Bar Farouk
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Canadian première / Exclusive broadcast for the 21st FMA
(Lebanon)
Through a dynamic that flows without respite, presented by artists in perpetual rejoicing who take us into a whirlwind of emotion, feverish moods and boundless energy, this high-flying musical left its mark on the souls and spirits of spectators and teleported them to the glorious Beirut of yesteryear, from the 1930s to the 1970s, an effervescent city in the vanguard of the cultural and artistic life of the entire Arab world.
Bar Farouk is not just a show that highlights the popular theatre and musical cabaret of that era: “it is a moment suspended in time in which, in the style of the Lumière brothers and the earliest days of cinema, photos come alive in the background and bring the Lebanese capital back to life – Beirut at the time of Sahet al-Bourj or Hamra la rouge, Beirut the bustling and intrepid, at dawn and at dusk with its aromas, its flavours, its fragrances of jellab or hookah, Beirut with its abadays and its women of loose morals but great virtues, Beirut to which we assign the feminine gender because it is loving, joyful, wild, mischievous and playful but also nurturing, like a woman, this city with its filigreed portraits of music and dance, from the rococo years of the 1930s to the hippie years of the 1970s. The artists pay tribute to the musicians, composers, dancers and singers who contributed so much to the city’s history (before the civil war): Sabah, Omar el-Zeeni, Philémon Wehbé, Chouchou ou Férial Karim.” (Colette Khalaf, L’Orient-Le-Jour)
With Bar Farouk, a musical show that caused a stir at the Beiteddine Festival in 2015 and that has been presented continuously since then on the Metro Al Madina stage, Artistic Director Hicham Jaber, backed by Ziad al-Ahmadieh for the musical arrangements, has taken up the challenge of conveying to people of every generation – beyond political, religious and social divides – the soul and vitality of Beirut’s golden age. About twenty artists, among them singers, dancers and visual artists as well as creators of period costumes and of a brilliantly designed vintage décor, worked together to restore the magic of the cafés of yesteryear with their singing and dancing, uniting the Lebanese around this collective memory that shakes the deepest of souls. A sensory, dreamlike, revitalizing experience with ultra-contagious energy that now, more than ever, is needed to rebuild this city that, for the eighth time, is rising from its ashes.
Canadian première / Exclusive broadcast for the 21st FMA
(Lebanon)
Through a dynamic that flows without respite, presented by artists in perpetual rejoicing who take us into a whirlwind of emotion, feverish moods and boundless energy, this high-flying musical left its mark on the souls and spirits of spectators and teleported them to the glorious Beirut of yesteryear, from the 1930s to the 1970s, an effervescent city in the vanguard of the cultural and artistic life of the entire Arab world.
Bar Farouk is not just a show that highlights the popular theatre and musical cabaret of that era: “it is a moment suspended in time in which, in the style of the Lumière brothers and the earliest days of cinema, photos come alive in the background and bring the Lebanese capital back to life – Beirut at the time of Sahet al-Bourj or Hamra la rouge, Beirut the bustling and intrepid, at dawn and at dusk with its aromas, its flavours, its fragrances of jellab or hookah, Beirut with its abadays and its women of loose morals but great virtues, Beirut to which we assign the feminine gender because it is loving, joyful, wild, mischievous and playful but also nurturing, like a woman, this city with its filigreed portraits of music and dance, from the rococo years of the 1930s to the hippie years of the 1970s. The artists pay tribute to the musicians, composers, dancers and singers who contributed so much to the city’s history (before the civil war): Sabah, Omar el-Zeeni, Philémon Wehbé, Chouchou ou Férial Karim.” (Colette Khalaf, L’Orient-Le-Jour)
With Bar Farouk, a musical show that caused a stir at the Beiteddine Festival in 2015 and that has been presented continuously since then on the Metro Al Madina stage, Artistic Director Hicham Jaber, backed by Ziad al-Ahmadieh for the musical arrangements, has taken up the challenge of conveying to people of every generation – beyond political, religious and social divides – the soul and vitality of Beirut’s golden age. About twenty artists, among them singers, dancers and visual artists as well as creators of period costumes and of a brilliantly designed vintage décor, worked together to restore the magic of the cafés of yesteryear with their singing and dancing, uniting the Lebanese around this collective memory that shakes the deepest of souls. A sensory, dreamlike, revitalizing experience with ultra-contagious energy that now, more than ever, is needed to rebuild this city that, for the eighth time, is rising from its ashes.