• Concept by Claron McFadden and Claire Chevallier | featuring Claron McFadden and Claire Chevallier
• Direction, set and lighting design by Luigi De Angelis
• Dramaturgy by Chiara Lagani
• Musical creation and arrangement by Janelle Gill
• Arrangement by Bram De Looze
• Sound design by Pieter-Jan Buelens
• Lighting design by Anne Van Es
• Costumes by Perrine Philomeen
• Special guests: Tcha Limberger (guitar and violin), Vilmos Csikós Sr. (double bass), Benjamin Clément (guitar), Bertrand Bellin (vocals)
• Production by Muziektheater Transparant and Fanny & Alexander
• Co-production by Klarafestival, Boza, PerPodium
• Supported by The Belgian Tax Shelter
• Thanks to Chantal Pattyn, Gerhard Oostvogels & Rockstar Recordings, Tuur Florizoone (recording & mixing) and Wilfried Van den Brande.

Year : 2024

Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith, also known as Bricktop, was an American dancer, jazz singer, vaudeville artist, and the owner of the famous concert venue Chez Bricktop in Paris. The venue became a landmark for both French and African American artists who had moved to Paris to escape the systemic racism and constant denial of humanity they faced in America. Through the story of Bricktop and her interviews, soprano Claron McFadden and pianist Claire Chevallier recreate the vibrant atmosphere of the interwar period in Paris, when jazz arrived from America and began to merge with the French musical repertoire. Director Luigi De Angelis conceived Chez Bricktop as a live radio program, evoking the ambiance of a club from a hundred years ago, with a live audience and special guests in real time.

“When Claron McFadden asked me to collaborate on Chez Bricktop, I was immediately struck by the strong connection she had developed with Claire Chevallier. It was a brilliant web of links between the past and the present, an incredible journey through their sensitivity and the stories of today that resonate and challenge the shadows and ghosts of the past. They asked me to recreate the atmosphere of Ada ‘Bricktop’ Smith’s club, leaving open windows through which they could speak about their own journey and intimate ‘renaissance,’ and how they were approaching the history of jazz—the music that had so strongly influenced their artistic path.
I conceived Chez Bricktop as a live radio program, with Claron McFadden as the host, in dialogue with Claire at the piano, creating an overlap between the atmosphere of a club from 100 years ago and a modern radio studio, where a live broadcast unfolds with an audience all around, live music, guests, etc. The dramaturgy of a musical broadcast offers a lot of freedom and the possibility to move quickly from the present to the past in a kaleidoscopic and engaging journey.” (Luigi De Angelis)

DEBUT
March 9, 2024, 15:00 and 20:20 – Klarafestival, Bozar, Brussels (BE)
May 23, 2024, 20:00 – Toneelhuis, Bourlaschouwburg, Antwerp (BE)

[ph. Koen Broos]