What a great idea to have given a large place to music in the theatrical adaptation of the film Gas Bar Blues. An idea that allows this work to have a new life and its own identity.
On view at La Bordée until March 25, Gas Bar Blues is a candy. The essential moments of Louis Bélanger’s feature film are present, as are the characters who are all tasty.
Gas Bar Blues, is the story of a small service station that struggles and faces the arrival of modernity and self-service. A Gaz Bar run by “the Boss”, François Brochu, suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
His sons, Réjean and Guy, give him a hand, but they have other, more artistic interests. His daughter, Danielle, would like to take over, but her father does not want to see her plunge into this universe and experience a life of misery. A character that we did not find in the feature film.
Around this Gaz Bar, we find a fauna, made up of tasty characters who chat about everything and nothing. The place is a kind of headquarters.
lots of music
On stage, there is a small garage section, with a neon sign, guitars, drums, keyboard and hubcaps that become percussion.
The adaptation is launched with a big musical introduction featuring Miryam Amrouche, Frédéric Lemay, Steven-Lee Potvin, Claude Despins, Bertrand Alain, Hubert Lemire, Jean-François Poulin and Francis La Haye, who make up almost the entire cast. It sounds like a real band. They are very cool.
Only Martin Drainville, “the Boss”, does not play instruments. He compensates with a great performance with quality play, full of fragility and with a lot of humanity. You can feel the love he has for his children.
All the other actors, without exception, are excellent. Frédéric Lemay in that of the Réjean son, who recounts his trip to Germany, and who makes his bass vibrate to show his emotions.
“Tee up… Guy?” »
Steven-Lee Potvin handles the harmonica in a beautiful way and plays the carelessness of his character as a musician. Claude Despins is very amusing in the role of Gaston Savard.
We laugh when we relive the “Té d’bout… Guy?” recited by François Brochu to wake up his son. Hubert Lemire does the All Shook Up of Elvis and Francis The Hague reveals a hilarious inspector.
The theatrical adaptation of David Laurin is totally tasty. We laugh and we are also moved. The staging by Edith Patenaude is successful. The numerous musical insertions are sometimes inventive and above all appropriate. It’s a very big “wow” to see this feature film revive a few kilometers from where this gas station once existed.