We’re beginning a two-part program that may extend to others on this week’s Dress Circle (1/18 7:00 p.m.) as we sample four original French musicals. These are not French translations of English language works as we’ve done in the past but works that began as French originals.
We’re beginning with the incredibly popular musical “Notre Dame de Paris” which is said to have had the most successful first year of any musical and paved the way for the musical to return to Paris. This follows Victor Hugo’s novel and does not include the happy Disney ending with which you may be familiar.
We’ve also cheated a little and gone to the French-Canadian musical “Starmania” which is another successful work that we wanted to include because it has one of the most imaginative (read bizarre) plots we’ve ever come across. The story, which was initially inspired by the “abduction” of Patty Hurst includes a terrorist gang leader, a megalomaniac anti-immigrant billionaire who wants to lead the dystopian society in which they all live, and a gay record dealer searching for fame.
We’re looking at two film “musicals” because of their importance.Both were written by Jacques Demy and Michel Legrand and are still extremely popular some 60 years after their releases. They’re “Les demoiselles de Rochefort” (“The Young Girls of Rochefort”) and “Le parapluies de Cherbourg” (“The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”).More like chamber operas, these two films are remembered fondly, and many of their songs remain standards.
