FEATURE Miranda Musical Society JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS Directed by Geraldine Turner “Moving. Beautiful. Brilliant.” Stage Whispers The sardonic, wise and intensely emotive songs of this influential Belgian composer and performer still ring in the air. Jacques Brel was part of the French-language art-song movement that reached its peak of international popularity in the 1950s and ’60s, led by such revered performers as Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour and Yves Montand. His music ranges from the rhapsodically romantic to the caustically political. A born storyteller, his odes are often compressed mini-dramas and mused in a world- weary but uncynical fashion on the rapture and agony of love. Brel’s fever-grade ballads about love’s vagaries have been widely covered by artists from Judy Collins and Frank Sinatra to David Bowie. This show is an intoxicating musical revue that is naughty, funny, dark, and romantic. Over half a century after they were written, Brel’s songs retain their edgy vibe in a show The New York Times called “a potent mixture of romanticism and cynicism, world- weariness and jaunty whimsy.” 10 – 13 August See the website for details about his age, but previous stories have said he is a decade Turner’s junior. When I email him to ask if this is correct, he suggests I go with “much” younger, “a lot” younger, or possibly “toy boy”. The two hoped to have a family but Turner says she was in the throes of early menopause by the time they got together. “Some women don’t want children at all and that’s perfectly valid,” she says. “But I did. I never thought I wouldn’t be a mother. It’s just something you have to get used to, I guess. I mean, I’m fine now but when I was in my 40s, it was a sadness.” She still feels the occasional sharp pang of regret, particularly at those times of year when others are gathering their clans. “I go into a bit of a hole at Christmas,” she admits. She and Castles-Onion usually spend the day with friends, but “now and again, people don’t invite you. Some years I’ve just dug in the garden and we’ve had a few prawns, because you can’t be bothered doing a big lunch for two of you.” Mind you, she knows from her own childhood that having a large number around the table isn’t a guarantee of a good time. “Our family Christmases were always hideous,” she says. “There was always a fight of some kind.” “ILOVEBADTELEVISION, ALWAYSHAVE.” Gardening is one of Turner’s abiding pleasures. She grows 19th-Century French roses and a profusion of other flowers that take her fancy. When she’s at home at Moss Vale, her life has a peaceful rhythm to it: a cryptic crossword each morning, The Bold and the Beautiful in the afternoon. “I love bad television,” she says. “Always have.” The other thing that has always attracted her is politics. Turner is a former federal president of the performers’ union, Actors Equity (now part of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance), and in 2008 stood unsuccessfully for local government. A staunch left-winger (“I wouldn’t vote for the Liberal Party as long as I could draw breath”), she doesn’t rule out running for federal parliament in the future. At least she knows her age wouldn’t count against her. “Look at Derryn Hinch. What’s he? Seventy-three? I’ve got years yet!” In the meantime, she has a very personal project on the go. “I have written a musical about my mother, called Drama Queen,” she says. Maxine Thomson, a friend of Turner since they trained as teachers together, firmly believes Isabell adored her daughter. “I know she had every clipping from every newspaper – everything that Geraldine had ever done,” Thomson says. Turner tells me the love was mutual: “You love your mother no matter what they do to you.” Nonetheless, the play is dark. Isabell is presented with all her flaws. “I’m not out to get her,” Turner says. “That’s not the reason I’m telling the story. It’s more to do with, you know, the rich tapestry of life.” “ Originally published May 6, 2017. MIRANDA MUSICAL SOCIETY: JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS PHOTO BY FRANCIS FOTOGRAPHY 43