Artist description International singer and performer, Debbie de Coudreaux has enjoyed a diverse career – headliner at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, Broadway star, model, spokesperson and now, recording artist. All these elements come together to help create her debut CD “Have A Little Paris on Me” which chronicles her experiences as an American in Paris, circa 1990.

Music Style Ranging from smoky jazz to sophisticated swing and from soulful ballads to humorous theatre songs

Musical Influences Early MGM musicals, classical music, chanteuses of Paris [Edith Piaf, Mistenguett, Josephine Baker]

Similar Artists Lena Horne. Diana Shore, Rosemary Clooney, Julie London

Artist History Debbie de Coudreaux, international singer and performer, has enjoyed a diverse career – headliner at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, Broadway star, model, spokesperson and now, recording artist. All these elements come together to help create her debut CD “Have A Little Paris on Me” which chronicles her experiences as an American in Paris, circa 1990. She is the only American, other than Josephine Baker, to have starred at the world famous Parisian cabaret; and her eight year run as ‘vedette’ is the revue’s longest-surpassing Baker and the legendary Mistenguett. Ms. de Coudreaux also played leading roles in Tommy Tune’s Grand Hotel, both on Broadway and London’s West End, and in Harold Prince’s Show Boat on Broadway. In her live show which is based on her debut CD, Ms. de Coudreaux showcases a variety of singing styles performing songs that retrace her life-changing experiences in Paris. Effortlessly alternating between heart wrenching ballads, sultry blues and up-tempo comedy numbers, she draws the listener in to her homage to France’s cultural and entertainment capital. “When I first started this project, I approached David Andrews Rogers, who had been my musical director and conductor for Show Boat,” Debbie explains. “He didn’t laugh when I announced my rather ambitious idea. Rather, he embraced it to the point that, as Musical Supervisor of the CD project and show, he became as consumed as I to find the right songs that would express perfectly all the things that I had been through during the eight years I lived in Paris.” Debbie also had the good fortune to enlist the collaboration of legendary orchestrator Peter Matz, along with arrangers Shelly Markham, Paul Trueblood [who wrote her signature song Feathers] and dynamic jazz pianist, Daryl Kojak. “I wanted to have a wide variety of sounds and styles since I myself am a hybrid,” notes Debbie. “And everyone’s work came together like a dream… hence the moniker ‘dream team.’” Highlights of the set include the exuberant Bonjour, Paris from the film Funny Face and Lonely Paris Blues, a sultry combination of Duke Ellington’s Paris Blues (from the film of the same name) and Harold Arlen’s Paris is a Lonely Town (from the animated film Gay Pur-ee). She also includes French classics such as Michel Legrand’s Once Upon A Summertime and Jacques Brel’s Song of Old Lovers,, segueing easily between French and English lyrics yet never sacrificing the emotional integrity of the song. “This is a dream come true for me,” de Coudreaux explains. “I wanted to create a musical journey that would allow the listener to share in my Parisian experiences… those that have shaped me into the person I am today.” Born and raised in the San Francisco-Bay Area, Ms. de Coudreaux showed an early aptitude for music and dancing. However, having attained her present height of six feet in her mid-teens, she changed her career objectives. Abandoning her dreams of showbiz, she turned her energies toward studies in pre-law. She attended the University of California in Los Angeles and received her B.A. in Political Science. She had toyed with the idea of going to Law School when a friend told her about auditions in Las Vegas for tall dancers. She attended the audition, was hired on the spot and hasn't looked back since. While working at MGM Grand Hotel-Las Vegas, she came to the attention of the legendary producer/director Donn Arden. With his encouragement and direction, she advanced from the dancing chorus to principal singer in his new show Jubilee. While on holiday in Europe, She was informed that the Moulin Rouge was looking for a new star. Ms. de Coudreaux auditioned and again, was signed on the spot to star in the Moulin's new show scheduled to open the following year. Using the interval to learn French, Debbie performed in Vive les Girls and For Ladies Only at the Loews Hotel in Monte Carlo before taking up the reins at the Moulin Rouge where she performed in Frenesie, Femmes-Femmes-Femmes and finally, Formidable which was created around her talents. During her European career, Debbie appeared extensively on television, film and radio and performed for everyone from the Prince and Princess of Wales to the Artist now known again As Prince. Returning to the United States, Debbie was cast in a leading role as Raffaela in the international tour of Mr. Tune's Tony-winning Grand Hotel. She went on to perform the role on Broadway and later recreated the role in London. She was nominated for a Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs (MAC) Award in 1996. She was most recently seen on Broadway performing the role of Julie in Hal Prince's Tony award winning production of Show Boat. She went on to play the role in the First National Tour. One of her most challenging roles was that of Aldonza/Dulcinea in Man of La Mancha for the West Virginia Public Theater. Debbie is currently performing her one woman show "Have A Little Paris On Me" based on her CD of the same title and debuting a new show, Manhattan Madness.

