A springboard named Starmania for Gabrielle Lapointe

PARIS | starmania Although it was created more than 40 years ago, Quebecer Gabrielle Lapointe admits to having been struck by the topicality of its subject, touching on eco-anxiety, gender identity and the thirst for fame. “We have a lot to learn from this dystopia and great lessons to draw from it,” she pleads.

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Gabrielle Lapointe admits not fully understanding the extent of the phenomenon starmania. And we can’t blame her: at 19, she didn’t experience the effervescence caused by the spectacle in real time, the last version of the rock opera having concluded before her birth.

But she still fully realizes the size of the springboard on which she is setting foot today by putting on Cristal’s blonde wig. Because starmania has propelled many careers before his own, giving wings to Martine St-Clair, among others, who embodied this same character in the first Quebec edition of the show, in 1980.

“I thought about it a lot at first. But less now”, suggests Gabrielle Lapointe, met last week, a few hours before the first performance of starmania on Parisian soil.

“I know it’s a great asset on a resume, and I hope it will be a springboard that will allow me to do other equally great projects, ideally in Quebec. But above all, I try to focus on the present moment to fully experience this adventure,” she continues.

“Need for variety”

Before landing the role of Cristal in the rock opera starmaniaGabrielle Lapointe had only a few backing vocals in Quebec operas to her credit, in addition to a handful of appearances as an extra or in television commercials.

The musical theater, she dreamed of it ardently, and this, for a good while.

“I love this art form because it allows me to do everything at the same time: play, sing and dance. I think if I was only a singer, it wouldn’t be enough. I really need variety in my art,” she says.

So that’s exactly what Cristal allows her to do, a role she shares equally with singer Lilya Adad. On stage, Gabrielle Lapointe takes pleasure in personifying this young woman who has until now gone through life with blinkers firmly screwed on either side of her face.

But her meeting with Johnny Rockfort – and the subsequent love at first sight – will awaken her gaze as much as her conscience to a reality much less sparkling than the one she had imagined.

« The clash between Cristal – the bourgeoisie – and Johnny – the decline – is immense. It makes her realize that the life she knows is a lie. There are things that need to change. And she will be ready to take great steps, perhaps not the best, to shake up the established order, ”summarizes Gabrielle Lapointe.