No regrets for Bridgnorth showwoman as she brings Edith Piaf to town

Sally Jones has performed as Edith Piaf in Leicester Square and taken the show about the internationally-acclaimed vocalist across the ocean on luxury cruise liners.

Now the showwoman, who moved to Bridgnorth around three years ago, is bringing her West End show 'Piaf - the life, story and songs of Edith Piaf' to Castle Hall in Bridgnorth's High Town this autumn - all to raise money for Severn Hospice.

She said: "My husband and I moved to Bridgnorth around three years ago and have fallen in love with the town completely.

"We were at a show at Bridgnorth Town Hall and I said it would be a lovely venue for my Edith Piaf show, which I hadn't performed since Covid. Piaf died on October 10, 1963, so this year will be the 60th anniversary of her death. I’d been thinking for quite a few months that I’d like to do something to commemorate this date.

"However, Bridgnorth Town Council said it would be difficult to put on at the Town Hall as there was no stage so they recommended Castle Hall."

She added that while she is more used to performing in West End theatres and leading venues around the globe, all takings from the Bridgnorth show will go "100 per cent" to charity.

"I happened to be listening to radio about how hospices were struggling and as somebody we know has a father about to go into one it made total sense to do it for Severn Hospice," said Sally, who made her theatrical debut at the age of five in a revival of the Sound Of Music.

She said her show on October 14 is not a tribute to the legendary French superstar but a "salute".

"I never try to do an impersonation of Edith Piaf," said Sally. "Nobody has ever sounded like her or ever will, so I don't attempt to impersonate her. I'm paying a salute to her rather than a tribute.

"But I have been obsessed with Edith Piaf since I was 11. My mother and grandmother were huge fans of hers.

"She was an inspiration for so many people as she lived the most tragic life. But she was the most determined person as l she wanted to do was perform and fall in love."

Piaf, famous for the song "Non, je ne regrette rien (No Regrets)", died at the age of 47 and suffered numerous tragedies in her life, including being abandoned as a child and the death of her daughter, aged just two.

Sally Jones's 'Piaf' is on at Castle Hall on October 14 at 7.30pm.

Tickets are available at ticketsource.co.uk/sally-jones for £15 and will also shortly be available from Tanners Wine Shop on Bridgnorth High Street.

All proceeds will be going to Severn Hospices.