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50 hours of Beurssc5ouwburg
4. Mark Tompkins & Mathieu Grenier OPENING NIGHT - a vaudeville

performance 50 hours of Beurssc5ouwburg

4. Mark Tompkins & Mathieu Grenier OPENING NIGHT - a vaudeville

performance
TH 05.02.2015 22:00 BE premiere

Crisis? What Crisis? There's No Business Like Show Business!

Rodolphe Martin © Photo Laurent Philippe
Rodolphe Martin © Photo Laurent Philippe

If at first OPENING NIGHT might seem to be simply entertainment, a show composed of comical situations and tragicomic song-and-dance numbers (like Elvis Presley’s Are You Lonesome Tonight, Beyoncé’s Run The World (Girls),...), a more ambivalent and touching fable about the joyful yet ferocious transmission between an ageing Star and his young protégé slowly emerges.

They speak to us of the universal themes of life, love and death. The common love they share for vaudeville (1) and music hall is the starting point of their encounter and confrontation. The alchemy which occurs between these two beings, dedicated body and soul to the show, gradually reaches another level of meaning. In this world to win one's legitimate place or to give up one's place humbly and without regret, are the true issues of OPENING NIGHT.

Welcome for some good old cabaret!

In English

65'
Belgian premiere

(1) In a typical Vaudeville show (1880-1930), ten to fifteen numbers followed each other: song, dance and comedy routines, animal, magic and circus acts...The success of Vaudeville, in comparison to other types of theatre like Variety, Burlesque or Music Hall, came from its engagement to offer wholesome entertainment for the whole family. During Vaudeville’s golden age, sumptuous, modern palaces of consumption were built where the show turned day and night. The American concept of mass entertainment was born.

Concept: Mark Tompkins, in collaboration with Mathieu Grenier
Set design and costumes: Jean-Louis Badet
Light design and technical direction: Rodolphe Martin
Stage direction: Frans Poelstra
Assistant: Alix Denambride Production: I.D.A. Mark Tompkins subventionnée par la DRAC Ile-de-France / Ministère de la culture et de la communication. With the support of: micadanses Paris and ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival