Cabaret La Chatte Bleue was performed at Théàtre Clavel, Paris.
Star rating: 3 stars ★ ★ ★
Cabaret La Chatte Bleue, playing every Tuesday and Wednesday at Théàtre Clavel in Paris’ 19th arrondissement is a musical thriller paying tribute to the music of France, but also Berlin, New York City and Vienna, in between the two World Wars.
The evening is both funny and visually chic with a clever staging by Guillaume Ollivier Berno, who also wrote the show. It tells the story of Anthéa Washington, a psychotic music hall leading player who grooms her leading men and ultimately kills them. She auditions a new partner, Marcel Richard, played by Jean-Luc Voyeux, but little does she know that he’s actually a detective investigating her case.
Anthéa, played by a sort of young Liliane Montevecchi, Nadine Girard, makes the fatal mistake of falling in love with him, much to the despair of the local MC Valentin who, in a fit of jealousy, attempts to kill her.
Fredy Renaud is a capable MC here, delivering much of the English material such as ‘I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise’ from Gershwin and ‘Let’s Do It’ from Cole Porter. Two haunting Kurt Weill songs are included, together with French ditties such as ‘I Wish You Love’, and a number of Viennese waltzes by Franz Léhar.
Happily, this show doesn’t take itself seriously and what it lacks in polish, it certainly delivers in sheer fun and panache. It could easily translate to an English or American audience too.
Patrick Honoré
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