The end-of-year celebrations give only one desire: to curl up in the comfortable velvet armchairs of the prettiest theaters and stages in Paris, in front of a good musical show . What are the really stylish outings to see, New Year's Day included, during the Christmas holidays ? Here is our selection of nuggets to book illico.
Broadway in Paris with 42nd Street
A wind of joy is blowing over the Théâtre du Châtelet , which is transformed into a Broadway stage where brass and tap dancing are in tune! The tempo is given as soon as the curtain rises, which partly reveals about thirty legs beating the pace. Let's go for 2h30 of American show with a sequence of marvelous tables and settled with the cord. Created in 2016 by the award-winning English dancer and choreographer Stephen Mear , this glitzy musical makes winter swing.
The plot takes us behind the scenes of a music hall creation in the aftermath of the Great Depression in New York , in 1933. America is barely recovering and, like today, people need s having fun and dreaming. This dive into the heart of the hectic life of a troupe, from auditions to the premiere, is a pellet of happiness that projects us into the magic of an evening in the company of fifty singers and dancers dazzling with dexterity who evolve in a setting and flamboyant costumes . When one of the legends of Broadway returns to Paris, we don't hesitate for a second. Worship !
Until January 15 at the Théâtre du Châtelet , 1 place du Châtelet, 1st.
© Châtelet Theater - Marie-Noëlle Robert
It grooves with Black Legends
Jazz , soul , funk , disco , hip-hop , it's the whole history of Afro-American music from the Cotton Club from the 1930s to the beginning of the 2000s that invites itself onto the Bobino stage . Without any headliners, this show has been creating surprises since October and continues to play for three more months. On the initiative of this musical fresco directed and interpreted remarkably, Valéry Rodriguez , singer on The Lion King who, to escape from the Disney universe, creates with artists from the troupe the snippets of what will give birth to Black Legends .
Far from being a simple succession of hits - from Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday to Crazy in Love by Beyoncé via Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud by James Brown - the groovy epic unfolds over struggles led by African-Americans: against racial segregation , for civil rights , the establishment of Affirmative Action until the election of Barack Obama . We spend the evening in the company of the greatest artists who have sung their fight, Sam Cooke, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder ... and so many other personalities embodied by fifteen singers and dancers who twirl on a band its frenzied and played live. On the way to Saturday night fever!
Until March 26 in Bobino, 20 rue de la Gaîté, 14th.
© Pascal Gely
The great airs of French cinema with Dabadie or the things of our lives
Change of atmosphere with this poetic and nostalgic foray into the world of one of the greatest screenwriters and lyricists. Disappeared in 2020, Jean-Loup Dabadie deeply marked French cinema and song with his indelible mark. Crossing the ages without ever losing the salt of the writing which makes a ritornello a great song or a dialogue a cult scene. Max and the scrap dealers, César and Rosalie, La Gifle, Le Sauvage, We'll all go to paradise, The Things of Life, An elephant is a huge mistake, Clara and the smart guys, it's him! My preference and Women, I love you , performed by Julien Clerc , Letter to France by Michel Polnareff (who opens the show), J'comprends pas by Dutronc , it's him again! A musician of words, he unknowingly composed the soundtrack for many love stories...
Four great admirers were keen to honor his memory with a theatrical and musical journey without pomp or trumpet, but with a lot of emotions and moments of grace. The actor and director Emmanuel Noblet ( Molière alone on stage in 2017, for Réparer les vivants ) , the too rare singers Clarika and Maissiat , and the pianist-arranger, Mathieu Geghre, invite us to rehear or discover texts that have become essential such as La chanson d'Hélène , the main title of Claude Sautet 's film Les Choses de la vie , performed by Michel Piccoli and Romy Schneider .
Until December 31 at the Théâtre de l'Atelier, place Charles-Dullin, 18th.
Also discover our favorite drag shows of the moment and the extraordynary show of the institut du monde arabe.
