and personal with the audience as some of the other venues she has played in the past. Which begs the question: Does this torch singer prefer being able to see the whites of her audiences eyes in an intimate venue, or just looking out into the blackness knowing they are there in a large theatre. “That’s a very good question,” she ponders. “I mean they’re both very different. I’d like to think that I’ve polished the show [so] that it feels very intimate no matter where you are seeing it. The thing is you’re very vulnerable up there. You’re putting yourself out there, and it’s a lonely place to be up there on a stage on your own. There is something of a luxury at looking out at a sea of blackness but knowing that the audience is there. I think it’s much more difficult to perform in intimate venues, but on the other hand I love that intimacy. They both have their merits,” she says diplomatically. Piaf has a huge gay following, like so many tragic divas, but Christine admits that it’s something she probably doesn’t tap into enough saying:
during her run in the Olympia, and she couldn’t be happier. “Irish audiences have always really taken to the show,” she exclaims. “It’s astonishing. And I have family in Dublin and they’re all coming along. It’s such a great venue so it’s really exciting, and I hope it goes down as well there as everywhere else.” Christine Bovill’s Piaf plays in Dublin’s Olympia Theatre, from 9-14 November, with tickets from €28.90 http://www.christinebovill.com
“This is very much my story intertwined with her songs...”
“I never really think of it. It’s not something I have consciously gone after. I know that Piaf does have a large following in the gay community so maybe I should focus on that a bit more,” she ponders. Outside of Piaf, Bovill has released two of her own albums, The Sentence That I Serve, and Derby Street, and is an award-winning songwriter – something which she admits came about because of her Piaf show. However, next year might see her merge the two parts of her musical personality as she revealed: “I’m in talks with a management company in London and they are looking at putting together a tour next year where I’d get to do my stuff and the Piaf stuff in the same show in [a] West End show. Kind of an introducing Christine Bovill thing” Exciting times indeed for Christine. But in the meantime, she is set to entertain audiences
Christine Bovill EILE Magazine 33