French Musical Stars on Stage
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Eight French musical actors will present memorable musical numbers at a concert in Seoul, two years after they performed together in 2007.
This year's concert has a new line-up consisting of eight actors ― Matt Laurent (Quasimodo), Richard Charest (Gringoire), Roddy Julienne (Clopin), Nadia Bel (Esmeralda) from ``Notre Dame de Paris'' and Sergio Moschetto (Moses) and Ahmed Mouici (Ramses) and Lidia Malgieri (Bithia) from ``Les Dix Commandements'' and Jean Francois Breau (Don Juan) from ``Don Juan.''
They will sing songs such as ``Le Temps Des Cathedrales,'' ``Bohemienne,'' ``Du Plaisir,'' ``Aimer'' and ``Il S'Appellera Moise'' which were featured in top French musicals ``Notre Dame de Paris,'' ``Les Dix'' and ``Don Juan.''
They will also showcase the musical numbers of ``Le Roi Soleil,'' a successful French musical about the life of Louis XIV, for the first time to a Korean audience.
``Notre Dame de Paris,'' based on Victor Hugo's work and directed by Gilles Maheu, is a representative French musical, which premiered in Paris in 1998, attracting audiences of more than 3 million, and attracted 7.5 million people worldwide.
``Don Juan'' is a French-Canadian musical, which revolves around the story of a legendary fictional libertine with irresistible charm. The musical premiered in Montreal in February 2004.
``Les Dix Commandements,'' based on the famous biblical episode about the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt, is also one of the great French musicals, dealing with love, freedom and brotherhood.
French musicals have many special qualities which distinguish them from West End and Broadway musicals. They separate performances into dancing and singing. In the French shows, the chorus usually dances as a group, combining dancing with acrobatics and modern dance, while actors sing the musical scores with less dialogue and more songs which resemble chansons (traditional songs with French lyrics) and sound very exotic and romantic. In other musicals from Broadway to the West End, actors generally both sing and dance.
The musical concert will be held on Sept. 25-26 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets cost from 30,000 to 110,000 won.