Love For Sale was performed at the Théâtre de Belleville, Paris
Love For Sale was performed at the Théâtre de Belleville, Paris.
Also called ‘a night with Cole Porter’, Love For Sale is more a concert than a musical, but a little dialogue would still be welcome.
Born out of the Cole Porter project initiated by talented bass player Vladimir Médail and sultry singer Mathilde Jazz, this show benefits from the addition of two dancers, Emma Scherer (also responsible for the choreography) and Brian Papadimitriou as her partner. When the four of them join forces, the show shifts from being another intimate jazz concert tribute to a fully fledged musical entertainment – the energy during ‘You’re the Top’ is tremendous.
Though minimalistic, the direction by Ariane Renaud conveys the loneliness of Cole Porter and his urge to seduce women socially, men sexually and most of all the audience – always writing about love in his songs, but seldom finding it in real life. Even after ending its run at the Théâtre de Belleville, Love For Sale really deserves to be developed and seen again.
However, if Mathilde Jazz and Vladimir Médail’s aim is to bring their concept from the the concert and piano bar world to that of musical theatre – reflecting the nonchalence and melancholy recurrent in the life of Porter – the production would need to be more theatrical. Even though the choice of songs, from ‘Be a Clown’ to ‘Stereophonic Sound’, are a lot more Hollywood than Broadway, some scenes which deal with Porter’s decadent lifestyle would make the piece more relevant to the French public.
Patrick Honore
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