Review: Jacques Brel’s Lonesome Losers of the Night (Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, 2017)

Celebrating the trials of love and heartache

Review by Lauren Whalen

Step into a lonely Amsterdam bar in 1959. What will you find? If you are the team behind Jacques Brel's Lonesome Losers of the Night , the answer is: an openhearted bartender, two winsome soldiers and an enigmatic yet vulnerable sex worker. Sounds like the beginning of a joke, but with the Belgian songwriter's score, the story quickly becomes more complex. Hearts are won, then broken. Childhoods are remembered, in all their fond, wild glory. Most of all, connections are made. Theo Ubique's revival of its critically acclaimed 2008 revue is a perfect season closer, with comedy, drama and romance in spades.

Born in 1929, Belgian singer-songwriter Brel became an international sensation by the time he was 30 years old. Brel was considered the founder of the modern "chanson," or lyric-driven song, and his influence on English-speaking songwriters yielded the off-Broadway hit Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris in 1968. Though Brel died before he turned 50, his influence lives on. Jacques Brel's Lonesome Losers of the Night was created by Theo Ubique Artistic Director Fred Anzevinoand Arnold Johnston, a Michigan writer whose translations of Brel lyrics are regarded to be the most accurate.

Lonesome Losers of the Night is a short but powerful cabaret-style show with a loose storyline that is nonetheless nuanced and compelling. Because of their copious angst and narrative structure, Brel's songs lend themselves well to this type of production. Though it's clearly a passion project for both Anzevino (a devotee of Brel's work) and Johnston alike, it's never indulgent. Instead it's both intimate and grand, even the tiniest moment magnified to high comedy or Shakespearean tragedy. Anzevino's staging, as well as David Heimann's choreography, are typical Theo Ubique-style, the singers making eye contact with the audience, sometimes practically in their laps. With some shows this can border on too much, yet here I welcomed the closeness as a perfect companion to Brel's intensely personal lyrics.

Music director Jeremy Ramey (who also accompanies the singers with aplomb) is ideally suited for this production, guiding the powerful quartet of performers to wring every last drop of emotion from Brel's notes and lyrics. They're more than up to the task: Randolph Johnson's Bartender has a voice and presence that will break your heart in one moment and crack you up the next. As the two soldiers, David Morelandand Neil Stratmanturn to whiskey, women and song to soothe their troubled hearts, with vocal stylings that are at once rugged and angelic. And as the Woman, a lingerie-clad floozy who makes her living off of soldiers like these, Jill Sessois a revelation. Her voice is soulful, her movement pure grace, and her character full realized, in all its gritty, humble glory.

This next season will be Theo Ubique's last in the No Exit Café, before they move to a new space in Evanston. Anzevino and Ramey have created something wonderful in their small but mighty home: a company that thrives on showcasing a map of the human heart. Their abilities are on full display in Jacques Brel's Lonesome Losers of the Night , a show that celebrates the trials of love, the many forms of heartbreak, and the hard knocks that make us who we are. There's no doubt in my mind that Brel would be proud.

Jacques Brel's Lonesome Losers of the Night continues through August 6th at No Exit Cafe, 6970 N. Glenwood (map), with performances Thursdays 7:30pm, Fridays & Saturdays 8pm, Sundays 7pm. Tickets are $29-$34 (students/seniors: $4 discount - all unsold tickets are $15 at door with college ID), and are available through (check for availability of ). More information at Theo-U.com. (Running time: 80 minutes no intermission)

behind the scenes

Fred Anzevino (director), Courtney Crouse (assistant director), Jeremy Ramey (music director), Arnold Johnston (lyrical translations), Joshua Stephen Kartes (musical arrangements), David Heimann (choreographer), Mina Slater (production stage manager), Adam Veness (scenic design, photos), James Kolditz (lighting design), Katie Beeks (properties design)

Tags: 17-0624, Adam Veness, Arnold Johnston, Chicago musical theater, Chicago Theater, Courtney Crouse, David Heimann, David Moreland, Fred Anzevino, Jacques Brel, James Kolditz, Jeremy Ramey, Jill Sesso, Joshua Stephen Kartes, Katie Beeks, Lauren Whalen, Mina Slater, Neil Stratman, No Exit Cafe, post, Randolph Johnson, Samantha Mitchell, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, Tommy Thurston

Category: 2017 Reviews, Extensions-Remounts, Lauren Whalen, Musical Revue, No Exit Cafe, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, Video, YouTube