As we are now well into November, the cold is gradually creeping into our daily lives. So, dear readers, there is nothing like a good show to perk you up.
I’m offering you Hip-Hop, jazz, a musical, dance, and revivals of classics you’ve loved (Le Père Noël est une ordure and Le Diner de Cons) now performed by the new generation.
If you live in the suburbs, I’ve found a show that only runs for one weekend, but it’s worth talking about. And since there are many other discoveries, and the program is rich and varied, I’ll leave it to you to choose…
Opus Heart
Entering the world of Israel Horovitz is a dream come true. Let’s be honest: this man is a legend. He is the most-performed contemporary American playwright in France, a personal friend of Anouilh, Beckett, and Vaclav Havel, the man who helped Al Pacino win his first acting award, and finally, the one about whom Eugène Ionesco once said: “Horovitz is both a realist and a sentimentalist”.
I’ll let you imagine how fierce he can be. There are three qualities in Opus Heart: poetic realism, grumpy sentimentality, and visceral ferocity.
In one of his most optimistic plays, Horovitz sends a truly invigorating message of hope: nothing is ever truly finished. And yet, the starting point of the play doesn’t exactly inspire joy.
The story :
Jakob Brackish, who knows he is terminal, is forced to hire Kathleen Hogan to take care of him during his final months. They have both let life pass them by and no longer hope for anything.
But Brackish is still very much alive, and Kathleen has her reasons for moving in with him… These two characters, who seem worlds apart, engage in a confrontation that is both funny and poignant, proving that the greatest accomplishments sometimes happen when you’ve lost all hope.
Note :
The Saint-Maur Theater, located in the Val de Marne, always offers a wonderful program. It was important to mention this, because culture isn’t just in Paris!
Table of Contents
Duration: 1h30
Showtimes: Saturday, November 15 at 6:00 PM and Sunday, November 16 at 3:30 PM
Prices: from €15 (under 26) to €20
Théâtre de Saint Maur, Radiguet hall
20 rue de la Liberté, 94100 Saint-Maur-des-Fossés
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Young Jazz Talents Blue Note Competition
The Tour Maine-Montparnasse Real Estate Ensemble, located in the heart of a historic jazz district, is organizing the Young Jazz Talents Competition for the very first time on Thursday, November 20, 2014.
This event is part of the Blue Note Jazz Festival, a major musical event launched by Blue Note Records, the legendary international jazz label celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
Thursday, November 20 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Young Jazz Talents Blue Note Competition
Free concert
Place Raoul Dautry, 75015 Paris
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Kalypso – Hip-Hop Dance Festival
Here is a dance festival that will please Mademoiselle Bon Plan, as she loves this discipline.
From the very first edition, it was a success with over 10,000 spectators. This year, the Kalypso Festival is growing and will take place in 6 cities in the Ile de France region, marking its arrival in Paris with performances at the Maison des Métallos and La Villette.
From November 12 to 30, 30 choreographers will illustrate the richness and diversity of the contemporary Hip-Hop scene across 58 performances.
Emerging companies like those of Valentine Nagata-Ramos, Anne Nguyen, Marion Motin, Aurélien Kairo cross paths with established companies like Käfig, the company led by Mourad Merzouki, which is presenting its new creation Pixel this year for 8 exceptional performances (from November 15 to 22) as a world premiere within the framework of the festival. A festival blending dance, circus, and digital arts.
The Kalypso Festival is also an opportunity to discover young dancers, notably through the Kalypso battle, to attend workshops, Master-classes, meet-and-greets, and even dinners in the presence of the artists. There will also be an exhibition and screenings of documentaries about Hip-Hop culture.
Kalypso Festival
From November 12 to 30
Ile de France
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Le Père Noël est une ordure (Santa Claus is a Stinker)
Félix, Zézette spouse X, Thérèse—all these characters have made us laugh so much, or rather, still make us laugh every time they appear on TV.
Well, I’m not offering you yet another rerun, but rather new talents who wonderfully reprise the famous lines of the Splendid troupe.
