Richard Cocciante, Daniel Lavoie and Jeff

Radio France Bleue
May 2002

It is one  of the most important musical events of the Autumn 2002. You just love that kind of stories. You have known that one for ever : "Le Petit Prince", with the team which is turning that dream  into a reality : Richard Cocciante, Daniel Lavoie and Jeff.   

Journalist: Had you been thinking about this story for a long time? Before "Notre Dame de Paris"?
Richard Cocciante:  I think we all dreamt of doing something with "Le Petit Prince". As a musician, I have been wanting to do something for a long time, but it was just a dream. Then I got this opportunity to do what I had been dreaming about. 

Journalist: Whom do you confide in  when you have a new project? Do you dream alone in your car  or do you share your enthusiasm  with others?
Richard Cocciante: First I dream on my own. It’s normal to dream on one’s own, during moments of solitude, that’s good, but then I confide in someone, my wife. And then there is the person writing the texts, Elisabeth Anaïs, we let ourselves go slightly mad together. That’s where the whole thing starts from. You must be free to go a little mad, at first, and then you start composing. It’s the basis of all creation.
I thought Elisabeth Anaïs had an interesting way of writing for  "Le Petit Prince" . She is very understated, very delicate, just like the novel itself; it sounds very much like Saint Exupery’s own writing. So, first, we both tried writing but we didn’t know whether or  not we could take it further. It is important for the writer and composer to get on well and to find some common ground. 

Journalist: Daniel Lavoie, the last time we met for Notre Dame de Paris, you said you wanted a break, to get over all that.
Daniel Lavoie: I couldn’t see myself starting another musical immediately, that’s for sure. After putting on Frollo’s cassock some 500 times, I was a bit tired. But this new project is particularly interesting, and when Richard approached me with it, I thought "Well, well, that could be interesting". 

Journalist: We’ll now introduce Jeff, Le Petit Prince. Can you tell us how you were chosen by Richard Cocciante’s team?
Jeff: I was picked by Françoise Falck, the casting director. She visited many choirs and when she visited mine (in Lyon), she asked the choir director, Jean François Duchant, " Have you got a blond, blue-eyed boy who can sing fairly well?" So he told her to come to one of his concerts, she came and listened. At the end of the concert, she came to meet me and my parents and we talked about the project. Of course I was mad with excitement, I said "yes" immediately , I didn’t need to think about it. 

Journalist: Who was happiest, you or your parents?
Jeff: We were all happy, but I was the happiest of all. 

Journalist: You are 13 years old, you are in your second year of secondary school. Do you already know what you like doing best?
Jeff: I like sport. I play tennis and  karaté with the second Petit Prince, Pierre Henry. I’m very pleased we’re sharing  this adventure, it allows us to be together and do something else. 

Journalist: Are the songs in Le Petit Prince difficult to sing?
Richard Cocciante: I think everything is difficult, either technically or spiritually. You have to get into the song and understand it. A seemingly easy song might be difficult because you have to give it the right atmosphere, the right tone. I have immence  confidence in the singers, even though they are young. If they are talented, then they can  express that talent. We found Jeff and also other Petits Princes who manage to sing beautifully things which are difficult, even for adults. 

Daniel Lavoie: I would go further than that. It’s one of the reasons I accepted to do this musical. I know that, with Richard, nothing is easy and that’s what I like. When you sing Richard’s songs you’re always on a tightrope. You have to concentrate, to focus; it’s a must, and you can’t do it any other way. It’s what makes it so pleasant night after night.  People say "Another musical, night after night, you’ll get bored stiff", that’s not true! When you get songs like the ones Richard composes, you don’t have a choice, you can’t rest, you’ve got to keep working. 

Journalist: Jeff, how  did Richard Cocciante direct you  when you were learning the songs from le Petit Prince?
Jeff: First he told me how the songs should be sung, the kind of feelings I was to put in them. Then we tried together at the piano, and then we recorded them. 

Journalist:  What is  fine  from the start or did you have to redo certain things?
Richard Cocciante: He is very demanding with himself, he assesses himself; he  would listen and say "Oh, it’s not too good there, let’s do it again". That’s good, not everybody is able to do that, especially at his age. He is very thoughtful. Working with Jeff is a pleasure. 

