In an age of widespread hyperbole, it is comforting to discover a show with a modest title. Though one luminary of the chanson française at a time is enough for most, Ms. Bern-Campbell decided to invoke The Holy Trinity at the Metropolitan Room en masse. Luckily, the familiar cavalcade of Milords, Padams, Valentines, and Ne me quitte pas rarely fails to please. And, if one is in doubt, Richard Berent (piano) and Bill Schimmel (accordion) were ready with highly hummable arrangements.

Ms. Bern-Campbell, who somehow resembles Lautrec’s Yvette Guilbert, created a kind of worshipful kabuki in which she skimmed Piaf’s “La vie en rose” with its requisite guttural notes and tragic gestures, through to Chevalier’s “Louise,” “Mimi” and other Parisian coquettes. Chevalier’s own straw boater on her head added a welcome “I was there” factor to the proceedings, especially during “I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore.” Though that song was as well-known as the others, in the hands of a woman—and a rich-voiced one at that—it gained a surprisingly complex and uncertain message.  Another pleasant rarity was Brel’s “Marieke,” which Bern-Campbell, a native of Belgium, sang touchingly in Flemish.

Although reverence and authenticity are always to be lauded, and often applauded, Ms. Bern-Campbell did well to quote Brel’s own advice to performers: “Chant avec les tripes!” he said, (“Sing with your guts!”). To do so, it is best to start afresh, bravely.

Patrick Monahan
Cabaret Scenes
March 11, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org