The story:
Josette, who just had a fight with Félix, comes to take refuge for Christmas Eve at the SOS Distress-Friendship office. It is Thérèse and Pierre who are on duty. Another “friend” will join them: the transvestite Katia. And of course, Félix, who will come to disrupt this Christmas Eve.
Cathy’s opinion:
The gamble was bold. But kudos to the troupe of actor and author Pierre Palmade. These six actors, while respecting the play of their predecessors, have managed to add their own personal touch. They are young and dynamic and make us relive, for the time of a show, the nostalgia of our youth. This 1979 play, created by the Splendid troupe, celebrates its 35th anniversary this year.
Comedy
until January 03, 2015
Showtimes: Tuesday to Saturday at 6:00 PM, 7:00 PM, 9:00 PM depending on the day
Prices: from €11 to €39
Théâtre Tristan Bernard
64 rue du Rocher, 75008 Paris
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The Dinner Game (Le Dîner de Cons)
The movie remains one of my favorites. And I immediately think of Francis Huster‘s fits of laughter. I had never seen the play with the immense and much-missed Jacques Villeret before. Today, for our favorite dinner, a new team of actors is tackling it.
The story:
The principle is simple: each participant brings an “idiot” (con) to an organized dinner. At the end of the evening, the one who found the most spectacular one is declared the winner.
Tonight, Brochant is ecstatic; he has found the rare gem. A world-class idiot: François Pignon, a civil servant at the Ministry of Finance, who is crazy about building models out of matches. But the publisher is unaware that Pignon, willing to do anything to be helpful, has become a master at triggering disasters. A meeting between two destinies that should never have crossed…
Cathy’s opinion:
Like the previous play, it wasn’t a sure thing! Plus, what do we, the audience, do in our seats? Well, we try to compare the actors of the first version with those of the second.
And how do you recognize a good “new version” actor? It’s the one who makes us almost forget the original. You guessed it, it’s a success. It’s well-acted, and you laugh from beginning to end.
Duration: 1h45
until December 31, 2014
Showtimes: Thursday to Sunday at 3:00 PM, 4:30 PM, 5:00 PM, 8:30 PM and 9:00 PM depending on the day
Prices: from €15 to €47
Théâtre de la Michodière
4 bis rue de la Michodière, 75002 Paris
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The Enchanted Story of the Little Jew on Wheels
Do this face and name look familiar? If you, like me, are a fan of the show Télématin on France 2, Frédéric Zeitoun is a music critic there. Do you only listen to the radio in the morning? Then you’ve certainly heard one of his songs. Because this actor is also a lyricist, singer-songwriter.
Today, it’s the actor that interests me.
One year ago in November 2013, I saw this show at the Gaité Montparnasse theater. In early October, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this play is still running one year later, but this time at the theater Le Petit Hébertot. So, it was only natural that I tell you about it in case you missed it.
The story :
This musical show, for which he wrote all the lyrics with the help of his accomplice François d’Epenoux, is quite simply his own story. He has gone through life “on wheels” since childhood with determination and courage to assert his difference.
Today, many associations are fighting to assert the rights of disabled people. As soon as you are no longer within the norm, being independent becomes difficult. Here in this show, Frédéric Zeitoun tells us with humor and elegance about the trials he has faced from childhood to adulthood to be accepted while being disabled and… Jewish.
Cathy’s opinion :
The subject of disability is handled with accuracy. Frédéric Zeitoun isn’t settling scores, but rather gives us a good time with this very cheerful musical show. He is not alone on stage, and the other actors are just as excellent.
Note :
The venue is accessible to people with reduced mobility.
Duration: 1h25
until January 04, 2015
Showtimes: Saturday at 4:00 PM and Sunday at 7:30 PM
Prices: from €12 to €28
Théâtre Le Petit Hébertot
78 bis boulevard des Batignolles, 75017 Paris
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Cuisine et confessions (Kitchen and Confessions)
I discovered Les 7 doigts de la main, a troupe founded in 2002, last year during a previous show.
This year they are returning on December 09 to La Cigale in Paris, and I wanted to tell you about it, because they are true artists.
