CLEVELAND, Ohio - "Jacques Brel ..." was alive and well at Judson Manor in University Circle last weekend. A sold-out crowd of hundreds can attest to that.

But this production of the classic 1960s musical about love, war and protest, featuring Brel's literate and whimsical songs, was more than just a stage show: It was both an introduction to a new theater company and a nostalgic nod to the past.

This "Brel" was the second production of the new Theatre in the Circle, a joint product of Mark and Bill Corcoran, a retired theater director and musical director, and Judson residents as well.  

The company's first show was a production Bill wrote about Edgar Allan Poe, "Eddie," that played for free in the Judson lounge. "That was a goodwill gesture to introduce us to the community," says Mark Corcoran.

"Brel," directed by Mark Corcoran, was the first show for which the new company sold tickets - three sold-out nights in the 100-seat Judson Manor Ballroom. The fantastic cast included Equity members and an orchestra led by Bill Corcoran.

The Corcorans, who married in Connecticut in 2009, moved to the Judson retirement community three-and-a-half years ago after selling their house in Bratenahl. 

Both Mark and Bill had long careers in the theater world and beyond. Mark was the founder and artistic director of the Algonquin Cabaret Theatre in Cumberland, Maryland. Bill was musical director at summer-stock theaters - in Louisville, Kentucky, and New Haven, Connecticut - and performed as a pianist/conductor at the Cleveland Play House.

The Corcorans loved living near the center of so much culture in University Circle, surrounded by the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Institute of Music and the artists' studios and musical programs of Judson.  

But something was missing: theater.

"There is the Eldred Theater at Case [Western Reserve University], but really University Circle, which is the biggest concentration of creative people in the city, had no outlet for theater," says Mark.

So he and Bill decided to, er, put on a show. Make that many shows. With some assistance from the administration and marketing staff at Judson, they launched their Theatre in the Circle.  

"Bill and I had been talking about this for years," says Mark Corcoran. "When he first walked into the Judson ballroom, and the lounge, he said to me, 'What a wonderful venue this would be for intimate theater' - and it had been on my mind ever since."

They began with the small-scale "Eddie," which Bill had premiered in 1990 at the Kentucky Center for the Arts in Louisville. For their follow-up, they wanted to make more of a splash.

So they looked forward by looking back.

"I've loved this musical for years," says Mark Corcoran of "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris." "I've seen it several times, and it really resonates with people, especially people who have had some life experiences.

"And, we were really trying to tap into Clevelanders' love affair with that show." 

It was the 1968 "Jacques Brel," you see, that helped save Playhouse Square in the 1970s. The aging, 1920s-built theaters had fallen into disrepair as nearly a quarter of the population of Cleveland fled the city and crime plagued the area.

Enter the Junior League of Cleveland, led by Lainie Hadden, a visionary named Ray Shepardson and "Jacques Brel."

Shepardson's production featuring the songs of the influential Belgian artist - translated into English by writer Eric Blau and composer Mort Shuman, who together scripted the narrative that ties the revue together -- played for two years and 522 performances in the crumbling State Theatre lobby.

The production that ran from 1973 to 1975 raised awareness and funds for the Playhouse Square preservation campaign. It was the hot ticket in town for nearly two years - and it wasn't even in a theater.

"I saw it at Playhouse Square three times, and I wasn't even living in Cleveland at the time," says Mark Corcoran. "The first time, I had come to see an old friend, and he said, 'You have got to see this show.' I loved what they had done with it. The second and third times, I made a trip to Cleveland just to see it.

 "It seems everybody in Cleveland has a memory of that show."

Especially the residents of Judson Manor. "When we said we were doing it here, everybody was saying, 'Oh, I went five times' or 'I went six times.' "

One of those Judson residents who remembers "Brel" well is Ann Roulet, a retired English literature professor from the Cleveland Institute of Art. Roulet had been in the Intown Club at the time with Hadden.

As a member of the women's club, and then later with her husband, Roulet saw the show multiple times.
"It was a terrific, delightful production," says the Judson resident. "People really knew they were helping to keep the theaters alive. It made it very special."

Roulet saw the Corcorans' revival on Feb. 11. The crowd that night gave Theatre in the Circle's revival a standing ovation -- Roulet included.

As was Saturday night for the crowds who gave Theatre in the Circle's revival a standing ovation - Roulet included.

 The singing in the four-actor show was sublime, as was the interplay between the actors. Angela Mitchell and Mason Stewart were the epitome of youth and optimism as the younger lovers, while the older and wiser Marc Moritz and Tina D. Stump, both Equity actors, projected a tender world-weariness.

"This play is so topical today," says Mark Corcoran. "So much of it talks about things we can't control. .... I think a lot of people are feeling that way about the world now. This show was first done in the '60s, a time of protest and discontent, and I think it is timeless."

Theatre in the Circle's next production, "I Do! I Do!" in June, should be equally relevant, especially to the Judson residents.

"It's a show about love, and it makes so much sense to do here," says Mark Corcoran. "So many of the residents are married, or have lost a spouse, or lost several spouses. This show begins with a marriage and ends all those years later when they leave their home for the last time."

"I Do! I Do!" will be presented by Theatre in the Circle on at 7:30 p.m. June 23, 2 and 7:30 p.m. June 24, and 2 p.m. June 25 at Judson Manor. Times subject to change. More information at: //www.theatreinthecircle.com/index.html.

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