INFORMATION ABOUT LE FIGARO – The actor had to sing Barbara at the Antea Theater. Burdened by his friendship with Vladimir Putin, he chose to postpone his recital in May, hoping for an end to the war.
In Antibes, near Nice, Gerard Depardieu will not sing Barbara, as planned in Antea on Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5. In this theater, which has attracted crowds of regular visitors from San Remo to Toulon since its opening in 2013, the actor is guaranteed to play in front of sold-out crowds this weekend. But he chose to postpone his visit until the end of May. Hoping that by then the situation in Ukraine with the Russian invasion has calmed down.
Read also Gerard Depardieu condemns “fratricidal war” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
“We’ve been talking on the phone for six days,” said Daniel Benoin, director of Anthéa. I like Gerard very much and we thought that in this difficult moment it is better to postpone. At a time when Vladimir Putin is carrying out heavy attacks on Kyiv and Ukraine, this has not been auspicious. If the prefect does not report potential security concerns or public nuisances outside the theater, the director of Anthéa saw, like everyone else, the photo posted a few days ago by Gerard Depardieu on his Instagram account. A snapshot of him embracing Vladimir Putin with the caption “Friendship.”
“Friendship.” A few days before the Russian invasion, Gerard Depardieu showed his support for Vladimir Putin by posting a photo on social media of him kissing the Russian president. Post that was then removed. DR
Gerard and I thought about everything that could happen. A spectator who gets up between two songs speaks loudly and interferes with the show, for example. That would ruin this great spectacle.
Daniel Benoit, director of Antea d’Antibes
Daniel Benoit also carefully read an interview given by Gerard Depardieu to the Journal du Dimanche in late February, in which the actor threatened to hand over his French passport. Depardieu has had dual citizenship since Vladimir Putin gave him a Russian passport in 2013. Since then, the actor has removed the famous photo from his account and said he was against a war he described as “fratricide”. “Gerard and I thought about everything that could happen,” said Daniel Benoit. A spectator who gets up between two songs speaks loudly and interferes with the show, for example. That would ruin this great spectacle. I discovered it in 2017 when I played it at the Monaco Opera. There was no one in the room, and he had to cancel one of the two scheduled performances. I was upset to the point of crying. Since Gerard Depardieu came to play this show in Anthea four times between 2018 and 2019.
However, if the performances in Nice are postponed, Gerard Depardieu will have to give his recital in Paris, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on April 1, 2 and 3. Ticket sales on the theater’s website are no longer possible, but it is still possible on a waiting list. At the same time, the leadership of the prestigious Paris Hall has just announced that it is violating its commitments to Russian artists who were too close to the Kremlin, such as conductor Valery Gergiev, a close friend of Vladimir Putin.
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