Petite Interview avec ... Richard Charest ~ Rimbaud Spectacle Musical ~ (ENGLISH)

* Please note that I'm not a native English / French speaker so there might be errors here and there... but hope you enjoy it!

日本語版はこちら。

In February, I did sort of little interview with Richard Charest about his musical regarding the famous French poet Arthur Rimbaud, which is currently in the last stage of production.


Before the interview...

Before starting the interview, let me share the little story about it.

I'm a fan of Richard Charest since I've known him in the Notre Dame de Paris Japan Tour 2013. Looking for information about him, I happend to learn that he produced his own musical called "Rimbaud Musical", which was performed in Paris in 2007. 

A few weeks after the final performance of Notre Dame de Paris in Japan, I got the news that there would be a Victor Hugo Gala Concert  at Sejong Centre in Seoul in May. On twitter, Richard revealed that he would give the performance from "Rimbaud" and what is more, there would be an Asian tour of Rimbaud Musical in the near future.  At the concert, two songs "Vitalie" (Richard Charest & Matt Laurent) and "Sauver les Apparences" (Nadia Bel & Sophie Tremblay) were performed.

At that time, I didn't have enough listening comprehension ability to understand the French lyrics and I didn't know much about Arthur Rimbaud, so in fact I had no idea what these songs were about. However, the performance of "Vitalie" was striking, to say the least (For the details of this song, please see the interview below.). Richard looked splendid on stage. You could immediately sense how much passionate he was about and devoted he was to his musical. I was literally overwhelmed.   

After returning home, I searched a little bit about Arthur Rimbaud and I was quite astonished at his extraordinary life story. (Being a literary prodigy, romantic relationship with Paul Verlaine and abandoning his literary career when he was just around  21 years old, to name a few.)  

I also found a few excerpts of other songs  from "Rimbaud". The songs sounded quite modern yet not too catchy. I couldn't understand the whole lyrics, but it seemed that the musical dealt with all sorts of emotions and the story is depicted not only from the perspective of Rimbaud but also of other characters. I became more intrigued by "Rimbaud Musical".

Now I learned he was working hard on "Rimbaud Musical" but I couldn't find a lot of information about it so the big picture was still quite vague for me.

Last December, I went to Singapore to see the performance of Notre Dame de Paris. I thought it might be a good opportunity to ask him about his own musical if I had a chance to see him after the show. I prepared a few questions but unfortunately, on the day when I saw Richard, the troup was scheduled to have a party and he didn't have much time. However, he kindly offered to answer my qustions via FB. 

And... here are his answers to my questions. To my delightful surprise, he explained about his musical projects in detail and I thought this information should be shared. Hopefully this "petite interview" will give you a glimpse of his "Rimbaud Musical", in which he puts his heart and soul.

The casts in 2007 lecture.

Interview - Rimbaud Spectacle Musical 

Q1: What is the title of the musical? Does the musical cover whole his life or specific periods of his lifetime (e.g. the period before abandoning his creative activities)?

Pour le moment, le titre de travail est : RIMBAUD (UN POÈTE EN PLEIN COEUR) / Spectacle Musical. Il s’agit de l’histoire du jeune poète entre l’âge de 15 et 20 ans. De 1870 à 1875. Cela couvre donc la totalité de sa période de création. J’ai mis quelques uns de ses textes en musique mais il s’agit essentiellement de chansons originales racontant son histoire ainsi que celles des gens qui l’ont côtoyé.

For the moment, the working title is: Rimbaud (A POET RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF HEART) / Spectacle Musical. This is the story of the young poet between the age of 15 and 20 years. From 1870 to 1875. Therefore, it covers the entire period of his creation. I set some of his texts to music but it is mainly original songs that tells his story and the story of people who maintained the relationships with him.

(Photo Credit: Richard Charest)

Q2: Will the current version be different from the one in 2007? Are there any new songs or many revisions?

