Photos: Marlene Dietrich.

 

 

 

CONFUSING CABARET WITH INTIMATE “CONCERT OR RECITAL SINGING”

The overwhelming majority of Cabaret goers in the United States misunderstand the real meaning of the world Cabaret. They are confused by the great number of formulas, genres, styles and different kinds of Cabarets. Music halls, intimate singing and repertoires in intimate and cozy clubs in the United States should not be considered as Cabarets and Cabaret repertoires joints. It disturbs me to see and hear well-established American singers, particularly American female singers associating Broadway with Cabaret. Sarah Bernhard and Edith Piaf would have strongly rejected this association. The majority of so-called cabaret singing in the United States is merely a continuation, a successive collection of songs which imprint the personal cache of a singer who usually is an emotional singer, a sort of a story-teller who usually selects a repertoire and a material that fit the singer’s personality, state of mind, vocal capability and emotional conditions.

A PROTOTYPE OF A CABARET SINGER: THE AMERICAN-FRENCH CABARET SINGER AND DANCER

Joséphine Baker

Photo: The legendary Cabaret Singer, Josephine Baker.

It is very true, that highly respected French singers and stars  like Edith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier, Jean Gabin, Yves Montand, Georges Brassens, Mouloudji and Jacques Brel  as well as famous American stars like Ella Fitzgerald, Liza Minelli, Frank Sinatra and Elton John did perform in French Cabarets like "Le Moulin Rouge" . But, they were never considered as Cabaret Singers. Highly respected Parisian singers and artists did sing for a short time in Cabarets, but all their performances were called “Recital” or “Concert” and never "Cabaret Performance". Almost all their appearances took place at prestigious and very large concert halls, auditoriums and theaters such as “L’Olympia”. The only two superstars of the Cabaret-Song (Cabaret Chanson) were Josephine Baker and Mistinguett. They were purely Cabaret Singers. And believe me, lot of skin was shown to the public. I have devoted two extensive chapters on Baker and Mistinguett in this work. Please refer to. Mistakenly, Marlene Dietrich is sometimes described in the American Cabaret circle as a “Cabaret Singer”. This is totally inaccurate. Dietrich never performed in a Cabaret. Her performance in the “Blue Angel” in which she depicted a cabaret melodramatic artiste/singer was purely a cinematographic performance. Of course, Dietrich loved her role. It did fit perfectly her looks but not her personality. Contrary to the common belief, she hated cabarets. I know this for a fact, because she was a friend of my mother. Once, my mother Alexandra asked Marlene: “Why do you keep all those photos of yours as a Cabaret Queen?” Do you like them so much? It is not you, Marlene!”. And Marlene answered :”Give the public what the public wants.” Marlene Dietrich kept dozens and dozens of her cabaret’s photos, but she never used them as a press kit. Her agents and the American studios' executives  did to her dismay, sort of!

Marlene Dietrich was a very classy, intellectual, refined and high class lady. The female Cabaret Singers, artistes and performers of the early Parisian Cabarets were “Filles du Trottoire” (Street Girls). And quite often, they lacked class and refined looks. Edith Piaf, who was born in the streets of Paris is an exception. Despite, her lack of education and poor knowledge of etiquette, she remained very different from the early French “Boites de Nuit” singers and "diseuses". Piaf never showed skin. Piaf performed in cabarets for a short time because she had to eat. She was extremely poor. Once discovered,  she moved to "non-cabaret" places. She categorically refused to sing in cabarets. The whole world became her stage. In America, cabaret singers still consider Edith Piaf as a cabaret singer. What a big mistake! By American standards, Andrea Marcovicci, Barbara Cook, Anna Bergman, Amanda McBroom, Raquel Bitton and Anne Kerry Ford are “Cabaret Singers”. By French standards, they are “Concert Singers”.  

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