The inventor of cinema-theater, Marc Hollogne, is no longer

He had enjoyed incredible success, before the 2000s, with his character Marcielwhich he made jump from the stage to the screen. Very personal stories told by blurring the boundaries between cinematographic projections and real appearances of his avatar on the stage of the theaters. This adventure took Marc Hollogne from Octogone-Pully, where he invented his cinema-theatre, to Paris, where it attracted up to 100,000 spectators. Marc Hollogne died Thursday, according to our information, at the age of 63 and following a long illness.

This one-man band – singer, actor and director – was Belgian by origin. He roamed the French-speaking scenes for a long time, before making his way to France and elsewhere. Then returning to Switzerland a little less than ten years ago.

In 2016 in Lausanne, he presented, at the Théâtre 2.21, “Marciel et l’huissier striking”, a confidence show knitted like a best of from the glory years. A funny character, both fascinating and annoying as soon as the damaged artist rose to the surface, Marc Hollogne never managed to hold the reins of his ambitions. In 2.21 as elsewhere, each of his creations could be accompanied by financial concerns or tensions with teams. This did not prevent him from continuing his work with the creation of a new story around Marciel and, above all, two major productions in collaboration with the Béjart Ballet Lausanne (BBL), «Dixit» (2017) then «Nivagation» (2023).

In the footsteps of Béjart

In the 1980s, Marc Hollogne was a singer. He also made a name for himself by playing the troublemaker during the last edition of “The Race Around the World”, the famous game show which sent young people across the planet to produce reports.

Spotted a few years later by Maurice Béjart, the jack of all trades assisted the choreographer during the preparation of the show for the Bicentenary of the French Revolution. This collaboration with a celebrity will be the first in a long list of adventures that will take him on tour with singer Jacques Higelin. He will make a documentary from this journey.

In 1992, it was with Charles Trenet that the Belgian distinguished himself. He participated in the production of the 80th anniversary album of “Fou chantant” and staged, at the Opéra Bastille, an anniversary show concocted by inviting, “with nerve”, nearly 170 personalities, on stage or on screen. The recipe hits the mark and the special guests will even become a trademark of his creations.

In Lausanne with the BBL, he imagined a show which revisited the repertoire of Maurice Béjart and sought to trace the creative threads of the famous choreographer. More recently and with Gil Roman in the leading role, he had imagined a poetic rambling which, as always, married stage and screen. Former BBL director Jean Elgass had a front-row seat during the development of these two productions. With affection, he confides: “Marc was a complicated artist. Demanding but extremely talented.”

Gerald Cordonier is head of the Vibrations section (Culture & Society) for the platforms, newspapers and magazines of Tamedia Suisse Romande: “Le Matin Dimanche”, “24 Heures”, “La Tribune de Genève” and “Femina”.More info

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