Oscar Winning Piaf Biopic to Show at State Theatre in Bay City
La Vie En Rose won Two Academy Awards® Including Best Actress
October 2, 2008
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By: Mike Bacigalupo - State Theatre
Bay Musical Arts, Inc. will present the 2007 Oscar-winning film La Vie En Rose at the State Theatre in Bay City, Michigan on Monday, October 6, 2008 at 7PM. All tickets are $5.00.
The movie is un-chronological look at the life of the Little Sparrow,
Edith Piaf (1915-1963). Her mother is an alcoholic street singer, her
father a circus performer, her paternal grandmother a madam. During
childhood she lives with each of them. At 20, she's a street singer
discovered by a club owner who's soon murdered, coached by a musician
who brings her to concert halls, and then quickly famous.
Constant
companions are alcohol and heartache. The tragedies of her love affair
with Marcel Cerdan and the death of her only child belie the words of
one of her signature songs, "Non, je ne regrette rien." The back and
forth nature of the narrative suggests the patterns of memory and
association.
Even if one is not particularly interested in Edith Piaf, the film is
worth seeing just to watch actress Marion Cotillard in the title role.
Critical praise has been lavish. Rex Reed says, "The great Marion
Cotillard, in one of the most devastating, inspired and breathtaking
performances in film history, does not imitate Piaf . . . she channels her
eyes, body language, energy, madness, tragedy and outrageous humor in a
chemical and emotional transformation that is electrifying." The New
York Times says, "(Her) feral portrait of the French singer . . . as a
captive wild animal hurling herself at the bars of her cage is the most
astonishing immersion of one performer into the body and should of
another I've ever encountered in a film."
And Peter Travers, in Rolling
Stone, says, "For her stirring, soul-deep performance as tortured
French chanteuse Edith Piaf . . . Cotillard goes to the front of the line for
every Best Actress award out there." Cotillard did, in fact receive the
Best Actress Academy Award in 2007, in addition to Best Actress awards
from the Golden Globe and the British Academy of Film and Television
Arts.
Bay Musical Arts is presenting this film as in introduction to its
season opening concert entitled Gay Paree! The concerts will be given
on Saturday, October 18 at 8pm and Sunday, October 19 at 2pm in the
State Theatre. The program presents popular French music from the opera
and ballet traditions as well as familiar songs from the French music
halls including several selections made famous by Edith Piaf.
Soloists
for the concert are Kristin Stewart, who will sing several French pops
songs as well as the "Jewel Song" from Faust, and Julien Labro, French
virtuoso of the musette accordion.
Movie patrons will be treated to a brief video previewing The Bijou
Orchestra's coming season. Tickets for the film are $5, but admission
is free for all Bijou Orchestra subscribers who have paid for their
2008-09 subscription. Movie-goers will have an opportunity to purchase
Bijou subscriptions that evening, and will also have a chance to
purchase tickets for Gay Paree! at a discount.
Movie and concert ticket information is available at
www.bijouorchestra.org or by calling the Bijou Box Office at (989)
892-4200. Tickets will also be available at the door.
The orchestra is supported in part by grants from the National
Endowment for the Arts, the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs and the Bay Area Community Foundation. Major corporate sponsors
include, Dow Corning, Bay Regional Medical Center, OmniSource and
Thelen Auto Group.
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