Six singers from the 7 Doigts troupe who take over the choir Of a sadnessthis is something you have to understand. The newspaper attended a rehearsal of the musical on Friday Royal Pub, about the world of Cowboys Fringants. The show is expected to be as festive as possible, like the concerts of the Repentigny group.
“I have a feeling some nights there will be dancing and clapping. In this type of anti-musical comedy, the actors sometimes address the audience. There will be a special atmosphere.”
Christian Laporte (Yves), Émilie Josset (Loulou Lapierre), Martin Giroux (Johnny), Alexia Gourd (La Catherine), Kevin Houle (Siriso), Yvan Pedneault (Normand). The team behind the Pub Royal show that reimagines the world of Cowboys Fringants. Montreal, November 3, 2023. Photo Pierre-Paul Poulin
At the 7 Doigts studios, Cowboys Fringants lyricist Jean-François Pauzé was very impressed by the little performance that the Pub Royal singers had just given there. The troupe performed a brand new song, Bienvenue chez nous, which will open the show. And the previously mentioned “Of a sadness” took on an additional dimension thanks to the polyphony.
“I think she’s really good,” says Jean-François. You are extraordinary. The song Of a sadness, I convince myself that it was written for a musical. It works so well.”
Jean-François Pauzé laughs that his Cowboys buddy, singer Karl Tremblay, had already told him that the group’s songs would fit very well into a musical.
“We thought we could do a country opera and call it Gina or the name of one of our recurring characters. It was at the time of Notre-Dame-de-Paris and we said to ourselves that we would do something trashier. But hey, it’s nipped in the bud like most of our side projects!”
Pierre-Paul Poulin / Le Journal de Montréal / Agence QMI
Twenty artists on stage
Years later, the musical finally saw the light of day thanks to the collaboration with Les 7 Doigts. During the pandemic, Pub Royal began to take shape. The director, Sébastien Soldevila, listened to the entire Cowboys catalog – which includes more than 150 songs! – before you make your first selection.
“In the first selection I had 44 songs,” he says. Then we dropped to about twenty. What changed things was when Jean-François offered to write new songs. This allowed me to make connections between the songs and write a guideline. It’s like a play. There is a story.
In Pub Royal we find a man, played by Richard Charest (Jonathan Doyé), who accidentally ends up in a bar. Kevin Houle plays the bar manager Siriso. The other characters are played by Yvan Pedneault (Normand), Martin Giroux (Johnny), Émilie Josset (Loulou Lapierre), Alexia Gourd (La Catherine) and Christian Laporte (Yves).
“There is a character that we created specifically for one of the songs,” says Sébastien Soldevila. This song is, in my opinion, one of the best songs ever written by the Cowboys.”
The director held auditions to select the singers. “We were looking for different timbres, different voices. We are really proud of the work done. It was a challenge for her because Karl Tremblay’s voice is not nothing. It is also part of the collective unconscious. Everyone has it on their minds. We can’t distort it, but we can’t go completely to the other side either.”
The rest of the cast consists of six circus performers and seven dancers, making a total of 20 performers on stage.
In April in Paris
For Jean-François Pauzé, this new project comes at the right time for the Cowboys, who are currently on a concert break due to Karl Tremblay’s health (see other text).
“It definitely comes at the right time. I think that all the Quebecers who supported us were all moved. I think this show might be an opportunity to come over and have some fun.”
In addition to the Quebec and Montreal show series, Pub Royal will be presented in Trois-Rivières (May 29-June 1, 2024) and Sherbrooke (October 4-5, 2024).
The troupe will also play at the Grand Rex in Paris in April 2024, announces Sébastien Soldevila. “With the postponement of concerts [des Cowboys en Europe]what is interesting [pour les fans là-bas]is to have an option. I know a lot of people who told me they were going to Paris to see the show.”
The show Royal Pub will be presented in Quebec (from November 22nd), Montreal (from December 6th). For all dates: pubroyal.ca
“Karl is holding out”
The Cowboys Fringants recently announced that they would be postponing their European tour planned for this fall by a year. The musicians gave singer Karl Tremblay time to rest well between his chemotherapy treatments.
“Karl really wanted to keep doing shows this summer,” says Jean-François. But at some point we said to him: Do you need this? Take time to relax. This could be the best decision. […] Karl dealt a serious blow this summer. He was fragile. Despite his condition, we still played at about ten festivals.”
Among these concerts, the one at the Quebec Summer Festival will go down in history. Due to the weather, the show was initially canceled, but was postponed at the last minute a few days later. And the emotion was there.
“It was historic,” says Jean-François. Before the show, we arranged with our technicians to have a teleprompter in case Karl had to sit down and I had to sing a song or two with the audience. He was more tired at this point. It was no surprise to us that he sat down for a bit. The public saw this more dramatically than we did. But we expected it to happen. Karl is a very proud guy and he didn’t want to show any signs of weakness. It was an anthology show. It was emotional. It was very cool.”
How is Karl Tremblay, who celebrated his 47th birthday a few days ago, doing today? “He goes as he goes,” replies Jean-François. Some days are better than others. It depends on the day, these are difficult treatments. But he perseveres. We watch hockey, we have fun.”
Photos of Karl Tremblay recording songs at home recently circulated. Jean-François Pauzé confirms that a new Cowboys album will be released this winter, which will include the five new songs written for the Pub Royal show.
“The album is almost completely recorded. We have maybe three or four days ahead of us. Karl took over all the votes. The background vocals remain [chœurs] make, and small instrumental adjustments.”