by Michael Buzzelli
Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin (Victoria Frings) faces near-insurmountable odds to become a champion of champagne in ‘Madame Clicquot: A Revolutionary Musical.”
Her disapproving father, Nicolas (Steve Blanchard), cements an important business deal with Phillipe Clicquot (Joseph Domencic). He promises his daughter to Phillipe’s son, François Clicquot (Christian Thompson).
While it’s an arranged marriage, Barbe-Nicole and François fall in love. Together, they challenge both of their fathers to run the wine business, perfecting the Champagne region’s bubbly beverage.
After a disastrous business trip, François hires Louis Bohne (Paolo Montalban) to sell the wines.
A rival vintner, Jean-Rémy Moët (Jonathan Christopher) of Moët Chandon, seethes with jealousy, a Salieri to Clicquot’s Mozart. Jean-Rémy uses his friendship with Napoleone Bonaparte (Nick Laughlin) to freeze the Clicquot’s out of the court, preventing her from selling her Champagne to the rich.
Their rivalry continues throughout the story, with Moët besting her at every turn, until the very end. No spoilers, but the full story can be found in a history book, or, at the very least, on her Wikipedia page.
Barbe-Nicole Clicquot was a strong, independent woman ahead of her time, and Frings plays her perfectly.
Montalban is charismatic and charming.
Laughlin’s Napoleon is hilarious. He minces and preens throughout the show. He garners a giggle just by walking out onto the stage: King George now with extra-strength foppishness!
P.S. It’s always great to laugh at narcissistic tyrants. There are too many of those these days.
Mark Ciglar’s projection design combined with Paul Miller’s lighting design makes “Madame Clicquot” thrilling and spectacular. In the opening act, Paris is set on fire during the French Revolution, and the scenery bursts into flame. During the brief courtship between Barbe-Nicole and François, the duo hangs out on the roof of the vineyard. The golden hues of sunset on the vineyard with narrow, neat rows of vines in the background made it a perfectly romantic setting.
Laurie Glodowski’s fervent direction and magnificent choreography lends perfectly to the sweeping epic. The choreography in the invasion, featured dancing Russian Cossacks was one of the highlights of the show.
The show is still in development and has a few kinks to work out. On preview night there were a few missteps, but the cast handled them with aplomb.
Madame Clicquot has multiple tragedies beset upon her; from escaping the French Revolution as a young girl (Mariana Mangual), to facing challenges as a woman every step of the way. The winery is almost perpetually in foreclosure before things finally turn around in the last act. It gets a smidge tedious watching her suffer, but the ending is sweet.
Clicquot’s legacy includes three inventions that revolutionized the making of champagne, including three firsts: vintage champagne; the riddling table; and blended rosé champagne. Her story needs to be told, and Lisette Glodowski and Richard C. Walter (who wrote the book, music and lyrics) are here to tell it.
MB
More information about “Madame Clicquot: A Revolutionary Musical” can be found here.
