Picture: Danny Kaan
Deux Grandes Dames with Melissa Errico and Isabelle Georges at Crazy Coqs, London.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
History has seen perfect matches of female duets, think Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett and the Callaway sisters Liz and Ann. Some of the same chemistry or je ne sais quoi can be found in the pairing of Broadway leading lady Melissa Errico and French triple threat Isabelle Georges. They first met during Laurent Valière’s radio broadcast 42ème Rue, where they found out that they had both played the same character (incidentally named Isabelle) in a Michel Legrand musical: Georges in the original 1997 production Le Passe–Muraille, and Errico in the Broadway version, retitled Amour, sadly flopping in 2002.
After aptly starting with Legrand’s ‘Chanson des jumelles’ from Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, their double act at Crazy Coqs went on with a French-English medley of two numbers from that show, the title song and ‘Happy Days Are Here Again’.
Aside from their deep-rooted connection to Legrand, Errico and Georges also share a love for Stephen Sondheim, Errico delivering a jazzy ‘Everything Says Don’t’ from Anyone Can Whistle, which was included in her second album dedicated to the master, Sondheim in the City, followed by an emotional performance of ‘Send in the Clowns’ from Georges.
Errico then played tribute to Julie Andrews with ‘Wouldn’t It Be Loverly’ from My Fair Lady and ‘My Favourite Things’ from The Sound of Music. Together with bass player extraordinaire Sam Burgess, Georges then delivered a jazzy rendition of Cole Porter’s ‘My Heart Belongs to Daddy’, playing tribute to Yves Montand, who co-starred with Marilyn Monroe in the movie Let’s Make Love, from which the song was featured. This was followed by one of the greatest musical comedy duets ‘You’re Just in Love’ from Irving Berlin’s Call Me Madam.
Returning to the French aspect of the evening, Georges gave us a preview of ‘Un être de mots’ from a new musical play called Adam et Eve, especially written for her, followed by a tailor-made duet ‘I Can’t Speak French’, written for the pair by Marc Shaiman and Adam Gopnik.
Musical director and virtuoso pianist Charlotte Gauthier treated us to an instrumental version of ‘An American in Paris’ while the artists changed into more glittery costumers for a reprisal of the title song from Dreamgirls.
More French moments followed with Errico’s triumphant rendition of Piaf’s ‘Hymne à l’amour’, mixing French and English at the end and Georges’ tongue-in-cheek version of Porter’s ‘Si Vous Aimez Les Poitrines’, complete with an Eiffel Tower hat designed by her mother, most likely a tribute to the great Liliane Montevecchi, another French woman who truly made it across both the Pond and the Channel.
Getting back to Legrand, the pair treated us to ‘You Must Believe in Spring’ from Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, followed by Errico’s very jazzy ‘The Lady is a Tramp’, which led on to Georges’ song and tap dancing number ‘Rhythm Is My Business’.
The incredible evening ending with another original song, which gave the show its title, followed by two ideal encores, ‘You and Me’ from Victor/Victoria and ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ from My Fair Lady, and – yes – it could indeed have lasted all night for our greatest pleasure.
Beyond their great talent, Errico and Georges share a passion for their craft, which, like the fun that they have performing together onstage, communicates well to the audience, making their double act twice as enjoyable. We need more of them in London and Paris!
Patrick Honoré
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