Chez Bricktop

She ran the famous nightclub Chez Bricktop in Paris, had an affair with legendary dancer Josephine Baker, and was close friends with jazz giants Duke Ellington and Cole Porter. So why is it that we don’t know Bricktop? The virtuoso singer Claron McFadden asked herself the same question. With Music Theatre Transparant, McFadden performs an urgent and compelling tribute to Ada ‘Bricktop’ Smith in the form of a radio broadcast. Featuring American jazz and French music from the Parisian Roaring Twenties.

‘Bricktop’ is a nickname for people with red hair, because of the red colour of brick. Ada Smith had inherited her red locks and freckles from her grandfather, the Irish-American plantation owner who was the father of her mother who was born into slavery. Her club Chez Bricktop McFadden was a haven for both French artists and African-Americans who, like her, had migrated to Paris to escape the systematic racism and dehumanisation in America. McFadden is a versatile performer with unwavering expressiveness. She previously made a smashing impression with her portrayal of African-American freedom fighter Harriet Tubman in the music theatre Harriet.
in collaboration with

This concert is excluded from the Podiumpas