Du Piment à l'Oreille

Du Piment à l'Oreille: The Festival That Makes Musical Comedy Shine in Grenoble

Founded in 2015 by the association Piment Scène, the Du Piment à l'Oreille festival is a unique event in the Isère cultural landscape. Entirely dedicated to musical comedy, it offers each year, over three days in June, a rich and eclectic program combining singing, dancing, and theater. This unifying event brings together over 1,000 spectators around original creations by young artists aged 5 to 25.

An Ambitious Artistic and Educational Project

The Piment Scène association, founded and directed by Françoise Desbrières, offers musical comedy classes in Grenoble throughout the year. Students develop three complementary disciplines — singing, dancing, and theater — under the guidance of performing arts professionals. The Du Piment à l'Oreille festival is the culmination of this year's work: each group puts on a complete show, designed as a true artistic creation with scenography, costumes, and direction.

Groups Organized by Age Group

The association structures its workshops into several groups, each preparing a distinct show:

• Les TouP'tiPims and Les Pim'Pouces (5-8 years old): workshop performance, fun introduction to the stage
• Les P'tits Piments (8-11 years old): first real musical comedy show, about 45 minutes long
• Le Chœur en Ballades (12-17 years old): more ambitious creations addressing teenage themes, about 1 hour 20 minutes
• La Pimenterie (18-25 years old): accomplished shows of 1 hour 30 minutes, true musical theater pieces
• Le Pim'en Chœur (adults): musical choir with 30-minute creations

A Singular Positioning: French-Style Musical Theater

As the Piment Scène team emphasizes, the festival positions itself more in the niche of “musical theater with sung dance” than in American-style musical comedy. The shows draw from the French repertoire of the last fifty years while addressing social and contemporary themes: the relationship with screens and social media, the question of free will and destiny, the welcome of others, the quest for identity, and the transition to adulthood.

A Launchpad for Young Artists

Beyond the annual festival, Piment Scène organizes summer tours in the towns of Isère and Hautes-Alpes, allowing young artists to perform in various settings. The festival thus serves as a true artistic springboard, offering professional stage experience to dozens of young people each year, in a supportive and demanding environment.