The story of Jacques Brel on the boards



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The Théâtre des Grands Chênes has chosen to present a musical theater that tells a slice of life from the monument of French chanson, Jacques Brel. The piece is a mix of fiction and real life that will take shape thanks to the presence of 11 actors and singers on stage.

It's a love of Brel, Mélissa Cadona, teacher of arts and letters at Cégep Assumption who used to write custom pieces for graduates who had the idea of ​​the play Amsterdam . His instant success gave him the momentum to elevate him to a professional level. While she was looking for an actor to personify Jacques Brel, the name of Jean-François Pronovost was proposed to him more than once because of a performance of the song Mathilde of Brel, that he had already done. Thus, the dice were launched and the offer fell well: he was also a fan of Brel

"We are not in a musical review, but in a musical theater, with a history ", announces the actor and singer Jean-François Pronovost, who had already played four performances of Amsterdam at the Gésù in the spring of 2017 before seeing the troupe moving to Kingsey Falls.




 The story by Jacques Brel on the boards

Photo courtesy, Martin Piché
                  

If we count on Brel's successes to seduce the audience, his story should also interest his audience.

Camped to Brussels in 1947, the story traces a piece of life of Brel, aged 18 years old. "The play takes place largely at the box office of his father," reveals the comedian. He worked there as a worker at the bottom of the ladder. "It is there that he will discover that he is a bourgeois son," reveals Jean-François Pronovost. Moreover, social inequalities will be one of his preoccupations.

Already, at this age, he wrote songs and texts. "It is surrounded by his friends that he will set up a troupe and create a theater show," he adds.

Several women

In addition to music, this is immediately apparent of Brel's life, it's women. "There have been several in his life," says Jean-François Pronovost. Even married, at the height of his career, he toured and rubbed shoulders with several women. "

Without falling into a biographical piece, the author, to write her play, read a lot about the life of Brel, who lived through her childhood under German occupation in Brussels.

vibrant music

Musical theater has about twenty songs, but they are not necessarily sung in full. "I'm not doing an imitation of Brel," said Jean-Francois Pronovost who did not want to fall into caricature. It was using singer video views and interviews that he was inspired to create his own interpretation. Moreover, the singer discovered Brel from his childhood, because his father listened to the great successes of the Belgian singer. These are the songs Mathilde and The Candy which are among his favorites.

"Brel speaks a lot of love in his songs," he recalls. There is the romantic aspect, but also the brotherly love.

Amsterdam

  • Author and director: Mélissa Cardona
  • cast: Jean-François Pronovost, José Dufour, Jean-François Blanchard, Eve Gadouas, Annie Kim Thériault, Élodie Bégin, Martin Lebrun, Sarah Leblanc- Gosselin, Albane Sophia Castle, Eloisa Cervantes and Véronique Savoie
  • Playing until August 11
  • At the Théâtre des Grands Chênes (Kingsey Falls)
  • Followed by a tour in 2019

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