''Piaf'' is a play by
Pam Gems
Pam Gems ( Iris Pamela Price; 1 August 1925 – 13 May 2011) was an England, English playwright. The author of numerous original plays, as well as of adaptations of works by European playwrights of the past, Gems is best known for the 1978 Musi ...
that focuses on the life and career of
French chanteuse
Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern Eng ...
Edith Piaf
Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English word , meaning ''wealth'' or ''prosperity'', in combination with the Old English , meaning '' strife'', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian lang ...
. The
biographical
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...
drama
Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
with
music
Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
portrays the singer as a self-destructive, promiscuous alcoholic and junkie who, in one controversial scene, urinates in public.
The original production starred
Jane Lapotaire in the title role, and included
Ian Charleson
Ian Charleson (11 August 1949 – 6 January 1990) was a Scottish stage and film actor. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in the Academy Award, Oscar-winning 1981 film ''Chariots ...
as Pierre. It premiered in 1978 at
Royal Shakespeare Company's The Other Place in
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...
, after which it moved to the
Donmar Warehouse
The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977.
Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...
in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, the
Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels.
History
Origins
The theatre was constructed in th ...
, the
Piccadilly Theatre, and then
Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c. 1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the arch ...
, before going to the United States.
In the U.S. the play began in Philadelphia. After six previews the show opened on
Broadway at the
Plymouth Theatre on February 6, 1981, with its original star,
Jane Lapotaire. It ran for 165 performances, and Lapotaire won the 1981
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
.
Later major productions and revivals
The play was performed in
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
from 1983 to 1986 with
Virginia Lago
Virginia Lago (born 22 May 1946) is an Argentine actress with an extensive career in theater, film, and television. She is best known for being the host of the popular film series ', broadcast by Telefe.
Biography
Virginia Lago was born in San ...
in the role of Piaf. Lago won the Premio Estrella de Mar award in 1984 for Best Actress and in 1984 the Prensario Award for Best Actress.
The play was also performed in
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
in 1983 with
Bibi Ferreira in the role of Piaf. Bibi won several awards in 1984 and ran the show for more than 10 years. Nowadays, She sings Piaf in her concerts around the world – including The Lincoln Center – NYC.
A London revival occurred in 1993/94 with
Elaine Paige
Dame Elaine Jill Paige (born Elaine Jill Bickerstaff, 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Chipping Barnet, Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, m ...
in the role of Piaf. In 1994 the play won the Gold Badge of Merit Award from
BASCA. In 1994 Paige gained a nomination for the
Olivier Award
The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Aw ...
for Best Actress in a Musical.
The play was performed in
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
from 1994 to 1995 with Laura Canoura in the role of Piaf. In 1995 she won the Iris de Plata Award.
Caroline O'Connor starred in the play in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia in 2000 and 2001, gaining three Australian theater awards.
A second revival from 2008 to 2010 had
Elena Roger in the title role. In 2009 she won the
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical
The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre A ...
. This began at The Donmar, before transferring to the Vaudeville Theatre on the Strand. Roger went on to recreate this role in Spain and her native Argentina.
A
2010 production marked the opening of the
Ariel Center for the Performing Arts in the
illegal Israeli settlement of
Ariel in the West Bank. A letter was signed by sixty actors who called for a boycott.
A new production opened at
Curve
In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight.
Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...
, Leicester in 2013 starring
Frances Ruffelle in the lead role.
Madalena Alberto was her alternate.
In 2015, to mark Piaf's 100th birthday, a new production opened at the
Brighton Fringe, and due to the critical acclaim it subsequently transferred to the
Bridewell Theatre and
Charing Cross Theatre in London. The actor musician production directed by Jari Laakso starred Cameron Leigh in the title role, supported by Samantha Spurgin as Toine and Valerie Cutko as Marlene. Leigh received a
BroadwayWorld
BroadwayWorld is a theatre news website based in New York City, New York. Launched in 2003, the site covers Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional, and international theater productions, with sections devoted to particular countries, cities, or regi ...
Award nomination for her portrayal.
A Japanese production ran from February 24 to March 18, 2022.
Additional Broadway cast
*
Zoë Wanamaker
Zoë Wanamaker (born 13 May 1949) is an American-born British actress who has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. Wanamaker was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2001 by Qu ...
..... Toine
*
Peter Friedman ..... "Papa" Leplée
*
Judith Ivey
Judith Lee Ivey (born September 4, 1951) is an American actress and theatre director. She twice won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play: for '' Steaming'' (1981) and '' Hurlyburly'' (1984). She also received Best Actress In A P ...
..... Madeleine
*
Jean Smart
Jean Elizabeth Smart (born September 13, 1951) is an American actress. Jean Smart filmography, Her work includes both comedy and drama, and List of awards and nominations received by Jean Smart, her accolades include six Primetime Emmy Awards a ...
.....
Marlene Dietrich
Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...
Critical reception
In his review in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'',
Frank Rich
Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born June 2, 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO.
Rich is ...
observed, "Miss Lapotaire's performance burns with such heartstopping intensity that one never questions her right to stand in for the "little sparrow," who died at age 47 in 1963; one embraces her instantly and totally. While it is far more difficult to embrace Mrs. Gems's rather frail play, I guess we can't have everything. Let's be thankful for Miss Lapotaire . . . ''Piaf'' often obeys the dramatic cliches of rags-to-riches-to-rags showbiz sagas. Like an old movie biography, Mrs. Gems's play unfolds in snippets in which minor characters . . . whip by to deliver information . . . or to act out, in absurd shorthand, famous events in the subject's life . . . Instead of raising substantive issues about Piaf, the evening's cartoonish archetypes call the playwright's craft into question . . . These sketchy people just grease the narrative skids and kill too much time. Singly, they may be innocuous, but collectively they become a dead weight around the play's neck . . . Mrs. Gems also relies on that tired device of following most of Piaf's heartbreaks with songs that comment directly on the action. This might work if the songs were Piaf's best, but the ones here are generally lesser-known numbers that seem intended to minimize invidious comparisons between Miss Lapotaire's voice and her character's."
''New York Times'' review
/ref>
Awards and nominations
Jane Lapotaire won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actresses for quality leading roles in a Broa ...
. Zoë Wanamaker was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play and the Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...
for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play. In 1984 Virginia Lago won the Sea Star Award for Best Actress and in 1984 Prensario Award for Best Actress. In 1994 Elaine Paige
Dame Elaine Jill Paige (born Elaine Jill Bickerstaff, 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Chipping Barnet, Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, m ...
won the Gold Badge of Merit Award from BASCA and in 1994 a nomination for the Olivier Award
The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Aw ...
- Best Actress in a Musical. In 1995 Laura Canoura won the Iris de Plata Award. In 2009 Elena Roger won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical
The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre A ...
.
References
External links
''Piaf'' at the Internet Broadway Database
{{Édith Piaf
1978 plays
British plays
Broadway plays
Biographical plays about musicians
Plays set in France
Plays set in the 1930s
Plays set in the 1940s
Plays set in the 1950s
Plays set in the 1960s
Cultural depictions of Édith Piaf
Obscenity controversies in theatre