After he’s walked his show music man After touring English Canada for almost a decade, Gregory Charles will land on Quebec soil for the first time this week. And beware: it’s the spectators who hold the reins of the evening in their hands… from the end of their smartphones.
Of course we always expect to see Gregory Charles improvising on stage when we buy a ticket to see him perform. Of course. In fact, we hope so, because his ability to grab the ball as it bounces and takes us into unusual and interactive musical sequences is legendary.
But with Music Man, it’s without the slightest net that he launches night after night. The program for these shows? Gregory Charles is totally unaware of its contents as he takes his place behind the piano. Because all the titles delivered on stage – around forty per performance on average – he draws from special requests that are sent in real time by the people in the room.
Interactive platform
How? All you have to do is connect to the event’s virtual platform and interact directly with Gregory Charles and his gang. This requires impressive head gymnastics from the singer and musician. But the game is worth the candle as it allows him to keep his finger on the pulse of the public throughout the show.
“I do many things at the same time; I make music, I sing songs, and I read what people write to me as they walk. You never know where the evening will take you. And that’s what gives moments of grace every night,” Gregory Charles said in an interview with the Journal.
And it is precisely for these “moments of grace” that he continues to chain projects of the genre. For him, the adrenaline and the joy on stage are comparable to the enthusiasm that skydivers, for example, feel – and seek.
“I don’t improvise out of presumption; It’s a thrill quest, strong feeling like extreme sports,” he affirms.
“The Best Singer”
This musical “extreme sport” is not practiced solo, but in a group. In addition to the accompaniment of his musicians, Gregory Charles is accompanied every evening by his accomplice Kim Richardson. Or, in her own words, “the best singer [qu’il] knowledge”.
“I live moments of prostration, moments of thanking heaven for creating Kim Richardson. This woman can sing anything. We have a great bond and what happens between us and the musicians every night… it’s exhilarating,” explains Gregory Charles.
The show music man will be performed at the Théâtre du Casino du Lac-Leamy in Gatineau on February 9th and 10th.