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BIBI
FERREIRA RETURNS TO NEW YORK CITY
WITH U.S. DEBUT
OF “BIBI SINGS PIAF”
Photo by: Wilian Aguiar
BRAZILIAN STAR
CELEBRATES 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF HER LEGENDARY
SHOW, HAS RECEIVED FRANCE’S HIGHEST
ARTISTIC HONORS
SEEN BY OVER 5
MILLION PEOPLE IN BRAZIL, PORTUGAL
AND FRANCE,
PIAF SHOW DEBUTS
IN NEW YORK ON NOVEMBER 13TH
AT THE TOWN HALL
“… with her
mercurial character, charisma and larger-than-life quality,
Bibi is the
foremost interpreter of Edith Piaf…”
HUGUES VASSAL
[French photographer, chronicler of Piaf’s final years]
“She’s been one of the world’s great caretakers of the
legacy of
Edith Piaf”
WALL STREET
JOURNAL
Oct 1, 2013:
After the acclaimed show Bibi in Concert at Lincoln
Center earlier this year, the Brazilian performing legend
Bibi Ferreira returns to New York on November 13 to
perform one of the greatest accomplishments of her career
BIBI SINGS PIAF at The Town Hall, accompanied by
orchestra and chorus. This is the first-ever U.S.
performance of the show, which is now celebrating its
30TH anniversary, and which has been seen by
over 5 million people in Brazil, France and Portugal.
For three decades
Bibi has been singing Edith Piaf's repertoire and
dramatizing the life of the legendary French singer. This
year marks the 50th anniversary of Piaf's death, and it has
brought a renewed interest in Piaf's art and those who have
kept her spirit alive. And no one has done that more
dramatically than Bibi Ferreira.
Bibi Ferreira
entered the universe of Edith Piaf inadvertently when, after
the astounding success of the groundbreaking Brazilian play
Gota d'Água (Drop of Water) in the 1970s, she
was researching scripts for a new theater project. A friend
introduced her to the play Piaf by the English author
Pam Gems.
In May of 1983,
Bibi Ferreira debuted Piaf - A Vida de uma Estrela da
Canção (Piaf - The Life of a Star of Song) at
the Ginástico Português Theater (the current Sesc Ginatico
Theater) in Rio de Janeiro. With seasons of absolute success
in both Rio de Janeiro and in Sao Paulo, where there were
more than 700,000 attendees, the show embarked on two large
nationwide tours of the main state capitals of the country,
remaining a box office record-holder in these
theaters to this day.
In 1985, as
recognition for the production and for the great
dissemination of French culture in Brazil, the French
government honored Bibi with The Order of Arts and
Letters of the French Republic. The award was given
to Bibi by the then-First Lady Danielle Mitterand and
the then-Minister of Culture Jack Lang, in a private
ceremony held in Brazil.
In 1988, the play
went to Portugal with Bibi in the lead role and a Portuguese
cast. It remained at the Cassino do Estoril Theater for six
months. The play is still considered one of the biggest hits
in Portugal.
In 1992, Bibi was
invited by the French Consulate and by the Rio de Janeiro
City Hall to open Praça Paris (Paris Square) in downtown
Rio de Janeiro. For the special occasion, the actress
created a new format to showcase Edith Piaf's life and music
in the concert Bibi Canta e Conta Piaf (Bibi Sings and
Tells Piaf). The concert maintained the singing of the
main repertoire of the French singer, tailored with short
texts about her life.
In May of 2000,
the show debuted in Paris at the Dejazet Theater.
There were many famous celebrities in the audience, among
them Michel Rivegauche, the composer of Piaf's big
hits, not the least of which were the first two songs of
the show, La foule and La Ville Inconnue. Also
attending was, Pierre Ribert, owner of Ediçôes
Metropolitanas, editor of Piaf's albums, and the man who
personally took care of selecting repertoire with Piaf
herself, suggesting songs, arrangements, producers, and
musicians.
At the end of the
show, Rivegauche hugged Bibi and said, “Bibi, you don't
imitate Piaf, you are a great performer, just like Piaf was.
Your portrayal of my songs will remain forever in my heart.”
The day after the
show, Bibi and her manager and producer Nilson Raman
received an email from Pierre Ribert asking for a meeting
that would take place the following day. To begin, with a
folder and tape in hand, he said, “Bibi, I have had this
material with me for many years, in search of a high-level
performer and two nights ago, I met you. Your portrayal is
rare, few times in my life have a seen an artist with such
scenic strength. Ma'am, in these folders and on this tape is
the last repertoire selected by Piaf. This was to be her
last album. Record these songs.”
In May 2003, Bibi
recorded the CD-DVD Bibi Canta Piaf (Bibi Sings Piaf)
live at the Maison de France Theater
in Rio de Janeiro
with a chorus and orchestra for the Brazilian record label
Biscoito Fino. Having already been distributed in many
countries, it has been highlighted as a “must-have” by the
French retailer FNAC, having been featured prominently in
the window displays of the stores.
Recently, the
French photographer Hugues Vassal, friend of Piaf and
the person who documented Piaf's final years, declared
that Bibi Ferreira was the only performer capable of
reliving the dramatic emotions of Piaf.
On the occasion
of the Year of France in Brazil in 2009, Bibi received
France's highest artistic honors again, this time with
the title of Commander, The Order of Arts and Letters,
the highest commendation the French Government can bestow
upon a person connected to French culture.
In June of 2013,
to celebrate 30 years of her Piaf programs, Bibi debuted a
new nationwide tour in Brazil,
accompanied by chorus and orchestra, which began with a
two-month run at Frei Caneca Theater in Sao Paulo. Two weeks
in advance, all of the tickets sold out. The show, which
also opens in Rio, is, once again, an absolute success,
this time with a whole new generation of critics and
concert-goers.
At last, American
audiences and critics will be able to see Brazil's most
beloved singer in her most celebrated show,
one known to Piaf
fans worldwide,
when she appears at New York City’s The Town Hall on
November 13, 2013.
“To
Brazilians, the name Bibi Ferreira is to musical theatre
what Antonio Carlos Jobim is to samba.” – FORBES BRAZIL
“Bibi proved why
she is the most famous singer in Brazil when she brought the
house down at Alice Tully Hall” – NEW YORK POST
BIBI SINGS
PIAF - U.S. debut
Wednesday,
November 13, 2013
8:00pm
The Town
Hall
123 West
43rd St
New York,
NY 10036
212-997-1003
www.the-townhall-nyc.org
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