Video: PIAF/DIETRICH At The Grand Theatre- First Look

The lives and music of Édith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich will take the stage at the Grand Theatre in PIAF/DIETRICH, directed by Grand Theatre Artistic Director Rachel Peake.Check out video highlights of the production.

The production is an adaptation by Erin Shields of the original German work Spatz und Engel (The Angel and The Sparrow) by Daniel Große Boymann and Thomas Kahry, translated by Sam Madwar.

The musical bio-play explores the relationship between the two performers, tracing their first meeting and the friendship that followed. The production features songs including “La vie en rose,” “Milord,” and “Lili Marlene.”

“What I love about this story, told originally through the imaginations of German Daniel Große Boymann and Austrian Thomas Kahry, and adapted for our stage by the endlessly talented Canadian Erin Shields, is that it uses music, conflict, and language to transport us,” said Peake. “Prior to reading this play, I had no idea that these two icons even knew one another. They seem so different – Piaf wearing her heart on her sleeve and her pain in public, while Dietrich hid everything behind a mask of glamour. But friendship is funny that way, attraction is funny that way.”

Deborah Hay will portray Édith Piaf, returning to the Grand Theatre after appearing in Fall On Your Knees and Mary Poppins. Terra C. MacLeod will make her Grand Theatre debut as Marlene Dietrich.

The cast also includes Karen Burthwright and Eric Craig, who previously performed together in the original Broadway cast of Paradise Square. In PIAF/DIETRICH, they will portray multiple supporting roles.