Cocktail Party Fact: The last New York revival of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris opened in 1981, three years after Brel had died. They didn’t change the title.

Here’s the Plot: More than any other piece written for the musical stage, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris utterly defies description. It’s a plotless evening of independent songs, yet it’s not just a revue. It doesn’t have a story or even an immediately recognizable cast of characters, so it’s not really a book musical. It has been called the world’s first libretto-less musical. In reality, it’s a one-character musical with a cast of four. Two women and two men all portray one character: Jacques Brel, the French-Belgian poet/songwriter/singer. The words are Brel’s, the opinions, insights, and satiric wit is Brel’s. The underlying, sometimes nearly hidden optimism is Brel’s. The songs are about war, death, love, revenge, growing old, desperation, and the insanity of our modern world. Many of the songs are extremely funny, some of the fumiest about the darkest topics. Eric Blau, one of the creators of the stage show, said that Brel writes about the way we live in a world we did not create.

Memorable Melodies: “If We Only Have Love” (which Barry Manilow recorded), “My Death” (which David Bowie performed in the film Ziggy Stardust), “Amsterdam” (which Bowie also recorded), “Marieke” (which Judy Collins recorded), “Timid Frieda,” “The Desperate Ones,” “Girls and Dogs.”

Vital Statistics: In 1957, the first American recording of Brel’s songs was released with only moderate success. In 1961, singer Elly Stone began singing two of Brel’s songs, in an off-Broadway flop called O, Oysters!, directed by Eric Blau. In 1968, an off-Broadway musical was created using twenty-six of Brel’s songs, called Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, and it ran for 1,847 performances (3 more than Hair). The show was revived twice in New York, in 1972 and 1981. The show was conceived and the songs translated and adapted by Eric Blau and Mort Schuman. A film version was released in 1975, including an appearance by Brel himself.

Why See It: It’s an absolutely riveting, thrilling piece of theater, the kind of show you’ll still be talking about a week after you’ve seen it. Brel has insights into being human like few other writers. It’s a show that breaks almost every rule of musical theatre and yet still succeeds. The music and lyrics are funny, moving, and occasionally gut-wrenching.