Journalist: Daniel, do you think that  youngsters in this line of work have more humility than adults?
Daniel Lavoie: I’m very demanding with myself too, I have always been. There is nothing to win from taking things easy, it does not always give good results. 

Journaliste: Richard Cocciante, tell us about the musical.
Richard Cocciante: It is a musical  with  people speaking, sounds,  with background music, like  a film. The singers sing with a mike, speak with a mike, it will be like a film. It must be steeped in an atmosphere of its own, that’s what I hope to achieve. 

Journalist: " All adults started by being children, but few remember it" , it’s the key phrase  for this story...
Richard Cocciante: And  "what really matters cannot be seen through the eyes". 

Journalist: Why do people forget they have been children?
Richard Cocciante:  If you analyse the society we live in, people  accept to follow certain rules in order to live together and forget to play, forget to dream like children. Adults  forbid children from dreaming too much. But I think that we, as artists, are priviledged to be able to dream on, that’s why  we are creative. 

Journalist: Daniel Lavoie, do you still do stupid things, like a little boy?
Daniel Lavoie: I think I’ve outgrown my childhood, it happens gradually without you noticing.

Richard Cocciante: I know you well and I’m not so sure. I look into your eyes and I see a lot of the child left in you. To be able to marvel, that’s being a child. 

Journalist: Are some things still  able to surprise you, on a daily basis? Do you  stop for a minute and think, what am I looking at...?
Daniel Lavoie: I do. If that means  being a child then that’s me. I like to marvel at things, I haven’t lost that. Anyway, I’m living a dream. I have been doing this job for thirty years, starting from a small village in western Canada and every year  I experience things I could never have imagined. The dream goes on. 

Journalist:  A word about the musicians, only the good and the great , all friends of yours....
Richard Cocciante: Yes, I met them when we recorded Notre Dame de Paris and I think they are exceptionally good. We work well together. We work as a team, they give me ideas. They round up the work I compose. There is Daniel too. I met him in Notre Dame de Paris and Daniel is not only an outstanding singer but also  a charming guy. I thought he really was saint Exupery, the pilot. He had all the qualities required to do it, that’s why I thought about him for the part. 

Journalist: You recorded in Dublin,why?
Richard Cocciante: When I’m recording I like cutting myself off, going to places where I cannot do much else. It’s easier to focus. 

Journalist: Will the musicians be playing live?
Richard Cocciante: It will be a music soundtrack, as in Notre Dame de Paris. It’s a modern approach and I think it was one of the reasons Notre Dame de Paris was so successful, the fact  we refused the old  way of doing musicals. 

Journalist: Is it complicated having children perform on stage?
Richard Cocciante: We’ll need several of them. They are being auditioned. They will have to alternate. It is difficult because every one of them has to learn the part. It’s not just a question of singing, they also have to recite, to move on stage. But children are resourceful. 

Journaliste:  Did you know the story of the Petit Prince, Jeff?
Jeff: I read it when I was 8, as all children do. Now,  I’ve read it in more depth. 

Journalist: What about the costumes?
Daniel Lavoie: I have no idea. I trust Jean-Charles de Castelbajac completely. I think he loves "Le Petit Prince", so I am sure he will produce marvellous things for us. 

Journalist: will the choreography be similar to that of Notre Dame de Paris or should  we expect something completely different?
Richard Cocciante: It’s very different. There won’t be a ballet, it’s something else. There are some exceptional scenes, magic tricks, it’s a whole new climate. 

Journalist: Daniel Lavoie, you’ve known Richard Cocciante for a long time. How  would you say he is now?
Daniel Lavoie: He is fine. He looks happy and I think he is satisfied because he worked so hard. He’s produced something very good and I think he knows it. You never know  where  you’re going, how the show will be received and you’re always a bit worried, but when you’ve worked well you know it. Whatever is said about the musical, we’ve done our best, there’s nothing to regret.

Richard Cocciante: You do feel insecure right to the very last minute. But even if it flopped, I will still be proud to have done it, and that’s the most important thing of all.

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