Prepared with files provided by the Grand Theatre.
The lives and music of French songbird Edith Piaf and Hollywood leading lady Marlene Dietrich are set to dazzle London audiences when Piaf/Dietrich A Legendary Affair takes the stage at the Grand Theatre.
Audiences will experience all the glitz and glamour of mid-century fame in America, all the passion and tragedy of great love affairs, and an epic set list of beloved, powerful hit songs including “La vie en rose”, “Milord”, and “Lili Marlene” in this all-new production of Erin Shield’s adaptation, directed by Grand Theatre Artistic Director Rachel Peake.
(Pictured: Grand Theatre Artistic Director, Rachel Peake.)
“What I love about this story, told originally through the imaginations of German Daniel Große Boymann and Austrian Thomas Kahry, and adapted for our stage by the endlessly talented Canadian Erin Shields, is that it uses music, conflict, and language to transport us,” says Peake. “Prior to reading this play, I had no idea that these two icons even knew one another. They seem so different – Piaf wearing her heart on her sleeve and her pain in public, while Dietrich hid everything behind a mask of glamour. But friendship is funny that way, attraction is funny that way.”
(Director Rachel Peake talks about the production in this YouTube clip https://youtu.be/R5QLwpSGLes?si=XhucMcfqmXGBXIp4)
Marlene Dietrich was Hollywood’s femme fatale throughout the 30s and 40s, and the name on everyone’s lips. Edith Piaf, the French chanteuse, had soared to stardom in her home country and would soon intoxicate the rest of the world with her raw, powerful songs of love and longing.
The two women were born fifteen years and 1,000 kilometres apart and found their way to both fame and each other. By the time they met, Marlene had a string of leading roles and was one of the highest-paid talents in show business. A young Edith had been singing on the streets of Paris to support herself and had written the song that would make her famous, “La vie en rose.”
(Pictured: Deborah Hay as Edith Piaf and Terra C. MacLeod as Marlene Dietrich. Photo Credit: Mai Tilson.)
Their first meeting and the lifelong, tumultuous relationship that followed are the story that unfolds on stage. Audiences will be excited to see Londoner and notable Canadian theatre talent Deborah Hay, transformed into Edith Piaf and making a much-anticipated return to the Grand after her stand-out performances in Fall On Your Knees and Mary Poppins in previous seasons. Having dazzled the world from Broadway to the West End as Chicago’s Velma Kelly, Terra C. MacLeod steps into the top hat and tuxedo tails of the smouldering Marlene Dietrich in her Grand Theatre debut.
(Pictured: Karen Burthwright.)
The cast also features Karen Burthwright and Eric Craig, both with Broadway credits to their names. In fact, they have even performed together as members of the original Broadway cast of Tony Award-nominated Paradise Square. In Piaf/Dietrich, these two Canadian stars will play all of the men and women, lovers and hecklers, muses and rivals, who make up the worlds of the two showbiz legends.
(Pictured: Eric Craig.)
CREATIVE TEAM
Rachel Peake – Director
Mary Ancheta – Music Director
Genny Sermonia – Choreographer
Lorenzo Savoini – Set Designer
Ming Wong – Costume Designer
Michelle Ramsay – Lighting Designer
Emily Porter – Sound Designer
Nicole Wilson – Assistant Director
Siobhan Richardson – Intimacy Director
Phyllis Cohen – Dialect Coach
Suzanne McArthur – Stage Manager
Melissa Cameron – Assistant Stage Manager
Gina Woodward – Apprentice Stage Manager
CAST
Karen Burthwright – Supporting Female
Eric Craig – Supporting Male
Deborah Hay – Edith Piaf
Terra C. MacLeod – Marlene Dietrich
Orchestra
Mary Ancheta – Conductor / Keyboard
Erik Larson – Bass
Céline Murray – Violin
Dave Robilliard – Drums.
IF YOU GO:
What: Piaf/Dietrich A Legendary Affair. By Daniel Große Boymann and Thomas Kahry. Adapted by Erin Shields from a translation by Sam Madwar.
When: February 17 to March 7, 2026.
Where: Spriet Stage at the Grand Theatre, 471 Richmond St.
London, ON.
Tickets: Single tickets range from $25 to $97 and are available in-person at the Box Office, by phone at (519) 672-8800, and online at https://www.grandtheatre.com/event/piaf-dietrich.
To learn more about the Grand Theatre, visit https://www.grandtheatre.com/
Follow the Grand on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheGrandLondon and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thegrandlondon/
The Beat Magazine 2025 