Cultural summer | The New Golden Age of Musicals

Hate, Lili St-Cyr, The Bodyguard, The melody of happiness… The musical has the wind in its sails in Quebec! We will be able to take full measure of it this summer, since a dozen productions will hit theaters in the province by the end of the year. The Press took advantage of this revival to talk to artists passionate about musical theatre.

Every year, Jade Bruneau looks forward to the start of summer. This is the season when musical theater flourishes in Quebec. “There is a real enthusiasm for musical theater shows,” says the actress, a great fan of this theatrical form. “And the public is very loyal. There are people who come back two, three or four times to see a show. During the tour of sisters-in-lawI remember a spectator who told me that she had seen the show 12 times! »

The director Serge Denoncourt has also tamed the “musicals”. At Just for Laughs, he took over from Denise Filiatrault and Serge Postigo at the helm of summer musicals. After the success ofAnne last year, he directed Hate, on view June 16. “It’s another scenic beast to tame. It completely takes me out of my comfort zone at 60,” he says.

Although he staged The chorists, 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 that! At Duceppe, we edit translations of American plays by Miller or O’Neill. At La Licorne, we program English and Irish plays… Hate Or West Side Story are classics of the repertoire. It’s not about Americanizing our culture. »

According to Serge Denoncourt, in Quebec we do musical theater in our own way. “And we do it very well,” he adds. Luc Plamondon does rock opera; René Richard Cyr, of musical theater [Les parapluies de Cherbourg, L’homme de la Mancha]. Before, there was Michel Tremblay [Les héros de mon enfance, Demain matin, Montréal m’attend]. »

A new era

Patrick Rozon is proud of the summer tradition of musicals, which began 20 years ago at Just for Laughs. “There is a market for the genre in Quebec. Year after year, 200,000 tickets are sold to see musicals, all producers combined. The musical is the total spectacle, with a very Wagnerian side,” he says, referring to the concept of the German composer’s total work of art.

In the near future, the Chief Creative Officer of Juste pour rire wishes to develop an “original musical creation” component.

Just for Laughs will not stop producing shows with Broadway licenses. Big productions help riskier creations financially, without artists known to the public. “But we are going to build a different business model for creation. We’re going to 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 in

In a hall on rue Parthenais, around twenty young guys and girls, barefoot and with long hair, demonstrate with placards. You can read slogans from May 68: “Make love not war”, “Under the cobblestones, the beach”… The scene is part of Hate, a “musical” emblematic of the boomers and the “peace and love” movement. Among these performers, there is Sarah-Maude Desgagné, a singer from the 2022 vintage of Star Academy ; Éléonore Lagacé, winner of the show Zenith; Philippe Touzel, who we saw in The melody of happiness, grease, Footloose and who is also making a career in France.

This poster does not include big stars. Increasingly, producers are hiring performers with a musical theater background. Previously, we only auditioned singers. “There is a great effervescence currently in musical theatre. The graduates of recent cohorts have never worked so much in their specialty,” notes Geneviève Charest, who teaches singing in the musical theater program at Collège Lionel-Groulx in Sainte-Thérèse.

“I believe 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 everything” and to exercise all facets of his profession. Same story of Kevin Houle, performer and composer who also signs the music of Lili St-Cyr, a show that will be presented at Kingsey Falls.

Finally, recognition?

Actor Robert Marien has been fighting for 40 years for the recognition of musical theater in Quebec. According to him, we must give ourselves the means and the time to develop creation here. By investing in workshops, laboratories, research. “We have excessive expectations for our musicals,” he says. I experienced the difficult reception of Gala and Little Roy. I remember the premature end of I, by Marc Drouin. Let us recall that in 1998, very poorly received by critics and the public, the musical comedy by the author of Houndstooth canceled his tour , despite an investment of $400,000 from the Quebec government.

“If a show doesn’t work right away, we become cautious, laments Marien, while it is with trial and error that success is born. American musicals can go through eight or ten iterations before landing on Broadway. Robert Marien would like to see the creation of a separate category to process requests for musical theater subsidies.

All the creators and amateurs of this form will tell you: the musical has always been between two chairs. Between varieties and theatre. The actress Marie-Pierre de Brienne has applied for a grant for a musical theater project for her new company. “My file did not fall into the right category,” she says. The employee asked me if I did theater or music. I answered him both… and with dance. He told me: “But you can’t do all three at the same time!” »

Coming by the end of the year

Hate

The musical by Gerome Ragni and James Rado 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 on the scandalous life of the queen of striptease in Montreal in the 1940s. Music: Kevin Houle. Director: Benoit Landry. Choreography: Alex Francoeur. With among others Marie-Pier Labrecque, Lunou Zucchini, Kathleen Fortin. At the Kingsey Falls Theater, starting June 30.

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. At the Capitole, in Quebec, from June 28 to August 13. Repeated at the Théâtre St-Denis, from November 23 to December 3.

The melody of happiness

The return of the famous von Trapp family, with 25 actors, in a staging by Gregory Charles. From August 4, at the Albert-Rousseau hall, in Quebec.

The Addams Family

The new staging of a classic of the genre by René Simard. At Espace St-Denis from October 17, 2023, then at Salle Albert-Rousseau, in Quebec City, in December 2024.

royal pub

A new “slightly punk” musical signed by Les Cowboys Fringants and created by Les 7 Fingers. Director: Sébastien Soldevila. At the Grand Théâtre de Québec from November 22. At the Théâtre Maisonneuve, in Montreal, from December 6 to December 23.

Notre Dame de Paris

The success of Richard Cocciante and Luc Plamondon is celebrating its 25th anniversary. At Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts, from August 2 to 10.

Hedwig and the raging thumb

Directed by René Richard Cyr. With Benoît McGinnis in the title role. On tour in Quebec, then back in Montreal from October 20 to 28 at the TNM.