French Canadian singer Louise Pitre is done with Swedes for the moment. She's going back to her roots.
Known for her lead role on Broadway as Donna Sheridan in the Abba-themed musical "Mamma Mia!," Pitre is touring with her tribute to French singer Edith Piaf.
Pitre, whose native language is French, will present "Pure Piaf" at 7:30 p.m. March 24 at Peabody Auditorium, 600 Auditorium Blvd., Daytona Beach. Tickets are $42-$60 plus service fee, and are available at the auditorium box office and Ticketmaster. For more information, call 386-671-3462.
Piaf, who lived from 1915 to 1963, has been hailed as France's greatest popular singer. She is known for such songs as "La Vie en Rose"(her signature song, literally "life in pink" but more commonly French for "life through rose-colored glasses"), "Milord" (about a lower-class girl with a crush on an upper-class British tourist, or "milord") and "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" ("No, I regret nothing" or "No regrets," a song which Piaf dedicated to the French Foreign Legion in 1960).
After Piaf's death in 1963, her life was portrayed in the movie "La Vie en Rose."
Along with portraying Piaf since 1992, Pitre has performed as Fantine in "Les Misérables" in Toronto, Montreal and Paris, and in "Annie Get Your Gun," "Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" and other musicals. She earned a Tony nomination for her role in "Mamma Mia."
"Pure Piaf" will be set up cabaret-style at Peabody Auditorium, including a set styled after a French sidewalk café. Sixteen patrons will be seated on the stage (those tickets are sold out).
A wine tasting will be held prior to the show, from 6 to 7 p.m., and will feature six wines for $5. Also, La Crepe en Haut restaurant will be catering the Backstage Café at Peabody prior to and during the show. Baskets of wine, cheese and other items will be on sale for patrons to take to their seats during the performance.
