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Notre-Dame de Paris in Quebec
Mega-Success and Minor Hitches
30/06/1999 -
Music fans in Quebec had had to wait their turn before the Notre-Dame mega-show came to town, enviously reading reviews as the musical triumphed in Montreal and Toronto (capital of neighbouring Ontario and the obligatory second stop after Broadway for any musical seeking an international reputation). In fact, Notre-Dame de Paris proved to be something of a surprise hit with English-speaking audiences in Toronto. According to Charles Ethier, the show's technical supervisor, Notre-Dame de Paris could have pulled in audiences in Ontario for months on end, rather than playing for one mere week. Not bad for a show based on Victor Hugo's 19th-century classic and performed entirely in French! (English-speaking fans in Ontario will have to wait until next year to see the English version of Notre-Dame de Paris, when Plamondon and Cocciante hope to organise three or four NDP productions which will tour simultaneously).
While most of the songs from Notre-Dame de Paris have already become modern-day classics - thanks to the success of the studio album released in 1998 - the musical still has plenty of surprises and special effects to wow first-time audiences. These begin as soon as the curtain rises and the audience find themselves faced with a gigantic fibre-glass wall (26 feet high!) supported by monolithic steel scaffolding and four tanks, each filled with 3,000 litres of water, acting as counterweights. Thanks to Alain Lortie's superb lighting effects the Wall and its eerie-looking gargoyles conjure up the impression of a vast illuminated cathedral. 
Picking their way between the wall's sliding glass blocks and the rabble of homeless, visa-less people assembled in the 'Court of Miracles', come the show's main stars - Phoebus (Patrick Fiori), Gringoire (Bruno Pelletier), Clopin (Luck Mervil), Frollo (Daniel Lavoie) and, last but not least, Quasimodo (Garou). Needless to say, the incredible vocal performance of this all-star quintet has had much to do with the success of Notre-Dame to date. But the Quebecois public were also given a special treat, discovering two young female singers who were not in the original Paris cast. 18-year-old Natasha Saint-Pier, who hails from New Brunswick and has already recorded one solo album (Guy Cloutier Production), is magnificent in the role of Phoebus's innocent young blonde fiancée Fleur-de-Lys (originally played by Julie Zenatti). Indeed, Saint-Pier's incredible performance has led many critics to compare her to another famous French Canadian - by the name of Céline Dion!
As for young up-and-coming French star Nadia Bel, she puts in a superb performance as Esmerelda (originally played by Hélène Ségara). In fact Bel's on-stage charisma and her powerful voice totally out-class poor Hélène Ségara (whose affected performance and reedy vocals were unanimously decried in reviews of NDP's première in Montreal). Bel not only manages to capture the fragility and inner strength of Vicot Hugo's heroine, she almost manages to surpass the Israeli star Noa (the singer for whom the part was originally written).
The musical version of Notre-Dame de Paris may last a full three hours, but the audience never feel the hours drag, thanks to Martino Müller's lively choreography and Gilles Maheu's superb staging. In fact, fans are totally gripped by the show from beginning to end, marvelling at Bruno Pelletier's performance of La fête des fous, Luck Mervil's show-stopper La cour des miracles and the incredible scene where a pack of demons torment Daniel Lavoie (quite simply brilliant in the role of Frollo).
However, while audiences in the Grand Théâtre gave the musical a rapturous reception, the show did have its critics. And most of these were busy demonstrating outside the theatre before and after the show, protesting about the fact that the show's organisers had used a recorded soundtrack for Notre-Dame de Paris rather than hiring an orchestra. The musicians who recorded the soundtrack were paid for their work and will also receive copyright fees, but this has not stopped the Musicians' Guild from getting up in arms about the whole thing. Supported by 250,000 members of the International Federation of Musicians, the Musicians' Guild are now threatening to follow the show round the world and play live outside the theatre during the show each night. Members of the Musicians' Guild point out that their request is totally reasonable when you consider that Notre-Dame de Paris brings in box office takings worth more than 140,000 Canadian dollars (200,000$US) each night, while hiring a conductor and an orchestra of 30 musicians only costs 4,253 Canadian dollars (approximately 6,000$US).
When protestors noticed several cabinet ministers in the audience at the NDP première in Quebec on June 15th they stepped up their protest. And they are now demanding that the government reform the current statute on live music and bring in a new law requiring show organisers to hire a minimum number of live musicians for performances in major venues (as is the case in Ontario where a minimum of ten live musicians is required). If you consider that when the legendary French rock opera Starmania premièred in 1978, an orchestra of thirty musicians were invited to play in the pit, then it does look like the promoters of Notre-Dame de Paris could afford a few live musicians!
Meanwhile, the 'live music' controversy has not appeared to affect Notre-Dame de Paris's phenomenal success in Quebec. Journalists from the local press have been falling over themselves to come up with the most appropriate description for the show which has been hailed as "astounding", "magical", "amazing". In short, everyone agrees that Notre-Dame de Paris is a modern-day miracle!
Translation : Julie Street
30/11/2005 -
25/12/2000 -
01/02/2000 -
