A departure from the traditional musical definition is what "Notre Dame de Paris", adapted from French writer Victor Hugo's (1802-85) masterpiece, has set out to do.

Over the last four years, the musical has harvested numerous accolades across continents, setting a record of attracting an audience of four million to the theatre worldwide.

From December 20 to 24, the musical will be staged at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing following its widely-acclaimed success in Russia months ago.

Audiences in France, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada and many other countries were thrilled by the musical. It made an instant hit with the media around the world and saw some punters queue up for hours to secure a ticket.

It is widely expected to become another famous musical genre alongside British maestro Andrew Lloyd Webber and Broadway musicals.

The myth started quietly without any auspice of foreseeable success in 1993 when playwright Luc Plamondon was struck by Victor Hugo as he was looking through a celebrity dictionary for inspiration. He recommended the famous novel to Richard Cocciante, who had impressed him with his touching tones.It took them three years to finish a three-hour production and create the accompanying melodies. In 1996, they were joined by Canadian director Gilles Msheu, who was very excited about cooperating with them to further his career started with a ballet based on the novel. Everything went smoothly and in 1997 the Notre Dame de Paris Theatre Company was founded.

With an initial investment of 35 million Francs, the idea for Plamondon to rework Hugo's masterpiece proved to be a wise one after its debut September 16, 1998 in Paris.

The tragic fate of the love affairs between the beautiful Esmeralda and other men is still the angle which Plamondon takes. As in the novel, the "fate" comes up right at the beginning with the word "Anarkia" engraved on the wall.

Then the musical launches into a warm, illusion-hued movement of strong passion. The fantastic settings together with the beautiful music and wonderful performance of the players is so mesmerising the audience that the three hours pass by unnoticed.

As a popular new musical , "Notre Dame de Paris" is a bold musical which is not afraid to break convention.

The most obvious example is the incidental music including mass harmony, which was recorded in advanceinstead of using a live orchestra. While some people may feel a little bit lost without the live music, the bold move gives much leeway for people to concentrate on the sound made by the performers on the stage.

In addition, the performers don't use microphones but headsets, a modern touch generally only seen at pop concerts. It was praised as a clever creation to draw audience's attention from the contradiction of modern-hued costumes and a 19th century story.

The dancers are professionals including some sportsmen and acrobats while the singers are only responsible for the vocal works.

The music includes plenty of pop and Bohemian music played loud and said to be effective in preventing any bored member of the audience from falling asleep during the musical!

The company will send its elite line-up of players for the coming performance. On November 4, a total of 100 tons of props, settings and costumes were shipped from France. It is the first time such a French musical has been staged in China.

(China Daily November 16, 2002)