the musical “Ten Commandments” returns to the Arkéa Arena in Bordeaux

Lhe story is more than 2,000 years old, the show is 25 years old. In October 2000, at the time of the first performance of “The Ten Commandments”, producers Dove Attia and Albert Cohen did not go too far. The musical is not a genre anchored in France, despite the occasional but notable successes of “Starmania” and “Les Misérables” at the end of the 1970s. Pascal Obispo on the composition, Lionel Florence and Patrice Guirao on the texts of the songs , filmmaker Élie Chouraqui directing, Kamel Ouali choreographing: solid piloting. Moses, Ramses and Nefertari are a hit with 2 million spectators in seven years of touring. And launched a fashion that has rarely been denied for two decades.

“Twenty-three years had passed, that’s the age of my son today, born on the day of the premiere, but Daniel Lévi unfortunately left us…” says Obispo. “When Albert Cohen and I met during the tribute concert to Daniel, the thing was heard in our eyes without even having mentioned it verbally: we had to create “The Ten Commandments/The Desire to Love” ‘ for him, for us, for the public too who made ”The desire to love” a popular and essential hymn to love. » Le Girondin rearranges the original songs with the modernity of Jean Schultheis, three new titles appear, the cast of singers and dancers is of course renewed.

More than a year of touring

“In the footsteps of my idol Daniel Lévi,” confides David Lempell, singer of the 2024 edition created in March. “As a child, I saw the DVD of the first version and I became a fan of Daniel Lévi as Moïse. Singularity, fluidity, technical ease, ease of vibes. And I wanted to make music. » When, a year after participating in “The Voice”, the thirty-year-old was called for the casting, “I was almost happy and relieved of a weight: I was chosen for Ramsès”.

“Every evening I realize people’s emotions”

For nine months and around fifty performances in Arenas and Zeniths, the artist has praised “a breathtaking and unimaginable experience”. The tour is another huge success, extending at least until May 2025 throughout the country including, for regional aficionados, a date in Pau on May 10. “To sometimes sing as close as possible to the audience, I realize the emotion of the people every evening,” underlines David Lempell.

“Message of peace”

He also notes the universality of this story, legend or parable, “present in the three monotheistic religions”. Behind two brothers (Ramses and Moses) who tear each other apart for the love of the same woman, the intoxication of power which creates outcasts, the right of people to self-determination. The Hebrews of yesterday, the Palestinians of today. God who would have managed to open the Red Sea has obviously not yet found the key to the rest. “A drama ending on a note of hope, a message of peace and fraternity that we still need today,” concludes David-Ramsès.

“I love this role because it’s one of the only characters whose existence we have tangible proof and about whom I have been able to research,” he continues. “Humanizing blackness was also a challenge, showing the tug between brotherly love and the lust for power. » Benjamin Bocconi plays Moses and Leelou Garms is Nefertari. A new generation of singers, dancers (50 people on stage) but also of course staging.

Virtual and digital in addition

Élie Chouraqui no longer officiates there, having even sued the new production without success. Make way for Giuliano Peparini, former star dancer at the Marseille National Ballet (Rolland Petit era), but also for a virtual scenography (little developed twenty-five years ago) which is also the great novelty of this 2024-2025 vintage. It is by Patrick Neys, who passed through Vegas behind Céline Dion, already at the helm with Peparini of “1789, les amants de la Bastille” already produced by Albert Cohen.

The latter, co-founder of Radio Nostalgie in Lyon at the dawn of the 1980s, therefore initiated “The Ten Commandments” in 2000, before producing around ten musical comedies, from “Gone with the Wind” to “Le Rouge et black.” And met Daniel Lévi at the age of 8 in the Lyon suburbs. “I never stopped letting people know what an immense artist he was,” he testified in the show “C’est à vous”. It seems that he hovers over these “Ten Commandments”, second era.

“The Ten Commandments/The desire to love”, Saturday January 4 (3 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.), Sunday 5 (3 p.m.) in Floirac, Arkéa Arena. From 25 to 89 euros.