Régine Until the End of the Night is a musical show that takes us into the crazy existence of the one who was the queen of the night.
Everyone at least knows his name, has hummed one of his songs even once. The light went out two years ago for this singer and true French icon of the nightlife world who will have celebrated his existence until his 92nd birthday. But it lights up again here for the timea colorful spectacle which tells us about the woman behind the public persona. And which should carve out a place of choice in the Avignon landscape.
A shooting star in the night
“We said everything, told everything, sometimes invented everything about him. » Régine has indeed been talked about a lot, with his outspokenness, his damn characterher red hair and her boa, the sometimes sulphurous lyrics that she never stopped singing, or even her countless number of famous lovers ! But she also and above all made people dance a lot with its 21 nightclubs scattered across the world !
The singer and actress born in Belgium to Polish Jewish parents narrowly escaped deportation in 1941. Which was unfortunately not the case for her first husband and great love, Paul Rotcage. One of the tragedies that haunted her throughout her life. The other was the death of his only son from cancer in 2006. Son with whom she maintained troubled relationships, tinged with a lot of absence. The price to pay to devote yourself entirely to your dreams and your passion.
A dazzling career
Get ready to hum, even dance to some of the songs that have marked the career of the queen of the night. The little papers, The Great Zoa, Women are queer, Patchouli Chinchilla, I will Survive, etc. Tubes, written by Serge Gainsbourg for 17 of them, who scored the 80s, 90swhich resonated on numerous TV sets, in a host of entertainment shows in which Régine liked to come and sow his joy of living and his taste for celebration.
Heloise Wagner is perfect in the role of this passionate businesswoman who started her career in the 1950s. She embodies without overdoing strong and assertive character who was often criticized for her, the independent and whimsical temperament of the woman who, at almost 40 years old, expressed feeling good about herself.
“I love talking about myself, at least during this time I don’t say bad things about others. »
We discover his first steps in the world of the night at the bar Whiskey galore, near the Royal Palace; then the opening of his first nightclub, At Régine’sin Paris, in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district; his dazzling friendship with Françoise Saganfinely interpreted by Céline Esperin ; or the interviews on variety shows in which she does not hesitate to reveal herself as she is. Interviews here conducted by Matthias Van Khache which caricatures the era and its codes just enough to bring a tasty touch of humor and freshness to the whole.
Régine until the end of the night, a nice spotlight
Héloïse Wagner and Alexis Sequera sign here a creation which is neither a biopic nor an autobiographical story. This musical show filled with enthusiasm indeed comes to spoil the colorful existence of the one who was a notable figure in the French audiovisual landscape for decades. Between moments of life, songs and monologues, we meet some of those who shared his daily life, his life as an artist. We brush against its intimacy, we brush over its flaws.
And whether you’re from that generation or not, whether you’re familiar with his songs or not doesn’t matter. Because Régine until the end of the night is before everything a spotlight on an inspiring destiny : that of a woman who knew how to start from nothing and make her place (and what a place!) in a man’s world before it became the fight of an entire society; a woman who knew how to invent the party life she dreamed of ! A spotlight also on a carefree era, that of all possibilities.
Régine until the end of the night, by Héloïse Wagner and Alexis Sequera, directed Marion Motin, Héloïse Wagner, Alexis Sequerawith Héloïse Wagner, Céline Espérin, Matthias Van Khache and on accordion (alternatingly) Laurent Derache or Dominique Emorine, is performed at the Théâtre des Gémeaux, from June 29 to July 21, 2024 at 7:05 p.m. (off Tuesdays).
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Avis
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There is joy in the air!
The actors take us with infectious enthusiasm on this journey between theater and music hall which we would have liked to have been a little more frenzied. Probably the energy of Avignon will infuse this show with a little something that will bring out all its colors better.
