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Le Petit Prince: "What is important is invisible to the eye."

AMB France Music - 25th August 2002
Alexandre L.

The public will be able to discover a new musical show by Richard Cocciante and Elisabeth Anaïs, on stage next October at the Casino de Paris. It is the story of an Airman and a little boy, of a meeting in the middle of the desert, it’s a commentary on our society. It’s the story of the Petit Prince of Antoine de Saint Exupéry.

Famous aviator, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was equally renowned for his award-winning writings. Born in 1900 in Lyon, he made many flights and suffered several accidents during his lifetime. He disappeared in mysterious circumstances in July 1944 during a reconnaissance mission. But it is interesting to note that, at the end of 1935, he crashed in the Libyan desert. He was found five days later.

Le Petit Prince of Saint-Exupéry tells the story of an Airman who, when he was little, drew boas which swallowed elephants. But, sadly he was never understood by grown-ups. On becoming an adult, he flies over a desert and finds himself forced to land in that place which would become the theatre for a very strange encounter. A small boy asks him to draw a sheep for him. Time goes by, the Airman learns the story of the Petit Prince: he lived on a tiny planet on which were baobabs and volcanoes and where he had become devoted to a lone rose. Disappointed by his own behaviour, the Petit Prince then decides to leave. He will meet up with many people on his journey: a power-hungry King, a conceited man surrounded by his delusions, a boozer who drinks to forget that he is ashamed of drinking, a businessman who isn't looking to make money, a lamp-lighter who follows orders and a geographer who knows everything without ever having truly seen anything.

On arriving on Earth, he only meets more extreme versions of what he has already seen. But he also discovers that his rose is a very common flower. Finally, the fox who really understands the Petit Prince, asks him to tame him, it's this which creates bonds of love and friendship, which transforms something commonplace into something special. Having understood her uniqueness since he had "tamed" her, the Petit Prince decides to return home. The Airman stays on, alone. At once happy that the Petit Prince has gone home but also sad to lose a friend.

This story will, in itself, interest some people, but the real meaning will be understood by others: Saint-Exupéry shows us our own society where each one of us has a bit of the geographer, the conceited man or the lamp-lighter. A society where "all grown-ups were firstly children but few among them remember that" and where the only real riches, friendship and love, are often overlooked by grown-ups.

It is Elisabeth Anaïs who took on the difficult task of adapting the work of Saint-Exupéry. Famous lyricist, she has already collaborated with Richard Cocciante and other artistes, such as Catherine Lara, Philippe Lavil and Garou. The script beautifully follows Saint-Exupéry's ideas, that's why one finds the songs quite different from what one expects. The adaptation of a philosophical tale is quite different from that of a novel. By recapturing some parts of the author's own words, one gets a magnificent script which presents itself to a rather more mature public than that of other musical shows.

Richard Cocciante, an international artiste whom the French public obviously remember for his recent success "Notre Dame de Paris" is the composer. He has succeeded fully in voicing, in his music, the characters of the people whom the Petit Prince meets. Magnificent for the King, tottering for the Boozer, speedy and rhythmic for the Lamp-lighter etc. Together, the music and rhythms are also quite original.

Alongside the performers, the projection lamps turn towards the two main characters: the Petit Prince and the Airman. Jeff has a physical build more than perfect for the person he plays, the Petit Prince. From the height of his 13 years, he has already succeeded in stamping himself on the part and in first proving himself in some of the pieces. Known to the French public, above all for the song "Ils s'aiment" and more recently for his role in "Notre Dame de Paris", it's Daniel Lavoie who will meet up with the Petit Prince in the middle of the desert. A very good choice at the vocal level for the part of the Airman, and that's not overlooking the fact that Daniel has also held onto his childhood soul, with a couple of albums of songs to his credit, for a young audience.

But we mustn't forget the other characters in the tale: lots of young talent to play those whom the Petit Prince meets. The so precious Rose played by Cathialine Andria, a superb discovery. The King played by Stéphane Neville, the Boozer played by Nicaud whose voice brings to mind certain memories for Richard Cocciante, the Businessman by Sébastien Izambard, the Lamp-lighter by Thomas Gérome, the geographer by Christophe Cerrino and the Fox by Romain Cortèse. Others are not totally unknown to the public, in the role of the Conceited man on actually finds Laurent Ban, noted on account of his interpretations of Gringoire and of Phoebus in the last company of "Notre Dame de Paris". The role of the Railway pointsman is taken by Nicolas Saje whom one could have seen in "L'Alphoméga" and in "Les milles et une vies d'Ali Baba".

The result is a very lovely album, quite original and following faithfully the work of Saint-Exupéry. One can also note that certain pieces are suitable for broadcasting, because many excerpts are less appealing taken out of context. It's without doubt, on stage and in it's entirety that the show will be judged. Nevertheless personally, some pieces have already been well-noted: the song of the Conceited man "Mói je" magnificently interpreted, just like "Adieu" the song of the Rose. Finally, I quote "Puisque c'est ma rose", full of feeling with a lovely melody and sweet voices.