Starmania is a Canadian-French cyberpunk rock opera written in 1976 with music by Michel Berger and book and lyrics by Luc Plamondon. It debuted in 1978 with a studio recording of the songs, before premiering on stage in 1979. Several of its songs have passed into mainstream Francophone pop culture, and helped original cast members Daniel Balavoine and Diane Dufresne to rise in popularity in France; it is now considered one of the most famous rock operas in French history. An English version with lyrics by Tim Rice, titled Tycoon, premiered with the release of a studio recording in 1992, which starred Kim Carnes, Celine Dion, Nina Hagen, Peter Kingsbery, Cyndi Lauper, Willy DeVille, Kevin Robinson and Tom Jones. A comeback tour, directed by Thomas Jolly, Nicolas Ghesquière and Victor Le Masne (Housse de Racket), was announced in 2020 and set to premiere in France on November 11, 2021. It was postponed to November 8, 2022, because of the COVID-19 pandemic Genesis In 1978, its first recording was released (in French), sub-titled Starmania, ou la passion de Johnny Rockfort selon les évangiles télévisés ("Starmania, or the Passion of Johnny Rockfort According to the Televised Gospels") with the leading roles filled by Daniel Balavoine, Claude Dubois, Diane Dufresne, Nanette Workman, France Gall, Eric Esteve and Fabienne Thibeault. In 1979 the show was given its theatrical debut in Paris, starring Balavoine, Étienne Chicot, Dufresne, Gall, and Thibeault, followed by Canadian productions in 1980 and 1986 and French revivals in 1988 and throughout the 1990s. The 1980 Canadian production had a cast that included France Castel, Louise Forestier, Gilles Valiquette, and Martine St-Clair. Céline Dion recorded several songs from the musical on her 1991 album Dion chante Plamondon. In 1992, an English version of the show was created with the release of the album Tycoon, with lyrics by Tim Rice, and starring Kim Carnes, Celine Dion, Nina Hagen, Peter Kingsbery, Cyndi Lauper, Willy Deville, Kevin Robinson and Tom Jones in the principal roles on the recording. The American premiere of Tycoon, with English lyrics, was produced at the UTEP Dinner Theatre in El Paso, Texas in 1996, with Plamondon in attendance. It was alternated on stage in Paris with the French version for a few months. In 2004, Starmania was honoured as a MasterWork by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada. Brief plot outline In the near future, Monopolis, the capital of the