Reviewed by Charlotte MacDonald
(Pictured: Deborah Hay as Edith Piaf and Terra C. MacLeod as Marlene Dietrich. Photo: Dahlia Katz.)
Two singers born fifteen years and 1,000 kilometres apart walk into the same dressing room in New York. The result? A friendship that transcends history.
Set in 1948, in the glittering post-war world of New York’s international stage, The Grand Theatre’s Production of Piaf/Dietrich follows the unlikely and enduring friendship that formed between French chanteuse Édith Piaf and German screen legend Marlene Dietrich.
While the glamour and star power of Hollywood’s golden era tend to fascinate many, Piaf/Dietrich pulls back the velvet curtain and invites the audience backstage to discover who these legendary women were when the spotlight faded.
The performance opens with Marlene Dietrich, played by Terra C. MacLeod, back in Germany for the first time in 30 years after resisting Hitler and his regime, preparing for a show in her dressing room. Sixty kilometres away, Édith Piaf, played by Deborah Hay, is also preparing for a performance of her own. When each woman’s name is mentioned to the other, it quickly becomes clear that something between them has gone sour as both wince at the mere sound of the other’s name.
As they step onto their respective stages, only a few towns apart, they both begin to sing La Vie en Rose. Édith performs drunkenly while Marlene faces hecklers, and both begin to falter. This parallel performance signals a palpable link connecting the two women’s lives, leaving the audience to wonder: what happened?
(Pictured: Deborah Hay as Edith Piaf. Photo: Dahlia Katz.)
Before we find out, the story takes us back to the beginning.
Originally titled Spatz und Engel (The Angel and the Sparrow), the show was co-written by German author and director Daniel Große Boymann and Austrian playwright Thomas Kahry. It premiered in Vienna in 2013, where it ran for six seasons before touring Germany, Switzerland, and Czechoslovakia. The production was later translated by Sam Madwar and adapted by Canadian playwright Erin Shields.
After the story jumped back in time through a seamless transition, the stark contrast in Hay’s performance as Piaf is immediately striking. The fragile, exhausted singer struggling through her performance transforms into a youthful, giddy young woman, still untouched by fame. This younger Edith feels worlds away from the woman we saw only moments earlier, demonstrating Hay’s range and setting the stage for the story that will eventually bring us back to that moment.
When Marlene returns to the stage, singing “Boys in the Backroom,” Edith remains in the background, starstruck, listening to the song on the radio. MacLeod’s portrayal of Marlene is strong, confident and charming, moving through her numbers with a kind of grace and ease that only a seasoned entertainer could. This layered approach to staging and dialogue continues throughout the production, creating a sense of immersion that felt almost cinematic.
(Pictured: Terra C. MacLeod as Marlene Dietrich. Photo: Dahlia Katz.)
The atmosphere throughout the show was further supported by lines of marquee lights framing the set and a live band in suits positioned on either side of the stage, reminiscent of a vintage cabaret. This constant presence on stage suggested that even in moments away from performing, that world lingered in the background, inseparable from who these women were.
One of the most naturally compelling elements of this story is the instant and profound bond that is formed between the two protagonists, despite how differently they appear in the world. Marlene is glamorous, poised and relentlessly professional, carrying a quiet sadness she would never let anyone see, whereas Édith is unapologetically emotional, sometimes volatile and blessed with a fiery passion capable of setting any stage ablaze.
“Often, we are drawn by our own admiration of that which we ourselves are not. It is in this mix that our story emerges,” says the show’s director and The Grand’s artistic director, Rachel Peake.
(Pictured: Rachel Peake, director of Piaf/Dietrich, and Grand Theatre Artistic Director.)
Beneath the glamour of show business that surrounds this production is a story unafraid to confront the difficult moments that shaped these women’s lives. Exploring real themes of substance abuse, regret, fear, and loss, the narrative moves beyond entertainment into something unmistakably intimate.
For any theatre lover, and sometimes even for those who are not, finding yourself suddenly brimming with emotion at the simplest of moments is hardly unfamiliar. A twinkle in a chanteuse’s eye as she looks out at a devoted audience, or an actor’s moment of complete surrender to their character, can be enough to crack open even the most tightly guarded heart.
In Piaf/Dietrich, the performers did more than simply act with raw intensity; they seemed to fully embody their characters, connecting with the untouchable age of days gone by, dazzling the audience into misty-eyed awe as the performance unfolded before them.
(Pictured: Deborah Hay as Edith Piaf and Terra C. MacLeod as Marlene Dietrich. Photo: Dahlia Katz.)
At one point in the performance, as Hay was singing Mon Dieu, I closed my eyes and pretended Édith Piaf herself had been reincarnated and was serenading me. As it turns out, the man sitting beside me had done the same thing. While Édith Piaf may live only in old vinyl records and Spotify playlists, it felt like a privilege to come as close as this to hearing her alive again.
So, if you’re still wondering how I felt about going to see Piaf/Dietrich at The Grand Theatre, in the words of French chanteuse Édith Piaf — Non, je ne regrette rien.
IF YOU GO:
What: The Grand Theatre presents Piaf/Dietrich: A Legendary Affair.
When: February 17 – March 7, 2026.
March 4, 2026 | 1:00pm
March 4, 2026 | 7:30pm
March 5, 2026 | 7:30pm
March 6, 2026 | 8:00pm
March 7, 2026 | 2:00pm
March 7, 2026 | 8:00pm
Where: Grand Theatre, 471 Richmond Street, London, ON.
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased online at grandtheatre.com, by phoning the Box Office at 519.672.8800, or by visiting the Box Office in person at 471 Richmond Street (weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.).
Reviewed by Charlotte MacDonald
Charlotte MacDonald is a Creative Writing and History student at Western University. She currently writes about theatre, pop culture, and campus life for The Western Gazette, works as a Digital Intern at The Walrus, and hosts a radio show at Radio Western. Growing up in Toronto, theatre has always been a staple part of Charlotte’s life, and she has come to greatly enjoy engaging and contributing to the theatre community through her writing.
The Beat Magazine 2025 