Group Members Debbie de Coudreaux Musical Director: David Andrews Rogers

Instruments Ranging from piano, bass and drums to full orchestra

Albums "Formidable", Soundtrack-1989

Press Reviews THE BEST OF COMPACT DISKS: Ute Lemper, Anne Kerry Ford, Jeanette Byrne, Michael Feinstein, Valerie Lemon, Debbie de Coudreaux, Lizabeth Flood, Jane Monheit… By Gisele Muller-Anderson, Erica Soderholm and Margee Baker…June 22nd, 2003 Debbie de Coudreaux, one of the world’s greatest true Cabaret artists, performers, singers, and personalities…a world-class star. Admired and recognized all over Europe as the only American Cabaret super star who rivaled and surpassed the legendary Josephine Baker right here in Paris!! This lady did it all: Writer, philosopher, dancer, thinker, poet, spokesperson, model, musicals and Broadway leading actress, headliner, first page shining celebrity and Cabaret super “artiste”. In France, she reigned as the queen of the legendary “Moulin Rouge”, and she did it wherever she went, wherever she performed and whatever she took part in. de Coudreaux’s “Have a Little Paris on Me” is absolutely different from all and any contemporary French Cabaret recordings. It is one hundred per cent Parisian, One hundred per cent pure musical. One hundred percent pure musical gold. Debbie de Coudreaux is clever. She is a visionary, for she knew that while preserving the originality and authenticity of the French ballads and the song of “Les Annees Folles de Paris”, the spirit and the charm of the cozy “Boites de Nuits” of old Paris, its poets, adventurers, gigolos, musicians, artists, troubadours, “canailles” and existentialists, she had to embrace the needs and changes of new treatments and tempos of modern music. Thus, she kept the original cache of the Parisian ballad and incorporated a New Orleans-1940 Blues up beat blended with sultry Louis Armstrong-Duke Ellington jazzy touch. And this added magic to the magic of her voice. You will tremendously enjoy her songs…beautiful songs like “Bonjour, Paris”, “I Love Paris” or “April in Paris”. What a delight! What a beauty! What a style! What you get in this CD is a trilogy of absolutely magnificent musical arrangements, superb orchestrations and sparkling voice. We gave de Coudreaux’s CD a 5 star rating. CD REVIEW City Cabaret by Elizabeth Ahlfors Debbie de Coudreaux’s valentine to a city she obviously adores, Have a Little Paris on Me, exudes a joie de vivre that won’t quit. Through songs, de Coudreaux tells the story of her love affair with Paris and she has the theatre chops to do it with elan and authority. Showcasing her stage background with chatty tunes like Speaking French and Feathers, de Coudreaux infuses her song lyrics with dramatic fire, unwrapping the romance, joy, humor and angst so identified with the City of Love. Notable is her pairing of Paris Blues and Paris Is a Lonely Town, plumbing the depths of loneliness, while Not Exactly Paris reveals most charmingly that even if it’s not exactly Paris, a special love affair has a similar intoxication. Le Temps is a lilting yet relentless drive to savor life, and the aching love song, La Chanson des Vieux Amants, brims with heartbreak. Using different collaborators for orchestrations and arrangements provides de Coudreaux with an intoxicating cocktail of old and new standards and theatre songs, all with the French twist. It’s a smooth and varied flow from start to finish, evidenced early with a quick shot of An American in Paris bubbling into the heady delight of Bonjour Paris! I Love Paris mixes and mingles with April in Paris, turning on a dime from nostalgia to swing, and back again, an intriguing arrangement by Shelly Markham. Have a Little Paris on Me by Francesca Blumenthal could have inspired the title of de Coudreaux’s CD. It’s an irresistible tune reflecting the seductiveness of this most beguiling of cities, and Debbie de Coudreaux’s debut CD is a sparkling way to pay a visit. “Because she spent eight years exhibiting her talents (singing talents that is) at Paris’ Moulin Rouge, she thinks it’s a nice idea to “Have a Little Paris on Me”. Perhaps, with this show, she’ll help repair current French-American relations. She has the pizzazz to do so.” -- David Finkle, The Village Voice

Additional Info Was nominated for a MAC award-1996

Location New York City, NY - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).