollivo, who on his own played ‘Doing the Latest Rag’ from Titanic and, as a European premiere, the ‘Huck Finn Overture”’ from Tom Sawyer, Yeston’s first ballet composition.
This was followed by an Open Mic, co-hosted by the artistic director of Broadway au Carré Lisandro Nesis and Isabelle Georges.
The evening concluded with a singalong to ‘Seasons of Love’ from Rent. The next Broadway au Carré guest will be American composer Elaine Pechacek on 17 March. The busy Isabelle Georges is currently preparing a new show for Théâtre La Bruyère, where she starred in original French musical 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman last year.
Patrick Honoré
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