Frank Van Laecke, Sam Verhoeven and Allard Blom have been working together for a long time: a golden triumvirate. Van Laecke provided the script, Blom the lyrics, Verhoeven the music. Add to that the atmospheric and sparkling direction/choreography by Martin Michel and you get a little jewel. This production premiered in 2013 with Leki in the lead role. Now the lead role was entrusted to Sandrine.
New version
The original script was taken up again, completely reworked and deepened. All the different facets of Josephine Baker's richly filled life are covered. Josephine B. tells the story of the world's most famous revue dancer.
Josephine Baker.
With this production, these four gentlemen do justice to Josephine Baker's legacy. A woman surrounded by an aura and mystery. She was more than a statement. What she did on a social level, namely combating racial discrimination, in an era when it was still deeply entrenched, is to be called phenomenal. Her daring and courage too. During her lifetime she received the highest French honors. A performance written as a revue, which also has the pace of a revue, also has the outward display of a revue, with at the core of that revue the story of an exceptional woman. She lived nine lives instead of one: dancer, singer, actress, resistance fighter, activist, star, mother, world-changer… and woman. A unique life journey that simply calls for weaving a moving and gripping story around it. That succeeded not 100%, but a full 200%!
Starting point
Last year, French President Macron honored Josephine Baker with the ultimate distinction. 46 years after her death, she was buried in the Pantheon in Paris among other heroes and great figures of French history. Director Martin Michel asked himself: how would Josephine B react to that? Josephine takes the stage and remains fairly unimpressed. The revue unfolds as an assemblage, a long flashback that reflects on the most important moments in her life. She was no plaything, manipulated by men who held the strings, the money and the power. Rather the opposite.
From oppression to freedom
She started her career with a dance company in Philadelphia. A few years later she moved to New York where she got a role in the show Chocolate Dandies, in which mainly people of color were ridiculed. During a show she was discovered by a company of black artists. They also performed in Paris with "La revue Negre". Here begins the lineup of an incredible life story. Sandrine takes the role into her own hands with natural fluidity, stylish and refined. What stage presence and what a golden voice: world-class! She creates an energy field around her and causes ripples in all directions. We see a performance in the famous Folies Bergère theater in 1926. There Josephine danced in a banana skirt 'La danse sauvage". She caused a stir with her bare breasts and spicy banana skirt around her swinging hips. Director Martin Michel brings this scene to the screen suggestively and respectfully. This performance gave Josephine star status. The audience called her 'the black pearl'. Baker's signature song could not be missing "J'ai deus amours: mon pays et Paris". France embraces Josephine, and it later becomes her second homeland. Alongside Sandrine stands an ensemble of eight singing and dancing men on stage who, in spicy and burlesque choreographies, make Sandrine shine: such as the feather act – worthy of the Folies Bergère and Moulin Rouge – and a parody of the German invasion. From this ensemble, the spouses, the resistance fighter and Martin Luther King also emerge.
An intrepid lady with potential. Her idealized vision of the world, however, is her downfall. Managing money is not her strongest suit either. Bailiffs seize her villa. Her good friend, Princess Grace Kelly, helps her out of trouble. She performs again as well. Her career spans 50 years. The makers started from the idea: you don't give a revue artist their own musical. You give a revue artist their own revue. Josephine B. is a whirling, moving, surprising revue about her turbulent life.
Superlatives fall short for this production. Sandrine has it all: the looks, discipline, is super talented and has an incredible voice. When she sings "Paris Paname," her voice vibrates through your entire body. She presents the hallucinatory life story of Josephine B. in a compelling and sublime manner with a heartwarming performance. But everything about this production fits together like precise clockwork. The set design is refined: a few moveable walls, a modular staircase and a few chairs. With only minimal interventions, different situations are created each time. The orchestra is in the wings. As the panels shift, the instrumentalists appear on stage in turn. The costumes and hairstyles are particularly beautiful. With a small adjustment, they transform into something completely different. They also give a beautiful picture of the roaring twenties. The choreographies are varied and lively. An ensemble and orchestra to cherish. A production that has been worked on with love, power and inventiveness. Overwhelming… A revue you must not miss! There are many more performances to follow at the Fakkeltheater, followed by a tour through cultural centers. This production belongs on international stages.
The audience jumped up like a jackknife after the show for a lengthy standing ovation. Emotion everywhere: on stage and in the audience.
It's a crying shame that Judas Theaterproducties was left out in the cold during the subsidy round. Well, to the gentlemen and ladies who made that decision. See this production and you will surely blush with shame and return home full of guilt.
WHO: Judas Theaterproducties
WHAT: Josephine B. - a life in revue
WHERE: Rode Zaal Fakkel theater
WHEN: 6 October 2022