C’est un spectacle 2/3 chanté et 1/3 joué. Beaucoup de scènes de jeu. 25 chansons au total. 6 personnages principaux, 16 ou 17 personnes au total sur scène. Beaucoup de nouvelles chansons et quelques révisions de chansons existantes. La « version » 2007 était en fait une lecture de 14 chansons sans véritable mise en scène.

It’s a musical 2/3 sung and 1/3 played. Many of the scenes are play. 25 songs in total. 6 main characters*, 16 or 17 people in total on stage. Many new songs and some revisions to the existing songs. The "version" 2007 was actually a reading (lecture) of 14 songs without proper stage production.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRsdVemwVJg

Lecture in 2007. 
The lyrics of this song derives from Rimbaud's poem "Sensation" (1870). 

http://youtu.be/Z6nV_qyPZhw

Another clip of lecture in 2007.

"Charleville, mon soupir"

*6 main characters are:
Arthur Rimbaud: the poet. (For the details of his life see here.)

Vitalie Rimbaud: Arthur's mother. There was a great strife between the young ambitious poet and his strict mother. Vitalie was very enthusiastic about her children's education and she had a high expectation of Arthur, who was a very bright child. However, such expectation was often betrayed. 

Paul Verlaine: A poet. He discovered Rimbaud's talent and invited him to Paris. Later they developed a romantic relationship. Verlaine left his family and the two poets traveled Europe together for two years. However, in the end Paul shot Arthur and Paul was imprisoned for two years. Subsequently they broke up.  

Mathilde Verlaine: Paul's wife. She suffered from the scandalous relationship between her husband and Rimbaud and later she got divorced and remarried to another man. 

Ernest Delahaye: Rimbaud's best friend. Rimbaud and Ernest met when they were in secondary school. Ernest witnessed how his friend evolved into a great poet. He maintained correspondance with Arthur during the time when the young poet was "vagabond". Later he also befriended Paul Verlaine.

Georges Izambard: Rimbaud's rhetoric teacher. He himself was an amateur poet and progressive person. He was just 6 years older than Rimbaud. He discovered the talents in his pupil and opened up the world of literature to him. Izambard was a brother / father figure for Rimabaud and they built a very strong friendship. However, this relationship gradually changed and came to an end.

Reference: "Personnages" in Official Site of Rimbaud Musical. http://rimbaudmusical.free.fr/site/?page_id=140 

Q3: What phase is your production in?

Les chansons sont terminées (paroles et musique) et les dialogues –le livret- sont terminés également. J’ai commencé la production musicale en studio en décembre dernier de la version définitive des chansons.

The songs are finished (music and lyrics) and the dialogues -the script- are also finished. I started the musical production of the final version of the songs at the studio last December.

During the production. (Photo Credit: Arnaud Kerane)

Q4: What about the casting? Is there going to be 6 roles as were in the version 2007? Will the singers be different from the ones in the version 2007? You played the role of Paul Verlaine last time. This time, do you intend to play any role?

Il y aura 6 personnages principaux, donc, et 10 personnes supplémentaires sur scène. La distribution n’est pas arrêtée pour le moment. J’ai approché des gens, je ne sais pas encore si des chanteurs de la version 2007 seront de la distribution finale. Je n’ai pas encore pris de décision quant à ma participation en tant que chanteur. Je me concentre pour le moment sur la création.

There will be 6 main characters, and 10 additional people on stage. The casting has not decided yet for the moment. I approached people, I do not yet know if the singers of the version 2007 will be in the final casting. I have not yet made a decision about my participation as a singer. For the moment, I'm focusing on the creation.

Q5: For the moment, which cities are on the list of destinations for the tour?

Mon objectif serait de mettre en place une tournée avec des partenaires provenant de pays visités avec Notre Dame de Paris. J’ai maintenu de bons contacts avec des gens en Russie, en Chine, au Japon, à Taiwan, en Corée du Sud ainsi qu’à Singapour. J’espère pouvoir compter sur leur soutien pour aller présenter mon spectacle dans leur ville respective.

