Chez Bricktop

Discover the vibrant world of 1920s Paris in a live radio broadcast.

Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith, also known as Bricktop, was an American dancer, jazz singer, vaudeville artist, and owner of the famous nightclub Chez Bricktop in Paris. The nightclub was a hub for French artists as well as African-Americans who had moved to Paris to escape racism in America. Through Bricktop's story and their interviews, soprano Claron McFadden and pianist Claire Chevallier recreate the musical atmosphere of Paris Montmartre, then known as the Harlem of Paris. Director Luigi De Angelis conceived Chez Bricktop as a live radio program that superimposes the atmosphere of a club of a hundred years ago, with an audience and special guests. 

Credits

A "live" radio broadcast with Claron Mc Fadden, Claire Chevallier and guests.

Intro jingle: Tcha Limberger.

Concept: Claron McFadden and Claire Chevallier.

Direction, light and space design: Luigi De Angelis.

Dramaturgy: Chiara Lagani.

Musical advisor/arranger jazz pieces: Janelle Gill.

Sound technique: Pieter-Jan Buelens.