MONACO: FRENCH PUBLIC APPROVE OF NEW MUSICAL NOTRE DAME BASED ON VICTOR HUGO'S NOVEL NOTRE DAME DE PARIS

Record ID: 706691

  • Title: MONACO: FRENCH PUBLIC APPROVE OF NEW MUSICAL NOTRE DAME BASED ON VICTOR HUGO'S NOVEL NOTRE DAME DE PARIS
  • Date: 4th June 1999
  • Summary: MONTE CARLO, MONACO (RECENT) (REUTERS) ***EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: SWEARING IN FOLLOWING SOUNDBITE*** (SOUNDBITE) (English) LAVOIE SAYING OF THE MUSICAL: "The story unfolds in which the priest, he's a real bastard, that's me and he cannot get his hands on Esmeralda so he has her hung and it's the story by Victor Hugo and it's a tragedy actually it's not a musical comedy, it'
  • Embargoed: 19th June 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MONTE CARLO, MONACO
  • City:
  • Country: Monaco France
  • Topics: Entertainment,General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7XTRT9SLDPPVN713LZUNEW0OB
  • Story Text: The French have long been unpredictable in their taste for music and the theatre but while they've appreciated the opera, cafe theatre and costly reproductions of the classics, they've always held a low opinion of musicals -- that is until playwright Luc Plamondon created "Notre Dame de Paris".
    The man behind seventies' musical sensation "Starmania"
    and his friend and composer Richard Cocciante have taken France (particularly les Parisiens) and Canada by storm with their musical version of Victor Hugo's novel, "Notre Dame de Paris".The musical is now set to take on the rest of the world with an English version due to arrive in London's theatreland in the year 2000.
    Luc Plamondon's musical "Notre Dame de Paris" is proving to be the greatest commercial success in French musical theatre for more than 20 years.
    Adapted from Victor Hugo's novel of the same name, Plamondon's creation is set to take on the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Cats" in the years to come.
    Having played to full houses at the Palais des Congres near the Arc de Triomphe for nearly five months (selling over half a million tickets), from September last year, "Notre Dame de Paris" has since moved to Canada to woo audiences with its sentimental and melodic tunes.
    The CD of the musical has sold well over a million copies and three of the musical's stars, French singer Daniel Lavoie, Canadian Garou and popster Patrick Fiori have recorded a single "Belle" (from the musical).They recently performed "Belle", an emotional love song from the show at the Monaco 1999 World Music Awards.
    Speaking in Monte Carlo, French singer Daniel Lavoie explained his part in the story: "The story unfolds in which the priest, he's a real bastard, that's me and he cannot get his hands on Esmeralda so he has her hung and it's the story by Victor Hugo and it's a tragedy actually it's not a musical comedy, it's a musical tragedy everyone dies at the end."
    The Canadian actor/singer, Garou plays the part of Quasimodo.Plucked from obscurity, Garou explains how he landed the role.
    "Me I was playing in bars in Quebec doing some rhythm and blues and soul music and I can't believe it because Luc Plamondon, the writer, just came into the bar and he saw me and he didn't believe that I could do Quasimodo but at that time I was doing soul music so I was always smiling on stage and I was more like an entertainer and a crooner and it was strange to have been asked to do something this dramatical like Quasimodo and I didn't know I could play something like this but Luc thought about it and now I think he was right."
    Patrick Fiori, the 28 year old Corsica-born singer, began his career at the tender age of twelve, and had been successful as a French pop star before being offered the role of Phoebus...but he was yet to overcome difficulties.
    "It was an enormous amount of work to put on this musical and to play this role to it's potential because the character is the complete opposite of the real me.Phoebus is a captain who is under the order of Daniel Lavoie (Frollo) and who must give orders too.It's quite a physical role for Daniel, Garou and me, I had to lose seven and a half kilos for the role and that wasn't very easy but today I think it allowed me to add another string to my bow to be able to get to know theatre, to learn how to marry words with gestures and gestures with words and it's really very enriching.It's this success that's brought us here today," he said.
    "Notre Dame de Paris" is set to return to France in September, 1999, following its monumental tour of Canada this summer.However, its success across the Atlantic has not prevented its makers from attempting to adapt the musical for an English-speaking audience.Plamondon and Cocciante have sought the help of musical genius Will Jenning's for the Anglo-saxon translation and 'fingers crossed', "Notre Dame de Paris" should be performing in London's West End by Spring, in the year 2000.
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