Figure 1.-- This still shows Clement Mathieu, the music teacher at the reformatory, conducting the boys in a rehearsal of music that he has composed for them. The boy in the suspenders is Mondain, the school's "only baritone". The boy behind him in the blue shirt is Pierre Morbange, the talented boy soprano at the age of 14, who eventually goes on to become a famous conductor.

The film features a choir from Lyons, les Petis Chanteurs de Saint-Marc. The boy cast were non-choir actors, except for the wonderful Jean-Baptiste Maunier who sang for Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc and was discovered at an audition. He was 12-13 at the time of filming and sang all of his solos. He does not have many lines but has a marvelously expressive face which serves him well in the film. He still has his treble voice at 14, has become very popular in France and seems to handling his celebrity well. A French reader writes, " The film " les choristes " was very succesfull here . Jean-Baptiste held his voice, till past 14 years. He still was a wonderfull soprano. The mostly teenager girls are in love with him! The other boys are all very good in their roles and do sing a few times on screen (the audition scene is one of the best in the film), but Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc do most of the full choir singing. Gerard Jugnot is also outstanding as the compassionate supervisor who trains the boys to sing. The producer's son Maxence plays the role of Pepinot, the youngest of the boys at the school and a real scene-stealer.

Created: 4:46 PM 4/14/2006
Last updated: 6:12 AM 5/7/2006