Written by Peter Haas ~ Cabaret Scenes

The room goes dark. Suddenly the spots go up, revealing a slim blonde woman alone, wearing a short glittering black jacket and black tights, revealing what may be the most beautiful legs in cabaret. They are a dancer’s legs, and they belong to Yvonne Constant, as real an international singer/dancer/actress as you can get. Her evening’s mission: a musical tour of Paris as it existed in the jazzy, raucous, romantic days of the 1920s and 30s. Performing in her husky sing/speak French, explaining or translating the lyrics, and setting the scenes of the day, Yvonne, appearing in two sold-out evenings at The Reprise Room, captivated the crowd with songs identified with Chevalier, Piaf, Mistinguette, Dietrich, Baker and others. Produced and directed by Jan Wallman, with Russ Kassoff as expert musical director and confrere, the evenings illustrated, once again, what a Constantly authentic and magnetic performer Yvonne is.

February 29, 2008