Led by Shana Caroll and Sébastien Soldevilla, this new show aims to transform those unique moments where life takes a turn or flips unexpectedly into acrobatic language—moments that, in the blink of an eye, disrupt and reinvent our personal stories. This gives rise to a new genre of show, in which touch, smell, and taste add to the wonder of the eyes and ears, making the kitchen the meeting point of cultures.
Childhood tastes, summer breezes, the taste of chocolate on the lips of a first kiss. Our story is written in the kitchen.
from December 09, 2014 to January 03, 2015
Showtimes: Tuesday to Sunday at 5:00 PM and 8:30 PM depending on the day
Prices: from €25 to €60
La Cigale
120 boulevard Rochechouard, 75018 Paris
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Mistinguett, Queen of the Roaring Twenties
Now that you know me a little better, you’ve probably noticed that I have a soft spot for musicals, and also for what we used to call: Music-Hall.
Feathers, sequins, beautiful costumes, actor-singers and dancers performing to music specifically created for the event—my eyes are dazzled with joy from my seat.
The musical Mistinguett was made for me!
The story :
The artists on stage recount the creation of the first Music-Hall Show in history, which inspired Broadway. Throughout this musical journey, spectators will be invited to share with the artists the extraordinary human adventure that Miss and her troupe will experience on stage, leading to the ultimate finale: the opening of the curtain on the revue that would mark the entire history of Music-Hall.
Cathy’s opinion :
What can I say! That it’s beautiful, well-acted? I’ll tell you something that left a mark on me.
Carmen Maria Vega (whom I didn’t know), who plays Miss, is breathtaking. Everything is coherent and very well performed. But the memory I will keep is the last act.
When the show ended, all the artists came on stage to sing with us. Everyone was in sync. There was a great atmosphere. Leaving, people from the audience were dancing on the spot in the hall of the Casino de Paris. As Miss would say: “That is Paris”.
Melle Bon Plan’s opinion:
A musical with crazy energy; you stay glued to your seat from beginning to end, and personally, I didn’t see the 3 hours of the show go by because I was so caught up in the performance.
Like Cathy, I was thrilled by Carmen Maria Vega‘s performance, and I also have a soft spot for the villain of the story, the unscrupulous investor, and his song “Je n’ai pas d’âme” (whose melody is absolutely catchy), which I had already had the chance to see in rehearsal thanks to the Paris Tourist Office a few weeks ago.
Note :
For those who don’t know (or know little about) Jeanne Bourgeois (1875-1956), who took the stage name Mistinguett, she was a French singer and actress who forever marked the 20s (the Roaring Twenties) with her saucy style and her numerous revues.
Duration: 3h00
until January 04, 2015
Showtimes: Thursday to Sunday at 3:00 PM, 5:00 PM, 8:00 PM depending on the day
Prices: from €20 to €79
Casino de Paris
16 rue de Clichy, 75009 Paris
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Wadadidou, a pin-up clown solo
Églantine Rivière
offers us a pin-up show with a red nose as part of the “After Co” series at the Collège des Bernardins, a place I appreciate a lot and have already told you about on the blog.
unique performance on Thursday, December 4 at 8:30 PM
Grand auditorium of the Collège des Bernardins
20 rue de Poissy 75005 Paris
unique price of €5
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CONTEST :
The Collège des Bernardins
is offering 4 invitations for two people to my readers for this pin-up clown solo on December 4.
To participate, just leave a comment below this article telling me about your outing tips for the moment or your favorites.
A random draw among the responses to this question will determine the 4 winners of the prizes. Good luck everyone!
Rules :
– Contest limited to Metropolitan France
– + 1 chance if you are a fan of the blog’s Facebook page; + 1 chance if you follow the blog’s Twitter page; + 1 chance if you follow the blog’s Hellocoton page; + 1 chance if you follow the blog’s Instagram page + 1 chance for each share of the article (don’t forget to leave your usernames in your comment if you want to benefit from extra chance(s))
– 1 entry per IP address
– transport to the show location is not included in the prize
– contest start date is Saturday, November 15, 2014 – deadline for participation is Saturday, November 29, 2014 and result the following day on the blog in an edit of this article.
article written by Cathy and Melle Bon Plan