My goal would be to set up a tour with partners from countries I visited with Notre Dame de Paris. I maintained good contacts with people in Russia, China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea as well as Singapore. I hope I can count on their support to present my show in the cities of each country.

Q6: Is there any way to listen to the songs or to take a look at the lyrics of the songs?

Je dois terminer l’enregistrement des chansons dans leur version définitive avant de faire circuler les paroles sur internet. Beaucoup de choses peuvent encore changer. Un album de 10 chansons est prévu pour faire la promotion et accompagner les représentations du spectacle. Je n’ai toutefois pas encore de date de sortie à annoncer.

I have to finish the recordings of the songs in their final version before circulating the lyrics on the Internet. Many things may still change. An album of 10 songs is planned for the promotion and for accompanying the performances of the musical. However, I do not yet have a release date to be announced. 

Le Musée Rimbaud in Charleville

Q7:  What fascinates you about Rimbaud, except that he is a great poet?

 

Rimbaud n’attendait personne avant de prendre une décision ou de poser un geste. Il est pour moi l’exemple absolu de la liberté libre, comme il l’appelait lui-même. Je suis touché par son acharnement à devenir un grand poète, son talent, bien sûr, mais sa détermination plus encore. Ses rapports avec sa mère, son professeur et son meilleur ami me touchent énormément. Et le fait de mourir très jeune, 37 ans, sans savoir qu’il était devenu une figure importante de la poésie représente pour moi un élément dramatique très fort.

Rimbaud did not expect for anyone before making a decision or taking an action. It is, for me, the ultimate example of free freedom (liberté libre), as he called it. I am touched by his tenacity to become a great poet, his talent, for sure, but touched more by his determination. His relationships with his mother, his teacher and his best friend touched me enormously. And the fact that he died very young, 37 years old, without knowing that he became an important figure in poetry,  represents a very strong dramatic element for me.

- When I read Rimbaud's letter to Izambard, I was intrigued by the young poet's almost contradictory persona; on one hand he was quite adamant and sometimes even arrogant but at the same time he looked quite fragile, naive adolescent. And above all, as Richard mentioned above, I was deeply moved by his cry for freedom and determination to be a great poet. It's partly because recently I was in a bit of "get stuck" situation and struggled to find a way to establish myself. His words overlap with what I went through. I now understand why this poet fascinates so many people around the world. His words are painfully vivid and quite relevant to this day. 

 

Q8: I believe the first song you created was about Vitalie Rimbaud, the mother of the poet. Why did you pick up this issue - the mother- son relationship - as the starting point of your story?

J’ai rencontré mon partenaire Arnaud Kerane lors d’un atelier d’écriture en 1999, tout juste avant de commencer Notre Dame de Paris. L’un des tout premiers textes qu’Arnaud m’ait montré concernait Vitalie Rimbaud, la mère du poète. J’ai été stupéfait que ce poète génial était en fait un mauvais fils. Je crois que chaque homme porte en lui une part de mauvais fils. Je trouvais le propos universel alors je lui ai proposé de mettre son texte en musique un jour. Sans savoir que 5 ans plus tard, en décembre 2004, je lui proposerais d’écrire un spectacle sur Arthur Rimbaud.

I met my partner Arnaud Kerane during a writing workshop in 1999, just before the beginning of Notre Dame de Paris. One of the earliest texts Arnaud showed me was concerned with Vitalie Rimbaud, the poet's mother. I was astounded that this great poet was actually a bad son. I believe that every man has an aspect of a bad son within himself. I noticed the universal subject so I proposed him to set his text to music one day. Little did I know that, 5 years later, in December 2004, I would propose him to write a musical about Arthur Rimbaud.

