Never heard of Charles Aznavour? Well, you should. The singer has sold more than 180 million records, sung for popes and royalty, and is considered by many as France’s Sinatra. And this month, our own Robin Goh is performing a musical tribute to the 91-year-old. The Singaporean actor shakes off his nerves to tell us more about the Take Me Along gig.
So why did you say yes to this performance?
Nathalie Ribette, the director of Sing'theatre [the organiser of the concert] and a dear friend, felt that I was suited to his songs after hearing me perform some of them in shows we’ve done together, like A Singaporean in Paris and A French Kiss in Singapore, and decided that I should do a whole concert full of them. I have always depended upon the kindness of women.
Your last concert with Sing’theatre was La Vie en Rose. How different is it this time around?
The biggest difference is that I am scared to death. Funny thing is, in a way, you are always alone on stage. You may have a chorus of thousands, a cast of reliable co-actors, the biggest star right next to you, or be the biggest star; but when you’re out there, you are always solo, always alone.
Do you think your musical journey shares any parallels with Charles Aznavour’s?
I don’t think so. I don’t know enough about his journey to know for sure, but here is a French man of Armenian descent who rose to become one of the greatest entertainers of all time; and here is a Singaporean of Chinese descent who grew up in Boon Lay and did a few musicals and plays here and there. We both love music and we both love to sing, that much I know. Does that count?
You’re performing the songs in English and French – how will you strike a balance between the two?
Fifty-fifty. Nah, I’m kidding. Aznavour himself translated and performed many of these songs in English. He recorded whole albums of them. As close as he hewed to the originals, I think something is lost in translation. These are two very different languages, in the sounds and meanings and the music. I love to sing in French when I can get it right, and we’ll try to do as many of those as possible, which probably won’t be very many. But it will still be Aznavour.
Take Me Along is at Alliance Française Theatre from Nov 11-14.