It is often in musicals that certain talents are revealed. This was particularly the case of Christophe Maé and Emmanuel Moire in Le Roi Soleil, Bruno Pelletier and Garou in Notre-Dame de Paris and the late Daniel Lévi in The 10 Commandments, buried this Sunday August 7 in Marseille after succumbing to cancer of the colon. The singer with the golden voice had landed the role of Moïse, astonishing everyone during the castings with Pascal Obispo: “I had chosen a difficult song, L’hymne à l’amour, for the candidatessaid the interpreter of fell for her at the Parisian. When we heard it, we thought: ‘What a voice !’ But we didn’t choose it right away because it always takes a little time to decide on a musical. Then we saw him again, and there it was obvious.“
Landing such a role for Daniel Lévi made him jump for joy. Nevertheless, the artist had to impose a non-negotiable condition on the creators to accept the proposal. Of Jewish faith, it was impossible for Daniel Lévi to perform shows on Friday and Saturday evenings: “You just had to accept that he doesn’t sing on Fridays because of Shabbat“explained Pascal Obispo. But on Saturday too, for the same reason. Aware that this could pose a problem, Daniel Lévi preferred to play cards on the table, which ultimately did not cause concern: “We found a double.“
If the Friday evening shows were therefore done without him, Daniel Lévi sometimes managed to ensure the Saturday performances: “I remember waiting for him on Saturday evening in front of the theaters where the sun had to go down for him to arrive!” recalled Pascal Obispo. Indeed, the Shabbat stopping at nightfall, it was easier to be available on Saturdays in winter, the sun setting relatively early at the end of the day.
Pascal Obispo and Elie Chouraqui, to whom we owe the musical The 10 Commandments do not have to regret their choice. Daniel Lévi has made the show a phenomenon, particularly since the interpretation of The desire to love: “It has become a title of more than 6 minutes which, for the record, is not in the show. It only happens at the recall. Today, this song is in every party. […] Nobody can sing it like Daniel. It brings me back to a lot of things.“Memories that Pascal Obispo is not about to forget.