Every year, some 5 million people travel to Lourdes, a little French town in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains — drawn by a teenage girl who, believers say, saw the Virgin Mary there almost 170 years ago.
But will a musical — its story based largely on archived interviews with that girl, Bernadette Soubirous — sell here in Chicago, and particularly at a time when most faiths across the United States have seen significant drops in service attendance in recent years?
“Bernadette, the Musical” isn’t necessarily a Catholic story or even a religious one, said the cast and producers, who were in town Wednesday to promote the show, — which will have its American premiere Feb. 19 at The Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture in Lake View.
The cast and producers, who were in town Wednesday to promote the show, took pains to say “Bernadette, The Musical” isn’t necessarily a Catholic story or even a religious one.
“It’s the story of a journey of a little girl. If you’re a believer, you’ll get it; if you’re not, you will be fascinated by the story of that little girl,” said the show’s director, Serge Denoncourt, a French-Canadian who describes himself as an atheist. “She had a big temper, she was fighting with her mother, she was a real teenager.”
Actor Kelsey Grammer is one of the show’s producers. He said he first found out about the show, which premiered in France in 2019 [in French, but it’s in English here], while on a trip several years ago that included a stop at the Vatican. A priest told the actor he had some friends who were producing a show about Saint Bernadette. The priest wondered if Grammer knew anyone in Hollywood who might help.
Grammer said he saw potential in the show and its lead, the French actor Eyma.
“This is not a traditional Broadway musical or an American-style musical. I think of it sort of as a rock opera,” Grammer said during a chat with the Chicago Sun-Times Wednesday. “It’s very French. … There’s a rhythmic and melodic continuity that is not exactly what you think of as an American musical.”
Present-day Lourdes is, for the faithful, a holy place — at its center a grotto with a natural spring believed to possess healing powers. For non-believers — with the surrounding streets hawking all manner of souvenirs — it can feel like the worst kind of tourist trap.
But back in 1858, the grotto was where a 14-year-old Bernadette reported having 18 visions of a “woman in white,” later interpreted to be Jesus’ mother. Bernadette, an impoverished and illiterate teenager, initially faced ridicule and disbelief — even anger — after she reported to a local priest what she’d seen.
The show’s dialogue draws from Bernadette’s real-life “interrogators” trying to figure out who or what she has seen.
“Finally, the young lady is pressured into this idea that she has to come up with some explanation for who she is talking to,” Grammer said. “Finally, the vision tells her, ‘Oh, all right, tell them you’re speaking to the Immaculate Conception.’”
Those sophisticated words, coming from an uneducated teenager, convinced the priests that Bernadette is indeed talking to the Virgin Mary.
Bernadette would later enter convent life. Suffering from ill health, she died at age 35. The Catholic Church made her a saint in 1933.
“The Athenaeum Center is dedicated to bringing works of beauty and meaning to Chicago audiences,” said Lawrence Daufenbach, executive director and founder of the Athenaeum Center. “We’re honored to host ‘Bernadette, The Musical,’ a moving story that speaks to the power of hope and the human spirit.”
Though it’s a musical, the show features no dancing.
“How do you dance around the story of a saint?” Denoncourt said, when the question about the lack of dancing was put to him.
He described the show’s costumes and sets as having a “Les Mis” vibe.
Emya, 23, who originated the role of Bernadette about eight years ago, is making her first trip to Chicago.
“It’s a big challenge for me to speak in English, to be here in America. But I’m so happy. I can’t wait to start,” said Emya, who said she’s been in the city just two days.