The original musical "The Ten Commandments" was created in 2000 with music by Pascal Obispo, lyrics by Lionel Florence and Patrice Guirao, directed by Elie Chouraqui and choreographed by Kamel Ouali.
This fine array of talent sums up the quality of the show, which has been returning with a new troupe since last year and will be on tour until 2026 in France and abroad.
The story immerses the viewer in ancient Egypt, when the Hebrew people are enslaved. Bithia, sister of Pharaoh Seti, cannot have children and retrieves a newborn from a cradle along the Nile. He will be baptized Moses ("saved from the waters") and raised as Ramses's brother, without knowing his true past. Nefertari, who is promised to the future pharaoh, has her heart torn between Moses, who conquered her, and Ramses, who is synonymous with a marriage of convenience. The protagonists grow up with their respective destinies until the bloody confrontation between the tyrant king of Egypt and the one who must free his people and lead them to the promised land. The destiny of "two brothers" caught up in their origins.
The show, which lasts 2 hours 45 minutes (including a 20-minute intermission), is a succession of historical tableaux. The original version is revisited with a new staging by Giuliano Peparini ("The Legend of King Arthur", "1789") which brings a modern atmosphere dusting off the duel between Ramses and Moses. The biblical story is a divine odyssey that dazzles the audience as much with its visual projections which are sumptuous as with its calibrated lights. I admit to having followed this epic with pleasure and even if the music is played in playback, the vocal interpretation is grandiose and the participants qualitative. 26 singers / dancers including Tony Bredelet, Benjamin Bocconi, Leelou Music, David Lempell, Julien Arcuri and Awa Sy play the main roles. The most famous scenes remain the most famous, such as the parting of the waters near Port Said and Moses' ascent of Mount Sinai after Ramses freed the Jewish people from the ten plagues that had struck Egypt, killing the pharaoh's eldest son.
Both acts are filled with "love" songs and the hits "La Peine Maximum", "Mon Frère" and of course "L'Envie d'Aimer" are performed with class. Everyone thinks of Daniel Levi who died at the age of 60 in 2022 and who had given an intimate concert at the Théatro Bordelais 4 years earlier. Thanks to this unstoppable title, the performance rubs shoulders with the success and renown of other shows like "Starmania" or "Notre Dame de Paris". One can criticize the lack of dialogue between the many songs, which are rather basic textually, and the recurring blackouts during the transitions, which are closer to a concert than a musical. Nevertheless, the singers do the job and Yochebed, Ramses and Moses are the strong links of this new version with very modern and rhythmic choreography. Visually, the projections are successful, allowing for minimalism in the sets for a convincing result.
A standing ovation for "L'Envie d'Aimer" (The Desire to Love) closed this introspective journey, emanating freedom in the current societal context. The show's introduction projected images of war from all eras, and the epilogue left the audience with the feeling that anything is possible with a lot of willpower and sacrifice. The troupe will return to Arkea Arena on February 8, 2026.
Diego OnTheRocks
Photos: official show photos
