'Gay Marshall Sings Piaf, La Vie L'Amour' Makes A Surprise Debut On Billboard's World Album Chart

New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Savoy Communications) - Independent artist, Broadway singer/actress Gay Marshall woke up on vacation in Biarritz on Jan. 6 to find an email from Billboard Magazine, informing her that her CD, 'Gay Marshall Sings Piaf, La Vie l'Amour,' was about to list on their World Album Chart as a No 12 Hot Shot Debut (2010-01-16). 'I was totally blown away! I knew CDBaby was moving a lot of my albums and I was thrilled enough knowing people were listening to my music. I never expected to hit the CHARTS!'

After a December 5th interview with Scott Simon on NPR, interest in her album heated up. Marshall described her original take on the material and the woman, and tapped into the public's enduring fascination with Edith Piaf. 'I disagree that Piaf is about gloom and doom - she's much more magic than tragic. I love these songs because they're timeless human stories that spring from the heart and hit you where you live.' Marshall is a vivacious powerhouse of heartwarming and heartbreaking emotion, without a hint of imitation on the 19-track collection of well known and rare music from Piaf's dramatic repertoire. Many selections were adapted by Marshall into English, and were arranged by her and Paul Bevan to give them an intimate, more modern feel. "Marshall offers up gorgeous renditions of Edith Piaf's classic songs, newly realized," wrote Brad Bush, Music Editor for CDBaby, "sure to evoke the essences of Paris, romance, heartbreak and joy."

Marshall dreamed of recording these songs ever since she wrote and performed her one woman show about the singer, but life took her in other directions. She took a break from playing Diana Morales in "A Chorus Line" on Broadway to research Piaf in Paris; while there, she fell in love with photographer Jean Louis Blondeau (Man On Wire) and stayed, working on the stage in French and English. She created 'Grizabella' in the French production of "Cats," and played many other roles in classical and legit theater. Living in Paris inspired her to write a comic one-woman show called 'If I Were Me...,' voted No 2 on the Fringe by the Daily Express at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. That eventually led to several roles stateside. While performing in the recent Off-Broadway revival of "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well�," she decided it was time to sing Piaf again and make the dream real.

"Gay Marshall Sings Piaf, La Vie l'Amour," was released independently by Marshall, who will be performing at The Metropolitan Room in New York City on February 18, 25 and March 4 and 11, 2010. Time Out New York, who put Gay on their 2009 Top Ten Best Music list wrote, 'It takes a brave singer to take on the Edith Piaf songbook; it takes a special one to pull it off so heart-piercingly.'