The Sparrow and the Mouse: Good Story & Great Vocals

Written by Melanie Gall, this show is subtitled Creating the Music of Edith Piaf. Turns out that Gall's performance is the real reason to see this show.  She sings a baker’s dozen of Piaf’s songs absolutely beautifully, and tells us the story of Piaf’s early years from the point of view of Simone Berteaut Piaf’s half-sister and lifelong best friend.

I believe that the story is interesting but the delivery needs work.

Gall tosses a baby prop around with reckless abandon, one moment it’s a tender babe, the next it’s garbage she drops casually. She also needs to remove the word “well” from her vocabulary (“Well, we were only…”, “Well what would you…”, “Well…”)

Some of the dialogue is recorded which feels unnecessarily in my opinion. It’s a solo show, you can be Simone and narrator both, telling us while you prepare the next scene.

Some costume help would also boost this show – when Piaf takes the stage near the end she is swaddled in a huge Oriental robe – something I doubt Piaf ever wore, and it does Ms. Gall no favours.
And her red shoes? No, no, no. Black flats for Simone and black simple high heels for Piaf.  Strong direction could really boost this show, but at heart a good story and great vocals go a long way and Gall has both. (Last note – Ms. Gall should consider allowing Piaf herself to sing the last song solo, just watch her picture, Piaf is good enough to hold us.)