Cyril Gueï, Blandine Bellavoir, Samuel Labarthe, Élodie Frenck and Dominique Thomas bid farewell to the “Small Murders of Agatha Christie” with a special episode in the form of a musical.

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Caroline DUBOIS - Esacazal films

  • France 2 broadcasts this Friday the final of season 2 of "Small murders of Agatha Christie".

  • The opportunity to say goodbye to Commissioner Laurence, his secretary Marlène and journalist Alice with an episode in the form of a musical.

  • Sophie Révil, the producer of the series, tells

    20 Minutes

    behind the scenes of this exceptional episode.

Farewell irresistible Commissioner Laurence, her delicious secretary Marlène and the spirited journalist Alice Avril!

France 2 broadcasts this Friday "A corpse at breakfast", the last episode of the second season of its successful series

Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie

.

"We wanted to make a final, which is a fireworks display and a gift to our fans", tells

20 Minutes

, Sophie Révil, the producer of the series.

The heroes of season 2 of Les

Petits Meurtres

thus bow out with a musical.

“In 2017,

La La Land

brought the musical back to our minds,” explains the producer.

And the musical fits well with the spirit of the series of France 2: “It's a very playful genre, not realistic, we are in the enchantment and in the dream.

This corresponds to the DNA of the series where we have fun in a somewhat imaginary world, even if the feelings are very real.

The Little Murders of Agatha Christie

is a journey like the musical.

"

A mix of thriller and musical

After having mixed thriller and comedy,

The little murders

lead the investigation by singing and dancing: “another crazy idea for our characters, one more!

», Comments Sophie Révil.

The idea of ​​ending the season with a musical excited the team and the actors: “ 

The Little Murders

are a family.

They've been touring together for seven years, these actors love each other a lot.

They are very good friends.

They were happy to take up this challenge, to take these dancing and singing lessons together.

It was done in a great good mood.

"

A completely original story

Another novelty, the plot of the episode is not taken from a novel by Agatha Christie.

“We obtained the right of Agatha Christie's great-grandson, James Prichard, a big fan of the Small Murders, very benevolent and protective with us,” rejoices the producer.

The story begins when Alice Avril wakes up in the early morning in her bed next to a corpse.

No memory of what happened except for a serious hangover.

"I had this idea of ​​this corpse that was going to walk around everywhere, that it was necessary to hide", explains the producer, who assumes the nod to Hitchcock's film

But who killed Harry?

Moreover, "Shirley MacLaine is the heroine of this film and she was the inspiration for the redhead and petulant Alice Avril from The

Little Murders

 ".

Twelve unreleased tracks

The writing of the songs was entrusted to Thierry Debroux, "one of the historical authors of the series" who had co-created the characters.

“Thierry Debroux is an author of plays and directs the Théâtre Royal du Parc in Brussels.

He often writes songs in his shows.

I knew he wrote great songs, ”says the producer.

The final episode contains 12 original songs.

“We worked on these words for months so that there would be all the humor, all the spirit of the Little Murders.

The song “To get rid of a body” for example contains this kind of black humor, second degree, of shift which characterizes us ”, indicates Sophie Révil.

For the music, the production called on three young composers Moïra Conrath, Ludwig Gorhan and Laurent Avenard.

“Moïra Conrath is also a singer and has coached all the actors for singing,” she explains.

The songs were recorded in the studio, but no disc planned for the moment: “We thought about it and we didn't do it because it's a hell of a budget and it's not our job.

If ever there is an outburst of passion around this musical, maybe we will.

"

Twelve musical numbers

The cast rehearsed for two months with choreographer Corinne Devaux, who designed all the numbers.

“We told the actors from the start: 'It's not in two months that we will make you professional dancers.

So, it doesn't matter if it's imperfect, it's Laurence, Avril and Marlène who dance, surrounded by professional dancers ””, explains Sophie Révil.

The numbers are “tributes to the musicals we love.

West Side Story

, obviously Jacques Demy and

Les Demoiselles de Rochefort

with Avril in yellow and Marlène in pink,

La La Land

for the last scene, a tribute to Fred Aster and Ginger Rogers with the very glamorous waltz of Laurence and Marlène ”, lists the producer.

The episode was shot in twenty-four days compared to twenty-two and a half days usually.

"An energy took everyone away, which means that we got there because normally, this kind of film, it turns out rather in fifty or sixty days", congratulates Sophie Révil, who remembers an atmosphere of shooting “feverish, very cheerful, and very moving at the end.

"

The whole team of the production company Escazal Films and that of the

Small Murders

, "that is to say a hundred people", made up figures in the final scene "to accompany the three heroes towards their destiny".

"And there, there were tears because for us, it's ten years of work," says the producer.

A season 3 in the 1970s

If Laurence, Avril and Marlène leave us in song, this episode does not mark the end of the series, since a season 3 of The

Small Murders of Agatha Christie

is in preparation.

“The rest will take place in the 1970s, in 1972 to be precise,” announces the producer, ie during the second wave of feminism and “triumphant machismo.

"

“The little murders are a feminist series.

In season 2, Alice Avril was the spokesperson for women.

We often have episodes of rape, of harassment at work.

Casually, we were talking about very topical subjects while Alice Avril tried to get Marlène out of her position as a potiche, ”explains Sophie Révil.

And to give some information on the intrigue of this new era: “We imagined that in 1972, there was an experiment carried out at the Lille police station and that the first woman commissioner in France was appointed there.

In reality, the competition for commissioner was opened to women only in 1974. "

This woman commissioner will be played by Émilie Gavois-Kahn.

“She pushes back all the machos of the police station and takes to assist her an uncontrollable hothead, Inspector Beretta, played by Arthur Dupont, who is a bit David Starsky of

Starsky and Hutch

.

She forces him to undergo therapy with a young psychologist, Rose, played by Chloé Chaudoye, ”she continues.

Those familiar with the

Small Murders of Agatha Christie will

find everything that makes the flavor of the series: “comedy that mixes with thrillers and visuals that are a delight for the eyes and for the imagination.

"There is no doubt that the sets and costumes of the seventies will offer" something to have fun and a totally playful universe.

"

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