Billed as the most successful French musical ever, the show which has taken Europe, Canada and the United States by storm will be presented at Beijing's Great Hall of the People December 20-24.

Based on Victor Hugo's timeless 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, this grand production is the culmination of a long line of versions of the same story. These include four musicals, three operas, two ballets and seven films, including Disney's animated film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

The story about the hunchbacked Quasimodo and his lover, the gypsy girl Esmeralda, has deeply touched people's hearts since its publication two centuries ago, and themes of this poignant and powerful tale, both timeless and universal, bear telling again and again.

This latest production enhances the universality and timelessness of the tale.

With lyrics by Luc Plamondon, a score by Richard Cocciante, and choreography by Martino Muller, the musical, directed by Gilles Maheu, sold out its debut at Le Palais de Congres in Paris on September 16, 1998.

In the show's first six months, it sold about 600,000 tickets. A subsequent four-month tour of Canada sold more than 300,000 tickets.

It has also toured France, Belgium and Switzerland, with ticket sales exceeding one million.

In 2000, the French musical was translated into an English-language version by Will Jenning, the Grammy and Oscar winner who translated Plamondon's hit song L'Amour Existe Encore into English as My Heart Will Go on, the anthem of Titanic sung by Celine Dion.

As expected, Notre Dame de Paris soon was a smash hit in London's West End, one of the two most influential musical districts in the world. The show bypassed New York's Broadway for the Paris Las Vegas Casino Resort in Nevada.

The production received rave reviews from the critics: "Despite some slow moments, Notre Dame de Paris generally succeeds in bringing a classic from our heritage up to date in an uncontroversial way," observed Kahina Hallah in the Liberation.

"The staging is spectacular ... It's a tear-jerker with haut-monde aspirations," said Craig Offman with Time magazine.

Making a Masterpiece

Quebec-born Plamondon, 60, who has written countless ballads for crooners, is well-known for his songs for Celine Dion. She even sang a collection of his works on her 1991 album "Dion sings Plamondon."

In 1998, he reinvigorated his venerable career by writing Notre Dame de Paris.

Plamondon, who is also known for his 1979 contemporary opera Starmania, has shown once again that he can churn out catchy and affecting spectaculars with the best of them.

"For a long time, Starmania was presented as the only successful musical France has ever had. That was before Quasimodo and Esmeralda came to town," said producer Charles Talar.

"Producing Notre Dame de Paris was a challenge, but it is such an inspiring story, with a famous lyricist and a brilliant marketing campaign."

Plamondon began pulling together the extravaganza in 1993 at his home on Lake Memphramagog in Quebec's Eastern Townships. His aim from the start was to create an Andrew Lloyd Webber-style success.

"I'd always written from original stories, but whenever I went to London or New York, the most popular shows were all inspired by famous novels," he said.

As for Notre Dame's source of inspiration, Plamondon claims that he opened a dictionary of characters at the letter "q," found Quasimodo and got to work.

He took total control of the musical, personally choosing its director, producer and cast.

Originally, he wanted to work with composer Michel Berger who successfully cooperated with him on Starmania. Unfortunately, Berger died of a heart attack on a tennis court only months before Plamondon began putting together the new show.

Eventually Plamondon approached Richard Cocciante, a French-Italian who started his career as a singer and composer in Europe in the 1970s, working with popular music acts like Vangelis and Toto, and as a solo artist. He once performed in another Plamondon opera -- Sand et Les Romantiques -- in 1992.

Though Cocciante was Plamondon's second choice, he did an outstanding job, composing the romantic, emotional and sometimes powerful melodies, which even overwhelm the lyrics to become the best elements of the production.

"The musical fascinates me mainly for its music. The production sounds like a concert full of wonderful songs," said San Bao, the well-known Chinese musician, after he watched a video of the production and heard the soundtrack in 1999.

"The music sounds fashionable with some modern techniques and rich French flavor -- romantic and luxurious," said Zhang Zhuoya, a Chinese musician who composed a few musicals well-received among Chinese audiences such as Fangcao Xin (Heart of the Fragrant Grass).

Actually, the soundtrack of Notre Dame de Paris was put on the market in 1998 to an overwhelming and rapturous response. Since then the album has sold over 7 million copies in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada and remained at No.1 on the French charts for 17 weeks.

In addition, the two singles taken from the album "Belle" and "Le Temps des Cathedrales" have sold 3 million copies in France alone. And "Belle" became "song of the year" in France in 1998.

In March 1999, Plamondon and Cocciante took home two Victoire awards (the French Grammy equivalents) for best song and best show for their Notre Dame efforts.

Strong Cast

The cast for the Beijing run includes Shirel as Esmeralda. She is achingly perfect as the simmering gypsy girl, adding her own magic to tunes such as The Pagan Ave Maria, Live For the One I Love and the duet Shining Like The Sun with Fleur-De-Lys.

Matching Shirel's power is Jereocireme Collet as Quasimodo. "He not only has a pleasing-to-the-ear voice, but acts the role vividly," said Chang Li, a professor with the China Central Academy of Drama, whose star-studded student roster includes award-winning actresses and actors Zhang Ziyi, Qin Hailu and Liu Ye.

The clarion-voiced Cyril Niccolaeiuml performs the role of the narrator Gringiore, who grabs his moment by belting out the sublime introductory "The Age Of The Cathedrals."

Others include Richard Charest as the dashing Phoebus, Michel Pascal as the sinister priest Frollo and Boddy Julienne as the refugees' leader Clopin.

"They are all young, vibrant cast members but there are no major stars," said producer Talar. "We're not looking to use stars, we're looking to make stars."

Martino Muller's choreography of modern dance and acrobatic routines also does its part to make the show a feast for audiences' eyes and ears.

(China Daily November 25, 2002)