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Festivals 2001 Program
NOTRE
DAME DE PARIS
NOTRE DAME DE PARIS has
become a phenomenon all over the French-speaking
world. This musical spectacular has cut across
generations and has so far attracted over 2 million
spectators, breaking Box-office records in France,
Canada, Belgium and Switzerland while the combined
sales of soundtracks and cast albums have reached the
7 million mark.
Why does Victor Hugo’s tale
still grip audiences?
Obviously, the relationship between Esmeralda
and Quasimodo, the beautiful gypsy and the tragic
hunchback, reminiscent of THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
and the presaging THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA,
remains a poignant, powerful myth in our cosmetically
obsessed consumer society. But some of the other, less
familiar characters find themselves in equally
fascinating predicaments. Indeed, at the dawn of a new
millennium, the interwoven plot lines touch many of
our preoccupations. Some of the subjects tackled in
Hugo’s original work and Plamondon’s libretto are
more relevant than ever: asylum-seekers, racism, the
fear of the unknown, man’s place in an ever-changing
world.
Hit musical, rock-show, rock-opera, concept-album,
gothic melodrama, tragédie musicale, call it what you
will, NOTRE DAME DE PARIS retains traditional
and theatrical elements but has a tremendous crossover
potential. It uses modern staging techniques and
choreography to present eternal, universal, mythical
tales and themes.
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