Mr. Arnaud Kerane, Richard's partner of the musical
 (Photo Credit: Arnaud Kerane)

- It was quite interesting that Richard referred to Rimbaud as "mauvais fils (bad son)". Probably it's not limited to "son". Sometimes, parents and children live in a very different world or paradigm (in case of Rimbaud and his mother Vitalie, it's too obvious.) and when children tried to pursue what s/he believed to be right, this very action might be regarded as totally unacceptable for their parents. In such case, unfortunately, a huge discrepancy between them would arise and children had no choice but to become a bad son / daughter, I guess.  

Q9: What is the song "Vitalie" about? As you performed this song so passionately at Sejong Center (Seoul) back in May 2013, I'm curious about the theme of this song.

Au Sejong Center, nous avons interprété la chanson VITALIE (celle-là même qu’Arnaud et moi avons créé en premier). Matt interprétait le rôle de GEORGE IZAMBARD, le professeur de Rimbaud. J’interprétais le rôle d’Arthur Rimbaud. Il s’agit d’une discussion un peu violente entre le jeune poète qui ne supporte plus l’emprise de sa mère et le professeur qui tente de le ramener à la raison en lui disant de respecter sa mère. Cette chanson marque la fin de leur amitié.

At Sejong Center, we performed the song VITALIE (indeed the song that Arnaud and I had first created). Matt played the role of GEORGE IZAMBARD, the teacher of Rimbaud. I played the role of Arthur Rimbaud. This is a somewhat heated discussion between the young poet who cannot stand the influence of his mother and the teacher who tries to bring him to his senses by telling him to respect his mother. This song marks the end of their friendship.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG0RuX4A8MY

The second song of this clip is "Vitalie".

(The first song: Fils du soleil. The third song: Charleville, mon soupir)

Q10:  Could you explain a little bit about "Sauver les Apparences", the other song that was performed at Sejong Center?


VITALIE, la mère de Rimbaud, vit des heures sombres puisque son fils se comporte de façon inacceptable. MATHILDE, la femme de Paul Verlaine, vit un peu la même chose puisque son mari pose des gestes scandaleux. Il est important pour ces deux femmes de garder la tête haute et de faire comme si tout allait bien. En français, il existe une expression qui illustre bien ce comportement. Les deux femmes tentent de SAUVER LES APPARENCES.

VITALIE, the mother of Rimbaud, experiences dark times because her son behaves in an unacceptable way. MATHILDE, the wife of Paul Verlaine, experiences similar things because her husband engages in scandalous behavior. It is important for these women to keep their heads high and act as if everything were fine. In French, there is an expression that illustrates this behavior well; the two women are trying to "save face (SAUVER LES APPARENCES)".

Q11: What message would you like to convey through your musical “Rimbaud”? Could you give a little message to your fans?

NOTRE DAME DE PARIS m’a permis de visiter un grand nombre de pays tous plus fascinants les uns que les autres. J’ai découvert à quel point les fans de comédies musicales sont des gens passionnés, curieux et ouverts sur le monde. Je souhaite plus que tout partir à la rencontre des fans aux 4 coins du monde avec mon spectacle RIMBAUD. J’ai choisi de raconter l’histoire d’un jeune poète prêt à tout pour réaliser son rêve parce que son histoire est universelle, que son travail est magique et que j’ai senti que le public des pays visités semblait apprécier au plus haut point les oeuvres de langue française. Vous m’avez supporté de belle façon partout où je suis passé. VOUS avez fait de Gringoire, le plus beau rôle qu’il m’ait été donné d’interpréter. J’aimerais vous rendre justice en vous proposant un spectacle magnifique, émouvant, touchant, parfois drôle et résolument moderne. MON spectacle. Je me donne rendez-vous... avec vous, le plus rapidement possible ! Merci encore de votre soutien.

NOTRE DAME DE PARIS allowed me to visit a great number of fascinating countries, all of which were equally fascinating. I discovered how passionate, curious and open to the world the musical fans are. I want more than anything to meet fans all over the world with my show RIMBAUD. I chose to tell the story of a young poet who is desperate to realize his dream because his story is universal, his work is magical and I felt that the audience of the countries I visited seemed to greatly appreciate the works of French language. You have supported me in a great way wherever I went. YOU made Gringoire, the best role that has been given to me to interpret. I would like to do justice by offering you a musical that is magnificent, moving, touching, sometimes funny and firmly modern. MY musical. I will make a promise… to you, to go to see you as soon as possible! Thank you again for your support.

