Given the huge success of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables as a musical, it was only a matter of time before the French novelist's 1831 tale of love and betrayal, Notre Dame de Paris, hit the stage. Hollywood produced a film version in the 1930s, and Disney created an animation; but not until the mid-1990s did the tragedy become a major French language musical. Now on its first Asian tour the production will run for 10 days at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei.
French-Canadian Lu Plamondon made a name for himself as a lyricist writing songs for Celine Dion before he started composing rock operas in the seventies. After his box office hit Starmania in 1979, he combined his talent for writing lyrics with Italian composer Richard Cocciante's talent for writing music. The two worked on the Notre Dame project for three years before joining forces with dance theater director Gilles Maheu.
Notre Dame de Paris was first staged in France in 1998 and with a cast of European and Canadian musicians it achieved record-high ticket sales in its first year of production. Equally popular is the DVD and album version starring musicians Daniel Lavoie and Bruno Pelletier. An English translation of the show with guest appearance by Celine Dion was performed in the UK and the US but never reached the same level of success as its French predecessor.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NEW ASPECT
The cast has evolved since its first staging seven years ago but still boasts a number of established actors and musicians. French songstress Nadia Bel stars in the lead role as Esmeralda alongside Canadian vocalist Matt Laurest as Quasimodo.
More than 50 songs are included in the repertoire producing a show almost entirely told through song and dance with a few interpolations of dialogue. The choreography blends classical, street and acrobatic styles and complements the costume design, which also combines period pieces with modern-day themes. Set in 15th-century Paris the legendary Notre Dame cathedral is a fitting backdrop to the story.
Remaining true to Hugo's novel, Plamondon does not conceal its tragic outcome behind a happy ending. The show's narrator, Gringoire, sets the mood by opening with a song about changing values and emerging public unrest in the city. Exploring themes of love and prejudice, the story focuses on the ill-fated Esmeralda, a beautiful gypsy dancer from Spain and the deformed bell-ringer Quasimodo.
Phoebus, captain of the king's cavalry, is set to wed Fleur De Lys, but when his eyes fall upon the Spanish dancer his heart becomes torn between the captivating woman and his duty to Fleur De Lys and his country.
A callous priest Frollo and the naive hunchback Quasimodo are also in love with the young woman. The priest, unable to have her for himself, becomes consumed by jealousy. Accused of a crime she did not commit, Esmeralda is thrown in jail. Murder and betrayal ensue as the story reaches its climax and heartrending conclusion.
May 26 to June 1 When the Qing Dynasty first took control over many parts of Taiwan in 1684, it roughly continued the Kingdom of Tungning’s administrative borders (see below), setting up one prefecture and three counties. The actual area of control covered today’s Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung. The administrative center was in Taiwan Prefecture, in today’s Tainan. But as Han settlement expanded and due to rebellions and other international incidents, the administrative units became more complex. By the time Taiwan became a province of the Qing in 1887, there were three prefectures, eleven counties, three subprefectures and one directly-administered prefecture, with
It’s an enormous dome of colorful glass, something between the Sistine Chapel and a Marc Chagall fresco. And yet, it’s just a subway station. Formosa Boulevard is the heart of Kaohsiung’s mass transit system. In metro terms, it’s modest: the only transfer station in a network with just two lines. But it’s a landmark nonetheless: a civic space that serves as much more than a point of transit. On a hot Sunday, the corridors and vast halls are filled with a market selling everything from second-hand clothes to toys and house decorations. It’s just one of the many events the station hosts,
Two moves show Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) is gunning for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) party chair and the 2028 presidential election. Technically, these are not yet “officially” official, but by the rules of Taiwan politics, she is now on the dance floor. Earlier this month Lu confirmed in an interview in Japan’s Nikkei that she was considering running for KMT chair. This is not new news, but according to reports from her camp she previously was still considering the case for and against running. By choosing a respected, international news outlet, she declared it to the world. While the outside world
Through art and storytelling, La Benida Hui empowers children to become environmental heroes, using everything from SpongeBob to microorganisms to reimagine their relationship with nature. “I tell the students that they have superpowers. It needs to be emphasized that their choices can make a difference,” says Hui, an environmental artist and education specialist. For her second year as Badou Elementary’s artist in residence, Hui leads creative lessons on environmental protection, where students reflect on their relationship with nature and transform beach waste into artworks. Standing in lush green hills overlooking the ocean with land extending into the intertidal zone, the school in Keelung
RSS