Plamondon pens his own fairy tale
September 30, 2002 - The Montreal Gazette
PARIS - Luc Plamondon looks to have everything under control.
On the eve of the Paris opening of Cindy: Cendrillon 2002, he had his ducks lined up, but the man who has been called the most successful Canadian lyricist ever and the first French-language rock lyricist certainly had a few butterflies. Dressed like a missing member from the David Lee Roth/Sammy Hagar tour, Plamondon ordered a mammoth scotch and got down business at a press conference in Paris yesterday.
Tonight’s performance will have a lot to say about whether he joins the legion of washed-up superstars or if his pop opera becomes another international phenomenon like his Starmania or Notre-Dame de Paris.
Trouble is, Cindy opens just one week before Le Petit Prince is turned into a musical for the umpteenth time. This time, however, Saint Exupery’s classic has an even larger budget than Plamondon’s untested update.
“There’s room for two musicals in Paris in the same season,” said Plamondon, referring to 1998, when his Notre-Dame de Paris and rival Romeo and Juliet opened six months apart from one another in the City of Light.
“I don’t think this scheduling is very fair - a November or January opening would be good, but not next week.”
“I’m a bit too popular for a certain press because they don’t like my success - it will all depend on tomorrow night,” he said, then drew a big sip of scotch. “I hate tomorrow night.”
Plamondon knows it would be very easy for ticket buyers to wait until Prince debuts, then compare reviews to decide where to dispense their euros.
Lucky for Luc, among the luminaries bringing star power to the debut, Celine Dion, chanteuse of Dion Sings Plamondon, flew in last night to take part in the opening night festivities.
In his modernized version of Cinderella, Cindy, played by Laam (a Cinderella story herself) is a troubled teen from a fractured family whose Prince Charming comes in the form of Ricky the rock star.
Plamondon and his marketing team have stuck to their familiar formula of pre-show hype, including the release of the album months before the curtain goes up at Paris’ Palais des Congres, that includes the single Un Monde a Nous and lots of airplay for the video on French television channels, TF1 and M6.
Is he using the same formula? “It’s different, but the same,” reflects Plamondon, comparing Cindy to Notre-Dame de Paris.
“This isn’t a very traditional way to do this sort of story.” He rattles off a few of his criteria for Cindy: “I want to use the songs to tell the story, while keeping the piece as short as possible. I don’t use actors, I use singers and I get the best. Occasionally, they can act.”
He pauses, then revises a bit, “They aren’t actors who can sing, they’re singers who can act.”
Two who fit this description to a T include two potential Plamondon-signature comebacks: Murray Head of Jesus Christ Superstar fame plays Cindy’s father, Ronan, and former disco diva Patsy Gallant, whose career Plamondon resuscitated with Starmania, plays Cindy’s stepmother, La Palma.
It’s from the smash-hits of Head and Gallant’s era that Plamondon draws his inspiration. “I saw Hair in 1969 in San Francisco and I was blown away. At that time, San Francisco was the hippie capital of the world and, with Hair, you see it on the stage, then you see it next to you in the audience, then you go and live it in the street.” It was at this point that Plamondon knew this sort of musical was what he aspired to create.
Close to a quarter century later, his deals are (more or less) sealed with a handshake on the Eurostar. Traveling to London in April 2000, with his Notre-Dame producer, Charles Talar, Plamondon was asked why he was so quiet about his next project. In a rare flash of modesty, the outgoing director said, “I didn’t think it would interest him.”
Plamondon continued, “Talar’s response was, ‘Are you available in September 2002 and can I have six months?’
“I finished the show two weeks ago on the way to Caen.” On the eve of opening night, he describes himself as “Relaxed, thanks to the rehearsals we had in Caen.”
Plamondon will have a much clearer idea where he stands tonight. “You know very much from the reaction on the first night. The audience takes the show on the first night or they don’t take it.”
What’s next for the superstar producer? “Something tentatively called, Kahnawake - I’m working on a modern-day love story between a Mohawk guy who builds skyscrapers in New York who falls in love with a white girl from Chateauguay.”
A play based in Plamondon’s native Quebec is good idea for the producer, who has received flak from his home-country fans and critics for centering his career on Paris.
Plamondon is still sensitive to his “home” audience, and casted as many Canadians as French in the multinational cast that also includes the golden pipes of Quebec singer-actor Judith Berard.
For the moment, however, it’s not who comes from where or what’s happening next; tonight’s show occupies centre stage in Plamondon’s mind. “Washed-up or superstar?” Proof will be in the pudding, and for the moment, the odds are on Cindy.
