(Paris) More than 15 million spectators in 27 countries: translated into 20 languages, Notre Dame de Pariscult musical, celebrates its 25the anniversary at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, “where it all began, like in a dream,” composer Richard Cocciante told AFP.
“With Luc Plamondon (author of the booklet, Editor’s note), we are very moved to experience such success for so long. It is a great privilege to see Notre Dame de Paris on the bill again 25 years later…”, adds the Franco-Italian musician.
” From the beginning, Notre Dame de Paris attracts all generations. Today, they are the children of our youngest spectators in 1998,” he rejoices.
A critical and public success, the musical, created in September 1998, is directly inspired by the novel by the monument of French literature Victor Hugo: the story of Esmeralda and the fatal passion nourished for her by the hunchback Quasimodo and the priest Frollo , with the famous cathedral rising in the heart of the French capital in the Middle Ages as a backdrop.
For Luc Plamondon, a large part of the success is based on “a story known to the greatest number of people which does not need to be explained, with characters who could have been invented today”.
Successful Quebec lyricist (Diane Dufresne, Julien Clerc, Céline Dion, etc.), Luc Plamondon rose to fame in 1978 with the libretto of Starmaniaanother cult show composed by French musician Michel Berger, brought up to date last year.
“For several years, Luc had been planning to transpose Victor Hugo’s novel. He asked me to compose the music. I hesitated in the face of such a challenge…” recalls Richard Cocciante.
“I played the music of what would become the song first Beautiful. Luc wrote the words almost immediately. We looked at each other. The chemistry was there. We understood that we could do it! », adds the musician.
The two authors, however, had great difficulty finding a record company: “it was said that I was going to destroy my career with Notre Dame de Parisbut the most beautiful songs in the world are ultimately those that the public chooses,” believes Mr. Cocciante.
Against a current
Going against the usual promotion of musicals, the album was released nine months before the show. The song Beautiful had already sold a million copies.
Bringing together more than 450,000 spectators in a few months at the Palais des Congrès, Notre Dame de Paris brought musical shows back into the saddle in France. The first troupe revealed Hélène Ségara in the role of Esméralda, Garou as Quasimodo, Bruno Pelletier as Gringoire, Daniel Lavoie as Frollo, Patrick Fiori as Phœbus, Luck Mervil as Clopin and Julie Zenatti as Fleur de Lys.
Only Quebecer Daniel Lavoie, 74 years old today, still plays the archdeacon of Notre-Dame, in love with the “queen of the gypsies”. In the same refined setting symbolizing the surroundings of the cathedral, the troupe brings together around thirty actors, dancers and acrobats.
Plamondon and Cocciante took some liberties with Hugo’s classic, while maintaining the action in the XVe century: the Court of Miracles was transformed into the “court of undocumented immigrants”, with a still very current resonance.
Rewarded in France with two trophies at the Victoires de la Musique (song of the year for Beautiful and best show), Notre Dame de Pariswhich will embark on a new Zéniths tour in the spring, remains to this day the most exported French musical, from Barcelona to Moscow, via Las Vegas, Rome, London, Seoul, Beijing and Montreal, not to mention two residencies recent for the first time on Broadway.