At 63 and about to celebrate the 20e year of issue Belle and Bum, Normand Brathwaite is far from thinking about retirement. The one who will be back on the stage this summer wants to continue his life mission for a long time: to offer a platform to new and lesser-known artists.
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Normand Brathwaite would never have believed, 20 years ago, that the show Beautiful and Bum would still be on the air two decades later. However, the 20e the show’s season has been confirmed; its broadcast is scheduled for September 2022.
“I have no intention of stopping, says the host and comedian, that The newspaper met during rehearsals for the play Sainte-Marie-la-Mauderne. We may change the form, but I think it’s something important. If there’s a sequel to this, when it’s over, I’d love to be a part of it. I just don’t know how yet.”
In any case, Normand Brathwaite insists: he intends to continue to participate in programs and musical projects for as long as possible. After participating in a podcast with Mike Ward and Denis Drolet, the host had an idea: to imagine and present his own podcast. This program would bring together a small music group and musician friends, and its purpose would be similar to that of Beautiful and Bum : shedding light on artists that we don’t hear elsewhere. All through a concept offering more freedom in terms of opinions and program duration.
However, the facilitator wants to focus first on the next year – the 20e! – of Beautiful and Bum. It is not impossible that it is the show’s director who is working with him on his podcast project.
“I’m working on it,” he confirms. I want to spend my time on the content, without being the producer. In fact, I want to arrive 5 minutes and, half an hour after starting, have a glass of white in front of me. There, I will be a happy man, in the company of my musician friends (laughs).
Back to the theater
We can thank singer-songwriter Michel Rivard, a longtime friend of Normand Brathwaite, for having convinced him to return to the stage of the Gilles-Vigneault Theater in Saint-Jérôme this summer. In the room Sainte-Marie-la-Mauderne, based on the film script The Great Seduction, Written by Kent Scott, Brathwaite stars as Yvon Brunet, the grumpy best friend of Mayor Germain Lesage (Michel Rivard). It is the actor Fayolle Jean Jr who will interpret the famous Doctor.
“Michel Rivard is a songwriter, which I am not, but I have always rubbed on the edge of music and Michel has always rubbed on the edge of theatre, he says. We met several times at the LNI, but we never played together anywhere other than the LNI. Finally it happens!”
Admitting to being of a worried nature when he goes on stage – despite all the years of experience – he asked the opinion of several people around him before accepting the role.
“Finally, it’s like riding a bicycle, launches the one who was initially anxious, as he had not done theater for a long time. I’m quite nervous on stage, but nervous for everything: galas, everything. It’s getting worse and worse actually, but in the theater at least you’re not alone. Theater is like going camping with a gang.”
►The room Sainte-Marie-la-Mauderne will be presented at the Gilles-Vigneault Theater in Saint-Jérôme from June 23 to August 13, 2022. Information and tickets: theatregillesvigneault.com