CHAPLIN

music for theatre

music & sound design by Jérôme Baur

SAMPLE

TRAILERS

Performance for adults - Copenhagen, 2001

CHAPLIN traces the life on stage of one of the most illustrious actors and directors of all time. An artist who found his own measure between laughter and tears and who transformed the silent film into a universal language.

It is a show about the man behind the myth and about the man who represents the passage between theater and cinema.

Giacomo Ravicchio created and directed this production and with his personal world of images, through the medium of film, he plays and presents the audience with moments of overwhelming visual magic.

Chaplin appears during the play sometimes young, sometimes old, in his vagabond outfit and in his private life.

So many dimensions for which I had to compose the music. Moreover, we decided not to use the "musical hits" nor the music of Chaplin's films but to create a universe of our own. Writing the music for this show was therefore a major challenge for me.

I composed and performed this soundtrack in Copenhagen, inspired by this giant, his time and his incredible career. Jazz, waltzes, orchestral music and abstract sounds are intertwined throughout his story.

ANNECDOTE

I was fortunate enough during the six weeks of creation to have "a Chaplin" in the flesh land there... every morning right next to me. Chaplin was magnificently interpreted and embodied by Giacomo Ravicchio who knew how to impregnate himself with a myriad of details specific to this immensely talented artist.

From his body language, his anguish to his poetry and humor, the Chaplin universe very quickly permeated the entire creative team, on a daily basis.

CREDIT

On stage: Claus Maack Bahnsen, Lars Begtrup, Nina Christrup, Rasmus Haxen, Torbjørn Hartvig Hummel, Elise Müller and Giacomo Ravicchio

Director, author and designer: Giacomo Ravicchio
Artistic collaborator, script translation and adaption: Elise Müller
Composer: Jérôme Baur
Manuscrit, set design et artistic direction: Giacomo Ravicchio
Dramaturge et translator: Bent Holm
Lights: Angelica Kroeger

MAKING OF - SHANGHAI

More recently in 2019, the Chaplin show was purchased and then taken over by China's national theater, SADC - Arts Dramatic Arts Center in Shanghai.

Shanghai Chaplin Rehearsal day 10 Restaurant scene - Vimeo

GALLERY

photo © thomas Petri - The performance ”Chaplin” in Denmark