Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, Lido

Modulo Pi at the Heart of the Video System for Les Demoiselles de Rochefort at the Théâtre du Lido

In the heart of the Champs-Élysées avenue, the Théâtre du Lido brings grand musical theatre to life with an ambitious adaptation of The Young Girls of Rochefort (Les Demoiselles de Rochefort). To recreate the vibrant visual world of Jacques Demy’s iconic musical comedy film, physical sets and audiovisual elements are seamlessly combined, resulting in a spectacular 2.5-hour production. At the core of this setup, Modulo Pi’s Modulo Player media server delivers smooth, perfectly synchronized, and highly reliable video playback.

Since its transformation in 2022, the Théâtre du Lido has established itself as a major new venue for musical theatre in Paris, France. After its cabaret years, this iconic space was completely redesigned to host large-scale musical productions, driven by an ambitious artistic program.

Currently showing, The Young Girls of Rochefort is a stage adaptation of Jacques Demy’s classic musical romantic comedy film, which originally starred Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac, with a score by Michel Legrand.

Nearly 60 years after the release of this French cult classic, the iconic work is reborn on stage in a spectacular production featuring 36 performers, a live orchestra conducted by Patrice Peyriéras, and staging by Gilles Rico.

Running from October 2 to June 14, the show takes audiences through the film’s most iconic locations, in a colorful world faithful to the original. Video and lighting play a central role, conceived from the outset as a seamless extension of the physical set design.

This vision is brought to life through a semi-transparent LED setup totaling over 100 m² of screens, supplied by Alabama Média. The system includes two 7-meter curved side screens and a 10-meter central opening screen, forming a panoramic surface 24 meters wide by 4.5 meters high.

Antoine Dorize, the show’s video designer, explains: “For every production at the Théâtre du Lido, musicians perform live. In this show, they’re positioned upstage behind the screens. We selected LED panels with a 3.9 mm pixel pitch that are transparent enough to reveal the musicians when lit. This setup allows us to blend lighting and video effects.”

The entire LED system is powered by Modulo Pi’s Modulo Player media server solution, with a main server backed up by a secondary unit.

“For this fully cue-based show, we needed a media server that was simple, reliable, and cue-driven” Dorize adds, explaining the choice of Modulo Player.

Thanks to the 3.9 mm pitch, a single WQUXGA output is sufficient. The media server’s X-Map feature makes it easy to manage the stage-left, stage-right, and central screens from that single output.

Mounted on tracks, the screens can be manually opened or closed depending on the scenic requirements, subtly complementing the physical sets.

Among the standout set pieces are the twin sisters’ apartment and Simon Dame’s music shop on a revolving stage, as well as Yvonne’s café rising from below the stage, and Lancien’s art gallery.

These physical elements are enhanced by the screen system and video content created by Étienne Guiol. This clever integration allows for rapid transitions between locations and scenes, preserving the rhythm and spirit of the original work.

Reflecting on the fusion of digital and physical sets, Dorize points to Yvonne’s café: “We carefully timed the bar’s rise from beneath the stage so that the screens and their content would move at exactly the same speed. From the audience’s perspective, it becomes hard to tell what belongs to the physical set and what is on the screens—we really aim to blend the two.”

Throughout the 2.5-hour performance, an ETC Lighting Eos lighting console controls the Modulo Player media server via Art-Net. “We created task-based triggers: the ‘Video, Go’ is linked to the ‘Lights, Go’, and it works perfectly. We’ve had no issues since the beginning, across more than 150 performances” Dorize notes.

With six performances per week from October 3 through June 14, system reliability was critical. Thanks to the Lido’s 2022 renovation, the Modulo Player servers are installed in a dedicated technical room away from the auditorium. The Modulo Player Remote workstation is located in the front-of-house control booth and connected via single-mode fiber.
A Stream Deck Studio from Elgato, installed in the control room, allows technicians to oversee the system, run pre-show checks, and monitor server status in real time.

The system is also used for other events hosted at the Théâtre du Lido outside of The Young Girls of Rochefort, such as the TikTok Awards and the Mayor Awards. In these cases, the Modulo Player servers are operated through separate sessions, and each unit’s four 3G-SDI inputs make it easy to integrate external sources. “It’s a highly modular setup” Dorize concludes.