Tuesday, November 14, 2006

[a tale of love and desire]

I caught Notre Dame De Paris last Saturday with Sakura. And of my criteria for a good musical, the overture was left ringing in my head after the show...so yes..it was good haha. I was a bit hasty in buying the tickets - was happy with the 20% UOB card discount, but now NTUC is offering 30% discount for members..grr. No fair no fair. I burnt a hole in my (August) pocket, but I guess it was worth it...wouldn't get good seats if I buy tix now.

It was a lovely musical with lots of grandeur. I managed to read thru the summary of the classic by Victor Hugo, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Pardon me but I'm not good in my classics so I needed a little refreshing abt what the story was about. Even after reading the summary I got a bit confused during the show tsk tsk. Good thing I had Sakura (tho she was hoping I'd tell her what the story was abt...I guess we both didn't pay attn to our classics...) I don't usually enjoy sung-through musicals but this one didn't have silly lyrics like a couple I've watched before. The songs had some lame titles, but they transitioned with the story well and were very romantic - and combined with the ultimate language of romance, it was absolutely dreamy. It also made me realise I've forgotten all my French..cos I kept translating things into Swedish lol. Wrong language!!

The show had a lot of acrobatics - rapelling down walls, somersaults and break dances. Needless to say it was very lively. My favourite scene was when the bells of the cathedral hung down from above...two small ones and a big one in the centre. And there were actors doing stunts and dancing off the bells - the synchronised swinging was really impressive. I also liked the part where they had some "angels" hanging down (sakura thinks they represet the dead Esmeralda tho..) and when the "lifeless" bodies came to live..they started dancing so gracefully. It was almost as if they were really floating in the air. My only complaint was that they could've chosen a better Esmeralda, since in the story she's someone who's really captivating. Oh and they could've added a few of her sexy dances which mesmerised the men...haha.

We had somewhat of a bonus too. At the end of the show, after the standing ovations they received, the main character sang the overture alone at first, then followed with the rest of the cast and music. I love the song!! Too bad I don't understand the lyrics, or rather know what the heck he's saying. Sounds good anyway. I thought it was a very French thing to do; to give an encore...but well, they invented the word didn't they? Haha. If any of you sweeties ever come across the lyrics to the theme song, or have a budding talent for deciphering French songs, please fill me in!

**runs away humming..."The time of the cathedrals has come..."**

P.S. I bought the DVD so if any of u wanna watch it on tv, feel free!



Temps de Catedral Encore


Temps de Catedral

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