About the work
Les Choristes is the stage musical version of Christophe Barratier's 2004 film of the same name. Barratier premiered it in 2017 at the Folies Bergère in Paris; book and lyrics are by him and Philippe Lopes-Curval, music by Bruno Coulais and Barratier. The Spanish version, Los chicos del coro, translated and adapted by Pedro Víllora, was directed by Juan Luis Iborra. It opened in November 2022 at the Teatro La Latina in Madrid, produced by KAK Group and AMR Produce with Pentación Espectáculos, and returned there in 2026 for a farewell season.
Plot
France, 1949: the unsuccessful musician Clément Mathieu takes a job as supervisor at Fond de l'Étang, a boarding school for troubled boys. The headmaster Rachin runs a harsh regime with no room for music. Defying his rules, Mathieu forms a choir and wins the pupils' trust through singing together, among them the gifted Pierre Morhange.
Cultural significance
The film, a remake of Jean Dréville's La Cage aux rossignols (1945), drew some 8.5 million cinemagoers in France, won two Césars, including one for Coulais's score, and was nominated for two Oscars. After Paris the stage version was also performed in Quebec; the Spanish production toured beyond Madrid, including Bilbao.