Michel Berger and Luc Plamondon had absolutely no idea when, on December 11, 1978, they presented on the stage of the Théâtre de l'Empire, what they announced as the first "rock opera" in the history of entertainment.
In front of Jean Louis Cap's cameras, Daniel Balavoine, Fabienne Thibault, Diane Dufresne and Claude Dubois, accompanied by the Antenne 2 symphony orchestra, perform songs that will become legendary.
Madelen invites you to discover or rediscover the first images of an adventure that began four years ago.
Discover on Madelen the presentation by Michel Berger and Luc Plamondon of
Starmania
in 1978 at the Théâtre de l'Empire
In February 1974, while watching the Journal Télévisé, Michel Berger discovered the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst, daughter of William R. Hearst, the king of the press in the United States.
Fascinated by this story, he follows her development, and does not hide his surprise when he discovers an interview with the young woman, where she declares that she approves of the political ideas of the kidnappers.
She then participates, with her face uncovered, in a bank attack.
Arrested seventeen months later, she was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
She will finally be released after seven years of detention, for good behavior.
Read alsoOur review of “Starmania”: an even more stoned world
In the days following Patricia Hearst's first declarations, Michel Berger began to write the libretto and the songs for a show he had chosen to call "Angelina Dumas".
He imagines a teenage girl kidnapped by terrorists, who sides with her jailers and becomes their accomplice.
The reality of this Stockholm syndrome has become fiction.
A few months later, he finished writing and composing, and immediately put the whole thing away in a locked cupboard.
He is not satisfied with his work.
He is convinced that there is something interesting in this project, but it is not completed.
One evening, France Gall makes him listen to a song which is becoming a success.
It is called “Today I met the man of my life”.
He is touched by the voice of the young performer, Diane Dufresne.
He was especially seduced by the writing of the author of the couplets, a certain Luc Plamondon.
He immediately understands that he has the man capable of helping him to give life to this project of Angelina which continues to trot in a corner of his head.
He manages to find his phone and calls him to Montreal, where he wakes him up in the middle of the night.
He did not understand that between Paris and Quebec, there is a time difference of six hours.
The current passes immediately.
Michel asks Luc if he would be interested in writing the libretto for a musical show for which he has already written the basics.
Even before listening to the themes already composed, his interlocutor gives his enthusiastic green light.
This is how for more than two years, without ever meeting, the two men will give birth to a story renamed "Starmania".
A disc is recorded according to criteria defined from the outset.
Michel chooses interpreters who are all unknown, or almost: Daniel Balavoine, Fabienne Thibault and Nanette Workman.
In order to complete the cast, and because he couldn't find anyone else, Berger hired two stars: Diane Dufresne and France Gall.
The latter hesitated a lot before accepting.
With her husband, she has established a rule: she shares a common room but has a separate career.
The success of the album exceeds the most optimistic forecasts.
Michel Berger decides to take the risk of transforming it into a show.
The late Étienne Chicot and René Joly joined a troupe which, in April 1979, moved to the Palais des Congrès for 30 performances.
Some critics predict the failure of this adventure.
We know the refrain: the musical, in France, does not work.
The first evenings are indeed difficult, but thanks to enthusiastic word of mouth, the show quickly sells out.
The room having been rented by other productions, extensions proved impossible.
Nine years later,
Starmania
returns to the Théâtre de Paris.
Berger and Plamondon reworked the whole thing.
The first triumph of a long series.
Since then, rock opera has been performed without interruption in a dozen countries, including Quebec, of course, but also England and Russia.
The adventure continues today and, no doubt, for a very long time to come.
