Broadway Melody – the Irving Berlin Songbook – Auguste Théâtre, Paris

Broadway Melody – the Irving Berlin Songbook was performed at the Auguste Théâtre, Paris.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

After Lerner and Loewe last year, Broadway Melody presented The Irving Berlin Songbook. Helmed by artistic director and chanteuse extraordinaire Lauren Van Kempen, originally from Seattle, this is definitely the best song opus so far in the series.

The presence of Irving Berlin’s granddaughter, Caroline Emmet, was definitely a plus, as her patter is always highly informing.

As always, the Mogador’s musical director, Mathieu Serradell, opened the festivities with a brilliantly arranged overture, followed by an extensive selection from Annie Get Your Gun, Berlin’s greatest hit, which was actually staged in France at the Châtelet as Annie de Far West in the 1950s.

Dalia Constantin, Scott Emerson and Maxime Alvarez De Toledo had all joined Van Kempen in the cast of Wonderful Town two months ago in Toulon, but, with the exception of De Toledo, who actually played the male lead, they impressed even more here, as the Berlin repertoire showcased their individual talents perfectly.

Every song was skilfully acted through, particularly some rarely done ditties such as ‘Get Thee Behind Me Satan’, cunningly delivered by Emerson, and ‘You Can Have Him’, by Constantin.

Van Kempen had a showstopping tap number choreographed by Victor Cuno to ‘Shaking the Blues Away’, conjuring up the great Anne Miller; and there was a nice soft-shoe duet to ‘Cheek to Cheek’ (De Toledo) who also had a nice solo dance moment with ‘Top Hat, White Ties and Tails’.

‘God Bless America’, illustrated Berlin’s patriotism, and a selection from White Christmas showed his bittersweet relationship to the holidays, with tragic overtones fully explained by his granddaughter.

To quote Jerome Kern, when asked about the place of Berlin in the American canon, Irving Berlin is American music. From the ‘Alexander’s Ragtime Band’ opening sequence to the closing number ‘Blue Skies’, there will never be a doubt about that.

His catalogue is huge and highlights are many: a brilliantly re-orchestrated ‘Heat Wave’ showcased the talent of the two female performers, joined by the beautiful and talented Devon Graves; and ‘Sisters’ and ‘I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm’, both from the Broadway musical White Christmas, were, of course, perfect duets for Constantin and Van Kempen and Emerson and De Toledo, respectively.

Comparatively longer than the previous edition, this Broadway Melody could have benefited from being done as a two-act, but it nevertheless kept us from longing for more and waiting for another composer of the American Songbook to be celebrated next.

Patrick Honoré