Chantal Lamarre Presents First Solo Show, Bringing Cabaret Era Themes to Stage
Chantal Lamarre is mounting her first solo stage show, a cabaret-inspired production titled “gossé à la main” that she frames as a handmade, family-shaped project.
Friday at 10: 00 a. m. ET, chantal lamarre’s shift to solo performance matters because the 63-year-old arrives with decades of collaborative stage work — about a quarantaine de spectacles of Steppettes and 75 performances with the troupe Les Nonnes — and a 26-year run as a contributor on Infoman.
Chantal Lamarre’s ‘gossé à la main’ Draws on Cabaret, Steppettes and Cornemuse
The show takes its décor from the era of cabarets and plays with the playful-steppette tradition that inspired its title. The idea for the name came from Chantal Lamarre’s memory of a phrase attributed to Dominique Michel: “on a fait de la steppette. ” She said she wanted a mix of light and solemn: the steppette on one side and the cornemuse as a heavier, more ceremonial contrast.
She makes clear she will not pretend to be a bagpipe player on stage: the context states, “Tu ne t’improvises pas joueur de cornemuse !” The program promises a blend of nostalgia for 1950s cabaret moments and quick departures from that era’s conventions, aimed at a broad audience that can include viewers of all ages.
Centre culturel Berger to Host Premiere in Autumn
The production is slated to appear at the Centre culturel Berger in the autumn season. Chantal Lamarre began seriously considering a solo staging after the pandemic, saying the return to public life made her realize how much performing had been missed.
Before that moment she felt she was not yet ready to take on a solo project, describing herself as “pas d’équerre” to tackle such a challenge, even after a recent run of 75 performances with Les Nonnes. The autumn booking positions the show as a seasonal debut that builds on her recent stage momentum.
Creative Team: François Chénier, Timothée Laperrière and Close Collaborators
Chantal Lamarre assembled a team she knows well: François Chénier is credited with the staging, a few friends helped on the texts, and her son, Timothée Laperrière, produced the soundtrack. Lamarre framed the enterprise as “comme une affaire familiale gossée à la main. “
She also drew a line between her television work and the theatre piece. After 26 years contributing to Infoman, she chose not to transplant her familiar TV segments into the stage show, saying some ideas belong to the television program and that she is creating theatre rather than a TV re-creation.
For now, ticketing details and exact performance dates and times at the Centre culturel Berger are expected before the autumn season; more information should be available prior to that period.
