• Home
  • About
    • Plain English
    • Paul Levy
    • Contact
  • Other AJBlogs
  • ArtsJournal

Plain English

Paul Levy measures the Angles

Come to the cabaret aux Crazy Coqs

October 25, 2019 by Paul Levy 1 Comment

Anita Gillette

photograph: Brasserie Zédel

How often do we go to cabaret or a jazz club in London? In truth, not often, as the schlepp is the same as going to the theatre or opera. But I’ve been twice in the last year, to catch an autobiographical musical gig by the veteran movie, tv and stage star, Anita Gillette. The first occasion was her Irving Berlin tribute, and the second was called “After All” – of which there were two performances this past week. The venue is a great attraction, for it is part of the Corbin/King empire, a perfect-sized room called Les Crazy Coqs in their Zédel Brasserie on Sherwood Street.

We’ve come to these performances (and one other in New York, with a pair of singers) to support, cherish and cheer the piano playing and singing of one of our best family friends, Paul Greenwood. A duet with the fizzy, personable and tuneful Ms Gillette revealed that Paul has a singing register of several pleasant, firm octaves. Add this to his astonishing sight-reading abilities, plus the talent to transpose ad hoc, and I can see him doing gigs with operatic singers in much bigger places.

Last night, though, was a delight, with Ms Gillette at her best singing pieces from Showboat. Fish do “gotta swim, and birds gotta fly,” and maybe the producers ought to add a solo moment for Greenwood, as “Old Man River” is well within his range.

It’s a great night out in London, and I’ve spotted a couple of more shows I’d like to see at Les Crazy Coqs, including Kit & McConnel and Dazzling Divas on 13 November.

To this I have to add that my wife daughters, son-in-law and I had a stunningly good dinner after the show at Zédel Brasserie – including smoked herrings, spéciale de Claire oysters, roast venison, and the andouillette (which is fresh on Tuesdays, and described on the menu with all honesty as “tripe sausage”); and I had the weekly offering of veal kidneys, so perfectly cooked that I could eat them again every Tuesday.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Comments

  1. Anita Gillette says

    October 25, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    Merci beaucoup!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Paul Levy

is almost a citizen of the world, carrying the passports of the USA and the UK/EU. He wrote about the arts in general for the now-defunct Wall Street Journal Europe. [Read More]

Plain English

An Anglo-American look at what's happening here and there, where English is spoken and more or less understood -- in letters, the visual and performing arts, and, occasionally, in the kitchen or dining room. … [Read More...]

 RSS E-mail

Archives

Recent Comments

  • Laura Hughes on Remembering Jaime Parladé, the Marquess who Made Marbella Chic: “We bought a furnished home remodelled and owned by Jaime in the Lot department in France in 2003. He had…” Jan 2, 13:34
  • Estel on Not Such A Little List: “Sir Jonathan Miller had nothing to do with Private Eye. This production was entirely based around the personality of Eric…” Dec 27, 02:01
  • JohnCook on Remembering Tony Staniland: “I should like to add to something I posted about Tony some time ago. After we were demobbed in 1951…” Aug 20, 21:08
  • Daniel Cooper on John Cornford, the tragedy of a faithful communist: “Hello Frances, I have just read your comment, and sympathise with it very much. Would you be interested in participating…” Apr 7, 14:38
  • Christopher Brown on The Young Rembrandt: not a prodigy: “Glad you enjoyed it, Paul.” Mar 9, 18:39
October 2019
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Sep   Nov »

An ArtsJournal Blog

Recent Posts

  • Obituary Hugh Cecil
  • A Slice of Life in Lockdown
  • The Young Rembrandt: not a prodigy
  • She was just a Miller’s daughter: ENO revives a middle-period Verdi
  • From caftan to opera hat: the greatest living playwright takes on the Jewish bourgeoisie and its destruction

Copyright © 2021 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in