Francois Morel. “It all started with a request. The producer Jeannine Roze, who was Barbara’s secretary and through whom she met Raymond Devos, called me ten years after the giant’s death to say that it would be good to pay tribute to him. she programmed a classical matinee at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and dreamed about public readings of her lyrics, then we set them to music and the idea for the show took shape.”
His name well describes the essence of a man tormented until the end of his career…
“Raymond Devos is an expression of doubt and apprehension, and on stage I am face to face with the pianist because his relationship with him was fundamental.”
Twelve years after his death, you bring him back to life on stage. What do you feel?
“Something indefinable… At the end of the show, people don’t really know when Devos ends and Morel begins, that’s a nice compliment!”
Vincent Dedienne: “Belgians are more fun and less complicated”
If he were alive today, what would you say to him?
“‘Thank you for the happiness you gave the public. You were so generous on stage!’ I would love to talk to him about technique and know how to create silence and manage time. I would like him to come see the show and talk about it. I have only one certainty: he would feel the love and admiration I have for him.”
Have you met him?
“In the year he was 80 years old. I was doing reviews for France Inter and I imagined a meeting between God and Raymond Devos. He really liked the text. This is how the program “I have doubts” looks, but our first contact remains “Le. “Grand Échiquier”, Jacques Chancel’s show. I also saw him on stage when I was a student. I remember laughing so much. rare things! He was very clownish and existential.”
In your eyes, was Raymond Devos a phenomenon in the world of artists?
“Yes, he was unique. Several times he was offered to play the main roles in the repertory and especially characters from Moliere, whom he greatly admired. But he was there, he said: ‘There is only me, who can do his thing with me. .’ So he stuck with it.”
Like him, do you like to travel in your imagination?
“Yes. It gives us the courage to face reality.”
“Adamo never disappoints”
From the Deschiens family (the famous TV series where Yolande Moreau plays his wife) to Raymond Devos: this is how François Morel’s brilliant career can be summed up. After occupying the Royal Circus in Brussels on April 17th, he will perform “I have doubts” on the 19th at the Central in La Louvière, on the 25th at the Sucrerie in Wavre and on the 26th at the Forum in Liège. An absolute performer, Brassens also sang on album and on stage. “A giant, like Devos,” he explains. “His 200 or so songs stand the test of time and never get old. We always recite La Fontaine’s fables and we always read Victor Hugo. I hope we will be listening to Brassens for a long time. It is of a very high standard, both in thought and in writing. Jacques Brel is also part of my playlist. Like Salvatore Adamo, who I met during one of my first shows, “Les Amis du Dimanche”. I was talking about him. He came to me. We had dinner together. Although I met him only once, I remember him as a gentleman of infinite courtesy, gentleness, and kindness. He is one of the great Belgian figures. I recently saw that you appeared on the cover of Paris Match with it. I loved. He never disappoints in his reports either.”