Norman Groulx and Sirhan Djezzar

Starmania "Mogador-93"

The fifth production of Starmania (or the third French production) referred to as “Mogador-93” premiered on October 1, 1993 and it was the longest running one: between 1993 and 2001. This Starmania revival, staged by Lewis Furey, became the musical of the year in 1994 and won several other awards, including the most attended show.

However, this production was detested by Michel Berger's widow France Gall. “Lewis Furey's version was a horror, a disaster. I cried for ten years. What bad taste! He skipped over everything. I was right in Bercy at that time, but anyway the team that put together this version didn't want me there, because I would have complained. It was Lewis Furey, it wasn't Michel Berger. Michel's charm was no longer there, which was a huge pain,” quotes her words François Alquier in “L'aventure Starmania” (p. 120).

The plot of this show was almost identical to that of the “Edition Rouge” and had almost the same set of songs, some of them shortened. The musical arrangements were based on the versions of 1988 and on the concept album for the English version “Tycoon” of 1992. The Black Stars were now represented by 7 acrobats, and brought much more violence on stage. The exuberant costumes were developed by Philippe Guillotel, who also worked for the Olympic Games ceremonies, Cirque du Soleil and created costumes for movies.

Richard and Norman Groulx played their respective roles in this production too, but it did not happen at once. After being the spectacular Johnny Rockfort in Starmania III and IV, Norman Groulx was not offered this role in 1993. Instead, "Luc Plamondon asked me to play Sadia, the transvestite. I thought I was going to do Johnny again, but he chose Bruno Pelletier. I refused to play Sadia, as I did not understand this strange proposal. Today, I regret it a little, especially since, suddenly, they did not keep the idea. They may not have found the man they needed to play a masculine Sadia. They called me back the next year to do the three male roles in alternating for a month: Johnny Rockfort, Ziggy and Zero Janvier. Afterwards, I kept Johnny Rockfort”, reminisced in his interview Norman Groulx (Alquer, p. 127).

Even for an experienced actor, it was challenging 4 months. “Zéro Janvier was a trying role. I was in a small elevator that I had to navigate between large buildings. The first three times, I passed out. In the elevator, I couldn't breathe, but I didn't realize it. I was just afraid of not being able to make it work, it traumatized me. In addition, it was the flagship song of my brother, who played Zéro Janvier for a very long time. I even asked him for advice”, continues Norman Groulx (Alquer, p. 128).

Norman Groulx (Ziggy), 1994***

Richard Groulx (Zero Janvier) and Patsy Gallant (Stella Spotlight)*

Richard Groulx returned to his role in 1997, when Starmania was played at the Palais des Sports, and then at the Casino de Paris. He further explored the role of Zero Janvier till 1999. Richard Groulx could very easily slip into the role and back to himself: “I easily detached myself from my character. Once the makeup was off, I was Richard again. I no longer felt Zero Janvier at all. To be honest with you, in my dressing room, I had a photo of Jean-Marie Le Pen: it was my way of getting into the role. You can imagine that when I left the stage, I didn't want to remain a kind of Le Pen”, explains Richard Groulx in his interview to Alquier (p. 133). For Norman Groulx it was more challenging to get out of Johnny Rockfort’s skin. He confesses that the character transformed him.

Starmania in 1996

Both brothers quit Starmania in April 1999. Norman Groulx returned to Quebec and performed in the English language both on stage and did voice-over. His last public appearance with regards to Starmania was in the special emission of « Le Banquier » hosted by Julie Snyder in 2015. In his interview in 2017 he confesses, “In my career, Starmania is what I have done best. There has not been anything more interesting since. After this experience, nothing tempted me. Everything else did not seem good enough, not beautiful enough. Dealing with Starmania shutdown took me time. As my existence had completely changed, in "normal" life, I felt that something wasn't okay. Returned to Quebec. I wasn't well. I didn't know how to define what was wrong. Today, I feel better, but for a while I had a feeling of vagueness in my soul” (Alquier, p.138)

Richard Groulx has remained in France where he continues his musical career. Among other projects, he participates in “Michel Berger Story”, where he performs his signature “Le Blues du Businessman” among other songs by Michel Berger.