Starmania at La Seine Musicale, final days before tour departure

If you missed the new version of the musical Starmania, you'll want to see it again. After a run inautumn 2022, the famous show returns to La Seine Musicale for a 2nd season from November 14, 2023 to January 28, 2024 , before embarking on a new tour across France until January 28, 2024.

Fans of therock opera created by Luc Plamondon and Michel Berger in 1979 are in for another treat. More than 40 years after its creation, Starmania is back on stage in Paris.

We all know, more or less by heart, Quand on arrive en ville, Un garçon pas comme les autres, Les uns contre les autres, S.O.S. d'un terrien en détresse and Le Monde est stone. Now, at last, we can (re)discover these songs live in Starmania.

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This 7th version of Starmania, a show not performed in France since 2001, is directed by Thomas Jolly and produced by Thierry Suc, the man behind Mylène Farmer 's gigantic shows and France Gall's Résiste . Nicolas Ghesquière, artistic director of Louis Vuitton's women's collections, designed the costumes. As for Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, he imagined the choreography.

On the casting side, following in the footsteps of Daniel Balavoine, France Gall, Fabienne Thibeault, Maurane and Renaud Hantson, a number of little-known artists have been selected to play the roles of Cristal, Ziggy, Stella Spotlight, Johnny Rockfort and Zéro Janvier. The new Starmania is performed by Lilya Adad, Adrien Fruit, Magali Goblet, Côme, Alex Montembault, Malaika Lacy, David Latulippe and Mane Miriam Baghdassarian.

Our verdict on Starmania nouvelle version:

First and foremost, this new version of Starmania is dazzling and eye-popping. The lighting effects, from lasers to strobes, and the imposing physical sets are impressive. The resources employed are colossal.

The story of Starmania, imagined by Michel Berger and Luc Plamondon, is very dark. This is reflected in the show 's staging and choreography, which are quite raw, minimalist and violent at times. But also through the atmosphere and lighting. In Quand on arrive en ville, for example, the Black Stars zoners look like zombies, and don't hesitate to slaughter, guns blazing. And although the lighting is partly laser-based, it remains dark most of the time.

Nevertheless, when the huge buildings that make up the set are lit up, they are truly beautiful, echoing the sight we see as we leave the show: the tall buildings of Boulogne-Billancourt, some of them still lit.

In 2022, Starmania is also a show with pyrotechnic effects. Sparks fly from the car on stage. A vehicle that returns several times, around and over which the singers and dancers work. But also smoke just before the start of Stone, le monde est stone, directed towards the stage, which doesn't interfere with the audience's breathing. While the explosion of confetti for Besoin d'amour is surprising and pretty, it does beg the question of ecology, a theme relatively present in the show, and the necessity (or otherwise) of using so much paper.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui 's choreography is quite raw. He has chosen to present only a few ensemble choreographies, his most accomplished being for La Chanson de Ziggy.

Although Thomas Jolly 's staging is pared-down, it nonetheless contains a number of wonderful discoveries. Ziggy and Zéro Janvier pass through the audience. But above all, Cristal and Johnny Rockfort slip away backstage, where they are filmed and the images retransmitted to the stage on a giant screen (a proposal we had already seen in Romeo and Juliet in the same hall). We're also reminded of the household scene during Ego Trip.

The music is played live by musicians on either side of the stage. However, we were less convinced by Starmania 's 2022 cast than by those of previous versions. Perhaps because we're too familiar with them, and the new performers can't make us forget the old ones.

Zéro Janvier (Quebec's David Latulippe), in particular in his rendition of Le blues du businessman, comes through with flying colors. Cristal (Lilya Adad and Gabrielle Lapointe in alternation) seduces us, finally, on Besoin d'Amour, just before intermission, a track for which she is accompanied by switched-off spotlights that move like dancers (not unlike Mylène Farmer 's robot dancers during the 2013 Timeless tour, also produced by Thierry Suc). Johnny Rockfort(Côme, already seen in therock opera Le Rouge et le Noir) convinces us on Quand on n'a plus rien à perdre, and does pretty well on S.O.S. d'un terrien en détresse, when it's hard to follow Balavoine and Grégory Lemarchal. As for Marie-Jeanne(Alex Montemlbault), the automaton waitress, while she sings very well, she too often remains static, a directorial bias we don't always adhere to.

All the same, it's an immense pleasure to see Starmania live again, with all the latest means at our disposal. Especially since France Gall, Michel Berger and Luc Plamondon also appear on stage.