Oral Presentation, Maïwenn

« Chance », the exception for the Musical in France?

Introduction and Presentation of “Chance”:

“Chance” was a musical played in Paris and on a French Tour in the years two thousand. It was also the first show for which I worked. This musical was created in 2001 in Dejazet Theater in Paris by Hervé Devolder, a comedian and musician, who works in “Café-théâtre” or Music Hall and likes Theater “which makes laugh”. “Chance” was his first Musical in which he writes, composes and stages. This comedy was played more than a thousand time from its inception to 2009 at the “Palais des Glaces”, passing through the “Trianon” or the “Lucernaire”.

I’m going to speak about this musical because I think it was a real exception for the Musical in France and I would try to explain you why. It doesn’t using the habitual codes about Musical and mainly than French Musical.

France, its history with the Musical:

- Opera was born in Italy during 16th century. While the Neapolitan Opera grew up in Europe, Lully, musician for Louis the 14th, in France, created a school with Lyric Tragedy. During the 19th century, Paris was the cradle of “Big Opera” with romanticism and the quantity of foreign composers in France.

-  In parallel, Operetta differs from opera by using music said “light”. Like comic-Opera, Operetta is born in France with for example Jacques Offenbach.

- Musical or Musical Comedy was born in two different forms in France and in United States at the beginning of the 20th century. In France, it was considered like “light operetta”. In the year ‘20s and ‘30s, nearly 400 pieces of music were played in Paris, more than New-York or London.

- In the 20th century, there were a lot of big theaters which presented Operetta or Musical like “Le Théâtre du Châtelet”, “Mogador” or “La Gaité-Lyrique”. Some names: Sacha Guitry, Guy Lafarge, Francis Lopez and Luis Mariano… Paris was a big stage of Musical, in the broad sense, with different forms of Operetta, Opera, Lighted Operetta or Music-Hall like “Les Folies Bergères” in the Interwar.

- Musical had difficulties in boosting and renewing after the Second World War in France. It was too influenced by American musical. Its new French form starts growing up in its commercial and current form in 1970 with “Starmania” and exploded after with “Notre-Dame de Paris” 20 years after.

- “New Musical Theater” in France since 2000 has been an emergent movement which takes up with the tradition of the musical stage at the same time intelligent and popular. It aims to make recognized the musical theater because at present it exists only through its repertory or dominant shape in particular for subsidies

Mistakenly, we came to consider that France has never been the country of Musical.

The difference between Anglo-Saxon musical and musical in French through “Chance”:

- “Chance” is more like Anglo-Saxon musical in its shape. Because European Musical favors the singing (like Opera). On the other hand, American or English musical is a mix of genres between dancing, singing and theater.

- “Chance” was played in live with two musicians like in America. In France, there are a lot of singers and dancers but no musicians because it is a registered band.

- This Musical was an original story like the big plays of Broadway “Cats”, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, “Cabaret” or “Hair”. In France, currently, the biggest musicals are an adaptation of very well-known stories (“Romeo and Juliet” or “Ten Commandments”). Since 2005, with the arrival of Stage Entertainment in France, Musical has also played resumptions of American successes (“Cabaret”, “Le Roi Lion”, “Mamma Mia”)

-  “Chance” is a real comedy on contrary of classic French musical with its subject and drama.

- Furthermore, Hervé Devolder plays to do a parody with auto-mockery while carrying a tribute to the classics

- It didn’t use the classic codes of communication of big French musicals: no media, no radio or TV bludgeoning upstream. It was developed like American musical with word of mouth and played nine years on its growing reputation in bigger and bigger theater like “Les Misérables” played twenty one years. “Chance” was played thirteen month in a row in Paris.

- Every word, every situation were singing like in Anglo-Saxon musical

	Anglo-saxon Musical	Musical in French
Genre	A mix of genres between dancing, singing and theater Every situation, every word is singing Like Chance	Favor the singing Theater scene, dancing scene and singing scene
Live Music	Live with musicians Like Chance with piano and guitar live	Registered band
Story	Original story Ex : « Cats », « Cabaret », « Hair » Like Chance	-       - Adaptation of very wellknown stories Ex : « Romeo and Juliet » « Ten Commandments » -       - Since 2005 : resumptions of american successes Ex : « Lion King », « Mamma Mia », « Cabaret »
Form	Real Comedy Like Chance and it was a parody with auto-mockery while carrying a tribute to the classics	More Drama
Code of Communications	Word of Mouth and Spectator come many times Like Chance	Media : radio and TV bludgeoning upstream
Success	Stay a long time in a town like « Les Miserables » 21 years on Broadway Like Chance	Few month in Paris and then Tour in Zenith often

 But "Chance" wasn't an american Musical but in the “New Musical Theater” which uses more the form of AS Musical with French tradition of its.

We can question about: Why don’t we have “Broadway” or “West End” (English Broadway) in Paris? Even thougt, the musical theater has its roots in France and in Europe?

Maïwenn B.