An opera-film production by the Maîtrise Populaire de l'Opéra-Comique
Cast
Artistic team
Director: Philippe Béziat • Project Manager: Ilonah Fagotin • Musical Director: Alphonse Cemin • Vocal Arrangements: Arthur Lavandier • Choir Director of the Maîtrise Populaire: Clara Brenier Choreographer: Christine Bonneton• Vocal Coach: Dorothée Voisine• Audiovisual Production: Camera Lucida Production Théâtre national de l'Opéra-Comique
Featuring the choir members of the Maîtrise Populaire de l'Opéra-Comique
The project
They all carry a camera in their pocket; filming is already part of their daily lives. So Philippe Béziat and Ilonah Fagotin made them an offer: to learn from the playful spirit of Georges Méliès. The pioneer of cinematic special effects still has much to teach us. Let us learn from his films, his imagination, his techniques, and work on songs from his era -harmonised for vocal ensemble by Arthur Lavandier- under the direction of Alphonse Cemin.
Drawing on this repertoire, the members of the Maîtrise will learn to film their musical activity and to stage themselves for the camera. Throughout the year, tableau after tableau, a story will gradually emerge: their own.
When the Salle Favart is returned to them, they will reclaim it by presenting the staged version of the film, with each tableau being sung, danced and also filmed live, bringing stage and screen together.
This collaborative project will involve the theatre’s technical teams throughout the creative process.
Georges Méliès
A magician turned filmmaker and creator of *A Trip to the Moon* in 1902, Georges Méliès invented a cinema made up of odds and ends, pure poetry and technical ingenuity. His ‘tricks’ are not special effects in the modern sense: they are sleight of hand, filmed magic tricks, visual pranks shot with whatever was to hand and a sense of wonder intact.
This rich imagination, where characters appear and disappear, where they split into two, and where the setting proves as theatrical as the performance itself, resonates directly with the Favart spirit. Like the early days of opéra-comique, Méliès draws on popular culture, plays with conventions and places creativity at the heart of his work. It is the perfect training ground for young performers.
A collaborative adventure with the theatre teams
This project is not just the work of the Maîtrise. Throughout the season, the technical teams at the Opéra-Comique – stagehands, prop masters, electricians, costume designers, wigmakers and video technicians – take part in the filming, sharing their expertise and devising practical solutions that bring each scene to life. A way of continuing Campus Favart’s mission to engage with younger audiences, and of forging a new bond between the theatre and the world of film.
The result: an opera-film, followed by a stage production
When the Salle Favart reopens its doors in autumn 2027, the Maîtrisiens will reclaim the venue by staging the film’s theatrical adaptation. Each scene will be sung, danced and acted out, but also filmed live, bringing together on the same stage the presence of the performers and the magic of the screen. It is a way of celebrating the theatre’s reopening by welcoming in a whole generation that will have grown up whilst the renovation work was underway.
The film, meanwhile, will be released in the spring...
With the support of
La Maîtrise Populaire receives support from the If Foundation, the Société Générale Foundation, the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation, the Terrévent Foundation, Danone, the Orange Foundation, R&Co4Generations and the RATP Group Foundation.
