After training at the Bristol Old Vic School in England, Gay Marshall began her career at the Cleveland Playhouse, and soon after, made her Broadway debut in the featured role of Diana Morales in A Chorus Line. Her one woman show Piaf : La Vie l’Amour premiered at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival to sold out houses, and took her to Paris where she played Grizabella in the original French production of Cats. Living in France inspired her to write a comedy titled If I Were Me which the Daily Express voted #2 on the Fringe at 
the Edinburgh Festival and brought her back to New York to play Denise in a revival of The Baker’s Wife. A year Off Broadway in Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well… garnered Marshall a nomination for the New York Drama League’s “Distinguished Performance Award”. Her recording, Gay Marshall Sings Piaf, hit the Billboard charts as a hot shot debut. Back On Boogie Street – the Songs of Leonard Cohen, her latest album, has just won her the 2022 Bistro Award for Outstanding recording.
Gay Marshall will perform Back on Boogie Street at Pangea for three performances. Click here for more information.
NiteLife Exchange (NLE) asks Gay Marshall (GM) Six Questions:
NLE: Your latest CD, and upcoming show at Pangea, is entitled Back on Boogie Street— Songs of Leonard Cohen. What attracted you to his work?
GM: I was knocked out by a song a friend of mine sang, and when I found out it was written by Leonard Cohen I thought, “Why have I never been interested in this man’s music?” He’s a poetic force to be reckoned with, and the variety of the melodies and moods in his compositions is amazing.
NLE: As a Cohen interpreter, what’s important about the Cohen catalog? Is there a message you wish to especially convey by presenting chosen songs from his body of work?
GM: Well, I always had this impression of him as being depressing—just doom, gloom and so forth. And I had heard that same description from quite a few people. So when I became enchanted and actually quite obsessed with his music and poetry, I wanted to do a show that might move other people the way I had been moved by all I discovered; I wanted to reveal the depth and breadth of his musical mastery by choosing songs ranging from the beginning to the end of his career, and also shine a light on his humorous side—the guy was FUNNY. 
NLE: You’re the winner of a 2022 Bistro Award for the recording of Back on Boogie Street. What does this honor mean to you?
GM: It’s HUGE. I feel so extraordinarily lucky and grateful to receive this accolade. It’s an enormous privilege and a gigantic surprise! Back On Boogie Street launched about two weeks before we got locked down, so we were pretty grim these last two long years feeling that all that work had been for nothing. Then, out of the blue, I get an email from Sherry Eaker, the producer of the Bistro Awards, announcing the record was to be honored this year and it brought me back to life. That other artists whom you admire and respect appreciate your work is unbelievably humbling and gratifying. Plus, it’s brought me back to New York and performing at Pangea! AND it’s reunited me with the incredibly gifted Ross Patterson who made this record possible—not only by his divine playing, but with his gorgeous arrangements and musical direction in the studio. This award and album would never have happened without him.
NLE: Earlier, you’d focused on the life and work of Edith Piaf, via shows and recordings. Are there still new treasures to be found in a further exploration of Piaf—or have you achieved what you wished with her?
GM: I will always love performing Piaf. I never get tired of the songs. I’ve loved laboring over certain translations/adaptations I’ve done and there are still more I’d love to do.
NLE: You live in Paris. What was the view from there into the US during the pandemic lockdown? What were your observations?
And do these extend into our current political situation?
GM: So much has already been said about the pandemic and the current political situation and I really don’t feel like I have any pertinent observations to add. I just want to move forward.
NLE: What will you set your sights on next in terms of creating a show or mounting a recording?
GM: A while ago I did a recording of old blues and jazz called Go Back Where You Stayed Last Night, which was inspired by many Ethel Waters tunes from the 1920s and 30s and I’d like to do a volume two. Also, I miss the theatre; I really want to do a play soon. Plus, I love to write and who knows, I may come up with a memoir type book, but at the moment I’m in a Leonard Cohen state of mind. and can’t wait for the shows I’m doing at Pangea at the end of the month and the first weekend of June!