Merci pour votre aimable coopération, Richard!

- When I first read this text, I was on the train but I almost cried! I was so touched by his passion and pride in "Rimbaud" as well as his sincerity and generosity as a person. He is simply incredible ... 

I was also happy that he mentioned the representation in French. When I first knew about Notre Dame de Paris, it appeared that it became extremely difficult to deliver the performance in French original version. I really love the beautiful sound of French, and I know that the language play very important role in the musical. So for me, it's really sad that I can't see the original version.  Moreover, it seems that there is a trend that more and more French musicals are performed in the form of adaptation rather than in the form of the original version. Given the fact that setting up a world tour needs a lot things to do,  I understand that adaptation is one practical option but even so, I really hope to see the musical in French. So I am truly happy and thankful that Richard tried to bring his musical in French all the way to Asian regions.  

And his last comments about fans...! It's quite interesting and a bit hilarious too :) Yes, we are really curious creatures I know! But seriously talking, seeing musicals from foreign countries is in a way encountering totally new cultures (story, staging, singers, dancers...) and  I really love this part. 

Après ma petite interview...

Lastly I would like to jot down a few thoughts about this interview...

Interviewing Richard and his partner Arnaud about their musical "Rimbaud" was actually my dream as a fan and as a French language learner. However, it was almost like my "wildest dream" and I wouldn't imagine that this dream would come true one day.

There were too many reasons that this dream seemed to be impossible:
First, I'm just a fan. Nothing more than that.
Second, my French language proficiency was far from doing "interview".
Third, as I didn't have any experience of "interviewing" and I had no idea what to do.
And lastly, I am normally a timid person, and this dream just seemed to be too daunting.

The only thing that I had... probably, was perseverance.

I said to myself, "even if it would end up in totally a mess, I have nothing to lose anyway. So why not try it??"

So, to start with, I sent a lengthy message to Richard and Arnaud (despite the fact that I was a total stranger to Arnaud...) about my little thoughts about "Sauver les Apparences" in French even though I could only understand half of the lyrics. When I clicked the "Send" button,  I was trembled...  Probably, my French was full of errors and my remark might have been beside the point but at least I believed that it would be much better to convey my sincerity.

A few days later, to my surprise,  both of them gave me very sincere and kind responses. I was totally overjoyed. At this point, I  started to believe, maybe,  my wildest dream wouldn't be that "wild"...

This is how the story begins, and led me all the way to this interview... Euh, what a journey it has been... It's just unbelievable...

It was actually a bit a challenge for me to translate unmodified French texts into Japanese and English. Sometimes I felt quite helpless and so disappointed in myself that I couldn't properly translate Richard's fabulous texts. But luckily with the help of Mme Mew, who is a long-term french musical fan, I could finish translating this interview.  It took me more time than I had expected and it wasn't totally a piece of cake, but all the better for it, this experience was quite priceless and even enjoyable for me. I cherished every moment of it.

My next "wildest" goal would be watching "Rimbaud" somewhere in the world, and tell my thoughts to Richard and / or Arnaud in French in person. Again, I know it's a tough goal but maybe it's worth trying.

Richard, thank you again for giving me such a wonderful opportunity.
I'm really looking forward to seeing you (hopefully as a singer!!!) again.
And I also say thank you to Arnaud for giving me strength and courage.
You guys are always inspiring and I can't be thankful enough.

I really wish that "Rimbaud" would be presented as many cities as possible and the spectacular world of Rimbaud would be shown to the audience ;)

*****
3 April 2014
I posted an English translation of the story of the genesis of "Rimbaud Musical" written by Céline, which inspired me a lot. For those who are interested, please see here. You could also see the original French text (La genèse du spectacle) here.