Like part of the theaters, La Scala Paris is preparing its reopening with excitement.
In front of the door made up of reflective panels, Frédéric Biessy, the director of the institution, is enthusiastic.
The first public reception is scheduled for June 7, with a recording open to all music lovers, in partnership with France Musique and the National Music Center.
Read also: La Scala, yes, but in Paris!
Sanitary restrictions will not be an obstacle for this old Italian-style theater.
After the trial run that was the summer of 2020, everything has been thought out to welcome visitors in compliance with the anti-Covid protocol, whether it is the directions of traffic to be respected or the spectator gauges to be limited.
Above all, these few months of closure made it possible to partially rethink the space, to renovate the small room - known as "La Piccola" - and to rearrange the corridors, in order to allow direct access to the offices from the artists' boxes, four of which have just been fitted out.
"On fiery thistles"
In the Great Hall with its retractable bleachers - where no less than five hundred spectators can gather - serenity is essential. The bluish light, “Scala Blue” more precisely, permeates every corner. Imagined by the scenographer Richard Peduzzi - with whom Patrice Chéreau collaborated regularly - during the reconstruction of the building, completed in 2018 after eighteen months of work, this particular color was composed from seventeen different pigments.
"Bleu Scala does not create a border between the public and the stage, unlike black which is more aggressive"
, details Frédéric Biessy, anxious to offer his audience and his artists the best possible sensory experience.
In this perspective, the reopening enchants him.
But the disappointment of December prevents him from absolutely believing it:
“We can't wait.
But we are on hot thistles
,
”
he warns.
Looking for a moment at the piano, which sits in the center of the stage, the director frowns:
"We'll have to give it a wipe."
To read also: Deconfinement: what if the reopening of the theaters did not take place on May 19?
If the performances have ceased since October, the work has not been lacking. It was also an opportunity
"to discover each other, to work in depth"
, to take the time to forge lasting bonds within the teams. But
“this reopening comes at the right time. Six more months, it would have been hell, ”
says Frédéric Biessy. Regarding the recovery schedule, discussions with the government have been constant.
“But it's not enough to press a button. It takes at least a month to reopen a theater, ”
concedes the director of La Scala, where fifteen to twenty companies parade each year.
“
People missed the terraces.
I have no doubt that they will return to see shows as well.
The energy will be special
”
Mitch Riley, director
The restaurant, located upstairs, offers a bird's eye view of Boulevard de Strasbourg.
It will welcome customers from June 9, at the rate of one in two tables.
The return on stage, it will be on June 11 with, among others,
Perte
, directed by Mitch Riley and played by Ruthy Scetbon, alone on stage.
The show, halfway between the theater and the circus, was created a year ago, before being interrupted by the pandemic.
For now, the time is for rehearsals. In the “Piccola Scala”, the actress immerses herself, alongside her director:
“Mitch and I worked on other projects during this period. But this show is the first that we have put on together. ”
And for good reason: the young woman was an opener, until Frédéric Biessy discovered her talent, shortly before the first confinement.
She does not hide the confusion that was hers during these long weeks of closure.
“The situation was terrifying during the winter months. It was painful, ”she
says. Especially since the government, cautious, was careful not to mention any timetable for reopening. Unlike the director of the Théâtre de Paris, Stéphane Hillel, who said he was skeptical about a return of the public in theaters before September, Mitch Riley appears confident:
“We see that the terraces have been missed by people. I have no doubt that they will return to see shows as well. The energy will be special, as in the cinema on the evening of the reopening. There will be a wait. Spectators will be happy to return to the theaters. It was a lack for our society. ”
That, all at La Scala, hope to fill.