‘Notre-Dame de Paris’ readies for revival

Nine years after the original French production of the musical “Notre-Dame de Paris” closed its wildly successful run in Paris, the show’s creators have united for a grand revival. And Korean fans will be the first to watch it.

In Gyeongju, a small, unassuming Korean town in North Gyeongsang Province known for its long history, director Gilles Maheu and composer Riccardo Cocciante are currently leading a star-studded French-Canadian cast in rehearsals.

The show will open at Gyeongju Arts Center on Dec. 13 in what will be a yearlong world tour that will come to a grand finale in 2016, with a run in its birthplace, Paris.

In Korea, the two performances in Gyeongju will be followed by longer runs in bigger cities including Daegu, Daejeon, Seoul and Busan. The Seoul run will open on Jan. 15 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, where the show had its Korean premiere in 2005, breaking a local theater record in terms of tickets sold.

“We have had a very special relation with Korean fans,” the French director said at a press conference in Seoul earlier this week, recalling the 2005 run in Seoul.

“I returned here many times since then, often with cast members. It feels so natural to me that we’re starting our world tour in Korea.”

The upcoming production won’t be very different from the 2005 show that came to Korea, except that the dance, particularly modern dance, has been beefed up, Maheu said. 

Stars of the 2005 production are going to be in the revival too.

Matt Laurent, who played the hunchback Quasimodo, will assume the title role once again, alongside 2005 costars Richard Charest and Jerome Collet.

“There will be no major change in the show. But just like if you are a fan of something, you watch it over and over again and still find something new, I think Korean fans will be able to discover new charms in this revival,” the director said.

Premiered in 1998 in Paris to wide public and critical accliam, “Notre-Dame de Paris” has become the representative French musical.

Based on the novel “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” by Victor Hugo, it tells of a deformed hunchback, Quasimodo, who is madly in love with a gypsy girl, Esmeralda.

The musical is most known for its beautiful score, composed by Cocciante, with lyrics by Luc Plamondon, including “Le Temps des Cathedrals (The Age of Cathedrals),” “Belle (Beauty)” and “Vivre (Live for the One I Love).”

“What I pursue in musicals is ‘people’s opera,’” the composer said during the press conference. “At the same time, I try to compose music that represents our time and carries the story of us,” he said.

The original French production of “Notre-Dame de Paris” will come to Seoul on Jan. 15 for a six-week run at the Sejong Center. Tickets cost 60,000 won to 150,000 won. For more information, call (02) 541-6236.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)