Producers | Serge Postigo wins in Paris

ProducersThe show, in which Serge Postigo plays the main role, won two Molière Awards on Monday evening in Paris. Journalism He took the opportunity to listen to the actor temporarily “exiled” in France for about two years.

Luke Boulanger
Journalism

To use an expression for French cousins, Serge Postigo is currently having a hit in Paris!

Since last November, the comedian has been starring in Producersa French adaptation of Mel Brooks’ work, which remains to this day the most award-winning musical comedy in Broadway history (with 12 Tony Awards).

Still playing at the Paris Theatre, Rue Blanche, the production won twice from Molière on Monday night, including the Show’s Musical of the Year award, and has already sold 150,000 tickets.

Supported by a troupe of 16 actors and 7 musicians, the show will undoubtedly return next fall in Paris. after summer vacation. Serge Postigo shares the spotlight with Benoit Cowden, among others, winner of the Molière Prize for Male Revelation.

The Quebec actor plays Jewish producer Max Bialystok, the character with whom Nathan Lane has triumphed both on stage and in cinema.

“It’s a golden role for an actor my age. [53 ans] Says Postigo, join him Journalism In Paris, Tuesday. The show was a finalist in four categories. The actor sang an excerpt from the show during Moliere’s evening. “Max is full of flaws. He’s touching and funny. We learn to love her over the performance. I love playing this kind of character with multiple layers,” says the actor.

It is also a very physically demanding role. With singing, dancing and other beiruts. “I play seven times a week, six nights a week. I only get off stage three times. I’ve lost nine kilograms since the first show,” he explains.

A career on two continents

singing King of Broadway, Serge Postigo felt many emotions on stage at the Follis Berger Theater on Monday night. After cancellation, in March 2020, to produce weird shoes By Just for Laughs, the director no longer has a job in Quebec.

He “exploited” the epidemic to do two shows in Paris: before diving into them ProducersHe performed and directed the play Grandpa resistslast year.

Born in France, Serge Postigo has never played in his native country. Learn about the theatrical scene in France, “totally different from the scene in Quebec.” Is it a new profession abroad? Far from Quebec?

However, the success producers Of course it gives a boost to his career across the Atlantic. Mel Brooks 1967 movie adaptation, Producers It tells the story of a bankrupt producer who decides to set up a “theatrical failure” to enrich himself with his insurance company.

Max comes up with the idea of ​​composing a musical to celebrate the Nazis, titled … flowers for hitler. He thinks it’s a guaranteed failure. However, the play will be a huge hit!

An argument that made Postigo contemplate the idea of ​​succeeding in his profession. Producers It is a work in pure tradition Musicals London and Broadway. It is the type that has won the actor’s appreciation since the success of fatDirected by Denis Bouchard, With Marina Orsini in 1998.

“The musical does not appeal to everyone. In Producers, we multiply stereotypes about gays, Jews, and women … which is not so obvious in our time that it is not second-class. However, it is a standing ovation every evening! A rare thing in Paris. I am enjoying my happiness with the whole team. I love my job and my colleagues very much in France and Quebec. There are a lot of people in the shadows who put their talent at the service of musical comedy. This success for them too. »