College musicals are often noted as mediocre productions. Praise for such musicals often come with an asterisk, that denotes a successful performance, considering it was run by students.

The Theater and Dance Department’s production of “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris” hardly deserves to be noted simply as a student play. It is anything but amateurish. The costumes, singing and choreography all bear an air of professionalism unusual in student theater.

Employing a technique used in last semester’s Generic Theatre production of “Cabaret,” the audience can sit at small tables close to the set, drawing them further into the theatrical experience and creating an effective ambience.

Directed by Leslie Jacobson, “Jacques Brel” is composed of 26 musical acts, each narrating a separate story, with an emphasis on love and reminiscing. Both men and women lament failed loves and berate the opposite sex. Men claim women are evil, and vice versa, but “Jacques Brel” never takes sides.

“Jacques Brel” does not tell a specific story. In fact, it is largely without what could be considered to be a cohesive plot – which does not take away from the musical. Each song and each scene works to convey certain emotions and feelings. The show is really about learning to understand and accept the world in which we live. And it works – not as a revue but a conglomeration of many separate thoughts and emotions. The entire cast does an impressive job of conveying the varied feelings of their characters. After watching the performance one is left reeling with thought and emotion.

“Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris” bears the name of its original writer. Jacques Brel was a French musician of some repute. This play marked one of his greatest successes in the United States, playing in New York for a number of years. It was performed more than 1,800 times before the end of its original run. The show underwent two New York revivals and was also adapted for film. Jacques Brel himself died of cancer in the late ’80s, but his legacy is continued by the success of this seminal work

Although the musical pieces are long and without an intermission, each song tells a different story. This turns the full work into a series of cabaret-style songs, keeping the audience’s attention through variety in subjects and stories. As soon as characters in one song seduce the audience, another group comes along to enchant the audience. Only one character, Jacques Brel, remains on stage throughout the musical. Brel links together all songs to form one musical.

Despite its long-winded performances, “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris” offers students a getaway from stress of the final days of classes. The musical’s sharp costumes and lighting helps draw the audience away from everyday life and into the world of Paris, where everyone is singing and everything is swell.

Jacques Brel plays Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Dorothy Marvin Betts Theatre