Ra Rock pays off for music man Dodd, Rabu reunite for Piaf encore NEW YORK, 1961. Piaf stands before a sea of faces in the city’s most elegant hotel. inside the Waldorf Astoria the lights dim as Edith Gassion, known as “‘Piaf’’ to her fans, belts out Bravo Pour le Ciown with every ounce of energy her 4’8” frame can muster. “Who is that plain little woman with a voice too big for her?’ ask- ed one fan. Little did those who were watching realize that this would be the Parisienne chanteuse’s swan song. From June 15 to 17 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, audiences will be transported back to that magical moment when Piaf, in the form of Joelle Rabu, plays to the New York audience for the last time. : EVELYN JACOB spotlight feature “She (Piaf} did that show even though she was sick,” explains J. 23 - Wednesday, June 14, 1989 ~ North Shore News Taggart’s works exhibited THE WATERCOLORS of West Vancouver artist judy Taggart will be exhibited in the West Van- couver Memorial Library for the month of June. . Taggart has been artistically in- volved in amateur theatre and e Lead-free © ltalian Pottery (open stock) ® Unique Milan Fleurs Pattern e Microwave & Dishwasher safe FREE Gift upon Bridal Registry Tods and Techniques open 7 days a week e 256-16th St. ¢ West Vancouver ° 925-4835 smail newspaper layout. She is an active member of the Federation of Canadian Artists and a member of the West Vancouver Communi- ty Arts Council. The show will feature florals and landscapes. open till 9om Fridays Douglas Dodd, the North Van- couver musical director of To- 2 night...Piaf. ; NEWS photo Mike Wakefield The beginning of theendcame DEEP COVE composer and musical director }. Douglas Dodd has spent after a series of automobile acci- the past five years composing for Joelle Rabu, who stars in the upcom- panne dents, the result of which left Gas- sion addicted to morphine. But “Piaf,” says Dodd, “used music to ignore the pain.” Dodd, 44, met Joelle Rabu at Ci- ty Stage Theatre five years ago when she was making her stage debut with the hit music Piaf, Her Songs, Her Loves, and he was res- ident musical director. He remembers their first en- counter: “Joelle had never per- formed professionally before Piaf. | saw that she had a lot of talent but that she needed a musical direc- tor,”’ explains Dodd. After 400 performances as the French Sparrow, Dodd and Rabu became an official team. “! would give her pieces of music I'd written, and she would start to write down her own ideas.” Dodd would clearly rather talk about Rabu than himself. “I’ve always been a little uncomfortable talking about myself,”” he says modestly. But with a 20-year musical career as composer, music director and arranger for film, theatre and T.V., Dodd has no shortage of material to share, in- cluding his recent Jessie Richard- son nomination for his musical di- rection of the Mona Lisa Toodle- oo. Oddly enough, Dodd's first musical love chronologically was not Piaf, but rock and roll. He moved to Vancouver from Regina with The Good Fortune, a Prairie rock group in 1969. ing Tonight...Piaf. “Doug Miller (now CKVU weatherman) booked us to play at the Daisy on Fourth Avenue,” chuckles Dodd. When the group broke up a year later, Dodd returned to Vancouver and joined a psychadelic sym- phonic band called Motherhood. Dodd soon swore himself off rock and roll and turned to theatre. fronically, it was his rock background that ianded him his first job — he re-wrote Brecht's City of Mahonny into a rock opera. “Rock and roll was still what | understood best at that point,’’ he recalls. Writing for theatre, Dodd discovered, was a whole new ex- perience. ‘‘I learned that music gives to theatre — theatre doesn’t give to music,” he says. “The message is so much clearer with theatre than with just a song. Here, | discovered, was a wonderful way of presenting an idea to the audience with lights, costumes and props. it was much more hard-hitting.” Dodd won a Jessie Richardson aware for his musical direction of Piaf, Her Songs, Her Loves. He was nominated for the same award for Tsymbaly. His introduction to Film came through a group of feminists who were working on the film Red Emma. One of his greatest musical ac- complishments, he says, was for in the film Skip Tracer, directed by Vancouver's Zale Dolen. Again, his rock background paid off. “| found composing for film meant not writing for just one in- strument — having a rock and roll background combined with a classical background allowed me to delve into different areas,” ex- plains Dodd. Since then Dodd has created music for over 30 feature films and for dozens of National Film Board films. In 1984, he was nominated for a Genie Award for his work on the feature film Walls. Recently more and more of his time is taken up with writing and touring with Rabu. ‘“When | write for Joelle 1 write for myself,” he says. To date he and Joelle Rabu and Company have travelled half the world, taking their travelling show to Beijing, Eastern Europe and Canada. To understand different musical styles, Dodd explains there’s no substitute for going to the source of that music. “I'm finding that my under- standing of music has grown so much in the Jast five years because of my association with people in different countries,” he says. ‘‘It’s one thing to hear the music on re- cords and another to have lived the music.” Donny Osmond goes bad From page 22 does that leave the newly improv- ed you? | know you're not a liber- tine. The retro-sideburns, the leather jacket, the worn jeans with the rolled bottoms are just a dif- ferent package. You still can sing songs with titles like My Secret Touchand I'll Be Good To You. Hiring Peter Gabriel's ace drummer Manu Katche and master sax man Michael Brekcer was a good move. And what the heck, you get an A for audacity un the sideburns gambit and for arm- wrestling radio programmers just to prove you're not a wimp. But work on the tunes laddie. Harden them, You've come a long way from Puppy Love. Yes, Soldier Of Love is decent enough mainstream schlock. But think rag- ing pit bull the next go around. You can then wear the sideburns and stubble with a rightful and manly pride. eeanwet ATTENTION BARGAIN hunters: Early bird tickets to the upcoming Vancouver Folk Music Festival are available until June 17. Fifty dollars gets you in for the weekend. After the 17th, advanced tickets will go for $60 and then $65 at the gate. Tickets are available at all Tick- etmaster outlets, Black Swan Re- cords, Highlife Records and Zulu Records and Festival Records. To charge by phone call 280-4444, LOBSTER -| MONTH FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE Monday to Thursday only = LUNCH OR DINNER spl nightty. La Belle Sole RESTAURANT 235 - 15th Street, West Van Lunch Monday-Friday 1 11:00-30m 926-6861 | Dinner Monday-Saturday From 5:50 p.m.