The pandemic has created in Guylaine Tremblay’s well-filled diary the void necessary for the realization of a dream she has cherished for 10 years, that of devoting a show to the songs of Yvon Deschamps: “I felt that the life commanded it, that it gave me the time and the space to do it. »
In her 38-year career, the actress has earned a special place in the hearts of Quebecers. to say the least. During the photo shoot on rue Alexandre-DeSève, in the Centre-Sud district, passers-by simply couldn’t help but greet her warmly, or display a big smile when they recognized her.
“I like humans, explains the actress. I am always curious about the other. That’s why I enjoy talking to people so much. There is no ordinary life, everyone has something extraordinary. As you walk towards La Livrerie, a charming bookstore-café on Ontario Street, you can fully appreciate how lucky you are to be about to spend an hour chatting with a truly caring woman.
A subject of choice
“Yvon wrote more than 50 songs, recalls the actress. There are some more popular ones, like Love each other, Let’s forget, In my yard and the buttocks, but there are several other pearls among those less familiar to us. When I asked him for permission to do this show, he made one condition: I want you to sing. Alone. I did not know her. When I listened to it, I was overwhelmed. Poignantly, especially after what we’ve been through for the past two years, the song opens like this: “Who will hold my hand / at the end of my path?” / Who will hold my hand / overnight? »
Entitled I don’t know how, I don’t know why, the singing tour will be presented in Quebec City on May 11 and 12, then in Montreal on May 27, before touring the province at least until November. “These songs, explains Guylaine Tremblay, they constitute material that is so rich for a performer. I don’t take myself for a voice singer, I’m here to make a dozen magnificent songs heard, to make them feel. »
Certainly one of the founding fathers of humor in Quebec, Yvon Deschamps is an outstanding monologist, but also, and we tend to forget, an extremely gifted lyricist. For the actress, it is a privilege to highlight such a repertoire: “I want to introduce the lyricist to people who only know the comedian, and even to those who do not know Deschamps at all. , starting with my own children. We do not or very little celebrate our giants and our giantesses. We are always in the culture of immediacy and novelty. It is essential to remember that we all come from somewhere. »
It’s in the songs…
For the actress born in 1960 in Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, in the Charlevoix region, the pieces of Yvon Deschamps were there in pivotal moments: “These are moving songs, completely timeless, which make you laugh and think. , but above all, that do good. In a simple and direct way, it is about life, death, love, but also about society, war, intolerance, injustice and inequality. »
Guylaine Tremblay believes that there are very important values and reflections there: “I’m making my way through all that. I relate my journey. I tell what the songs do to me, what they trigger in me, what they remind me of, what they have taught me about myself, since they have accompanied me since the beginning of my adolescence. After all, as Jean Lapointe wrote so well, it is in songs that we learn about life.
With her director, Michel Poirier, the actress chose and ordered the pieces, between which slip confessions, not at all anecdotal anecdotes, life stories. To refresh the arrangements of the compositions of François Cousineau, Serge Fiori, Jacques Perron, Judi Richards and Libert Subirana, Guylaine Tremblay was able to count on the pianist Jean Fernand Girard, who provides the musical direction of the show and who accompanies it. on stage with two other musicians. “When I’m backstage, she explains, I observe the instruments, these wonderful musicians, and I pinch myself. I still have a hard time believing they are there for me. »
The love of the public
This show allows Guylaine Tremblay to have a totally unique encounter with the public. “I have met him often in my life, she admits, but always with characters. Going on stage to sing, without belonging to a group, without being protected by a character, it completely takes me out of my comfort zone. I feel completely naked, without distance, without armor. I won’t hide from you that it comes with a certain anxiety — during the premiere, in Terrebonne, in February, I had an unusual stage fright — but it allows a privileged encounter with the public, an experience that I live for the very first time and that I savor. »
In the song that gives the show its title, Yvon Deschamps writes: “I don’t know how, I don’t know why / but I’m very proud to be here / to know that for a few hours / you can hear my heart beating / I don’t know how, I don’t know why / but only to know you there / I feel my hopes reviving / I only have to sing to believe it / when you’re sitting in front of me / I don’t know how, I don’t know why / but I feel like I’m loved / I can say anything or sing anything, I can surpass myself / I don’t know how, I don’t know why / but I would always like to be there / go on for years / live off your friendship / live off your friendship”. No wonder Guylaine Tremblay chose this title, since it brilliantly crystallizes the incomparable relationship that is established between the artist and the public.
After about fifteen performances, the actress affirms that she feels a lot of good to give this show: “It’s like taking shelter with her favorite cuddly toy, and the comments that I receive go in this direction. People write to me that it made them happy, and even that it healed them a little, that they were in love and benevolence, that it made them understand how much they cared for their loved ones. It shows how important it is to do what you’ve wanted to do for a long time. If it does us good, deeply, it will also do others. »