Posted at 6:00 am.
Every year, Jade Bruneau looks forward to the start of summer. This is the season when musical theater thrives in Quebec. “There’s a real enthusiasm for musical theater,” says the actress, who is a big fan of this form of theater. “And the audience is very loyal. There are people who come back two, three or four times to see a show. I remember a viewer telling me during the Belles Sœurs tour that she had seen the show 12 times! »
The director Serge Denoncourt has also tamed the “musicals”. At Just for Laughs he took over the direction of the summer musicals from Denise Filiatrault and Serge Postigo. Following the success of last year’s “Annie,” he is directing “Hair,” out June 16. “It’s another scenic beast to tame. It takes me completely out of my comfort zone at 60,” he says.
Although he directed Les choristes, his new passion remains the French adaptation of Anglo-Saxon musical comedies from London and New York. Doesn’t he fear the Americanization of Quebec culture by favoring these big names from the West End and Broadway? “No, stop it! At Duceppe we handle translations of American plays by Miller or O’Neill. At La Licorne we program English and Irish pieces… Hair or West Side Story are classics of the repertoire. It’s not about Americanizing our culture. »
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Serge Denoncourt during rehearsals for the musical Hair
According to Serge Denoncourt, in Quebec we do musical theater in our own way. “And we do it very well,” he adds. Luc Plamondon plays rock opera; René Richard Cyr, Musical Theatre [Les parapluies de Cherbourg, L’homme de la Mancha]. Before that, there was Michel Tremblay [Les héros de mon enfance, Demain matin, Montréal m’attend]. »
A new era
Patrick Rozon is proud of the summer musical tradition that began 20 years ago at Just for Laughs. “There is a market for this genre in Quebec. Year after year, 200,000 tickets for musicals from all producers are sold. “The musical is the overall spectacle with a very Wagnerian side,” he says, referring to the concept of the German composer’s total work of art.
PHOTO ALEXIS AUBIN, ARCHIVE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Patrick Rozon, Chief Creative Officer at Just for Laughs
In the near future, Juste pour rire’s Chief Creative Officer wants to develop a component to “original musical creation”.
In 2022 I have 14 projects for new musicals on my desk. I got zero before! Millennials want to act, write and compose for the theatre. I wouldn’t be surprised if our next Luc Plamondon arrives anytime soon.
Patrick Rozon, Chief Creative Officer of Just for Laughs
Just for Laughs will not stop producing Broadway-licensed shows. Big productions help financially riskier creations without artists being known to the public. “But we will develop a different business model for creation. We will go there in stages. With a platform like Zoofest you can present a musical in a room with 300 or 400 seats. And do co-productions with other theater companies, tours abroad. »
let the sun shine in
In a hall on Rue Parthenais, around twenty young men and girls, barefoot and with long hair, are demonstrating with placards. Slogans from May ’68 can be read: “Make love not war”, “Under the cobblestones, on the beach”… The scene is part of Hair, a “musical” symbolic of the Boomers and the “Peace and Love” -movement stands. . These artists include Sarah-Maude Desgagné, a singer from the Star Académie class of 2022; Éléonore Lagacé, winner of the Zénith show; Philippe Touzel, who we saw in The Melody of Happiness, Grease, Footloose and who is also making a career for himself in France.
hair in the test
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Numbers of the musical “Hair” were recently presented to the media.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Numbers of the musical “Hair” were recently presented to the media.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Numbers of the musical “Hair” were recently presented to the media.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Numbers of the musical “Hair” were recently presented to the media.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Numbers of the musical “Hair” were recently presented to the media.
1/5
This poster does not contain large stars. Producers are increasingly hiring artists with a musical theater background. So far we’ve only auditioned singers. “There is currently a great upswing in music theatre. The recent graduates have never worked so much in their field,” notes Geneviève Charest, who teaches singing in the musical theater program at the Collège Lionel-Groulx in Sainte-Thérèse.
“I think we were chosen for the right reasons. To bring truth to the musical,” says Philippe Touzel. His friend Félix Lahaye, who discovered musicals in high school, adds that musicals allow him to “do anything” and pursue all facets of his profession. The same story from Kevin Houle, performer and composer, who is also signing the music for Lili St-Cyr, a show to be performed in Kingsey Falls this summer.
We make music, we dance, we act and we tell a story in the same show. Don’t confuse the musical and the varieties. Or think they’re cheesy.
Kevin Houle, performer and composer
Finally recognition?
Actor Robert Marien has been fighting for recognition of musical theater in Quebec for 40 years. According to him, we must give ourselves the means and time to develop creation here. By investing in workshops, laboratories and research. “We have exaggerated expectations of our musicals,” he says. I experienced the difficult reception of Gala and Le Petit Roy. I remember the untimely end of I by Marc Drouin. “Remember that the author of Pied de Poule’s 1998 musical, which was very poorly received by critics and audiences alike, canceled its tour despite a $400,000 investment from the Quebec government.”
“If a show doesn’t work the first time, we get cautious,” Marien laments, while success comes only through trial and error. American musicals can go through eight or ten reruns before ending up on Broadway. Robert Marien would like to create a separate category for processing applications for music theater funding.
All creators and lovers of this form will tell you: the musical has always been caught between two chairs. Between variety and theatre. The actress Marie-Pierre de Brienne has applied for a grant for a music theater project by her new company. “My file didn’t fall into the right category,” she says. The employee asked me if I do theater or music. I answered him both… and with dance. He told me: “But you can’t do all three at the same time!” »
Comes at the end of the year
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESS ARCHIVE
Klara Martel-Laroche at the premiere of The Melody of Happiness at the St-Denis Theater last December.
To hate
Gerome Ragni and James Rado’s musical is directed by Serge Denoncourt and produced by Just for Laughs. At the Théâtre St-Denis from June 16; at the Salle Albert-Rousseau in Quebec City, starting December 12.
Lili St-Cyr
A musical creation about the scandalous life of the striptease queen in 1940s Montreal. Music: Kevin Houle. Directed by Benoit Landry. Choreography: Alex Francoeur. With, among others, Marie-Pier Labrecque, Lunou Zucchini, Kathleen Fortin. At the Kingsey Falls Theater, from June 30th.
The bodyguard
The stage adaptation of the popular film starring Whitney Houston, in a new version directed by Joël Legendre with choreography by Steve Bolton. From June 28th to August 13th at the Capitole in Quebec. Repeat at the Théâtre St-Denis from November 23rd to December 3rd.
The melody of happiness
The return of the famous von Trapp family, with 25 actors, in a production by Gregory Charles. From August 4th at the Albert Rousseau Hall in Quebec.
The Addams family
The new production of a classic of the genre by René Simard. From October 17, 2023 at the Espace St-Denis, then in December 2024 at the Salle Albert-Rousseau in Quebec City.
royal pub
A new “slightly punk” musical signed by Les Cowboys Fringants and created by Les 7 Fingers. Directed by Sebastien Soldevila. From November 22 at the Grand Théâtre de Québec. From December 6th to 23rd at the Théâtre Maisonneuve in Montreal.
Notre Dame de Paris
The success of Richard Cocciante and Luc Plamondon celebrates its 25th anniversary. From August 2nd to 10th at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts.
Hedwig and the angry thumb
Directed by Rene Richard Cyr. With Benoît McGinnis in the title role. On tour in Quebec, then back in Montreal from October 20th to 28th at the TNM.