Daniel Lavoie: official website

The First Night of Notre Dame de Paris in London - the 23rd May 2000

Undoubtedly, the first night of Notre Dame de Paris in London brought out all the “big shots” from Québec. After the conspicuous arrival of Richard Cocciante with Sophia Loren on his arm, other Québec artistes equally managed to attract attention. Bruno Pelletier, Luck Mervil, Garou and Daniel Lavoie were wearing kilts and all followed the tradition of what men don’t wear under the kilt. The singer, Daniel Lavoie, showed the public that his underpants were in his sporran.

Many Québec artistes were there: Macha Grenon, André Gagnon, Julie Snyder and her producer, Sonya Benezra who was escorted by a British friend. The ministers Agnès Maltais and Louise Beaudoin were also part of the party, the film-maker Roger Frappier and the racing-driver Jacques Villeneuve were also among the audience.

The reception.

After the performance of Notre Dame de Paris, those invited were delivered to a park near the Dominion Theatre and it was under marquees, decorated with flowers and gargoyles made of ice, that the invitees drank champagne and enjoyed seafood laid out on tables sculpted from ice. This presentation at the reception was comparable, except better, with those of Hollywood. Many famous Londoners, Québecois and French people were there to ensure the success of the first night of Notre Dame de Paris. The reception was also a total winner.

Luck Mervil, Daniel Lavoie and Bruno Pelletier.

Some 60,000 – 70,000 tickets have already been sold, the success of the “international” version of the show seems assured. For one week, as is usual, Notre Dame was previewed before a paying audience at reduced prices. “Those people who came to the previews were real enthusiasts of musicals. They want to be at the first nights to see the shows. It was those people who started the “buzz”, explained Plamondon. Word of mouth should have been more than favourable: Notre Dame played to capacity houses each night and each night they got an ovation. “One recalls the same reaction as in Paris” said the director, Gilles Maheu.

The question is to know how long Notre Dame will occupy the billboards at the prestigious Dominion Theatre. After all, one doesn’t invest £4 million (around 9 million Canadian dollars) in a show to take it off at the end of a few months. Here, real success is measured in years: Les Misérables has been playing for 15 years and Cats for 20 ish years.

The English version of Notre Dame is eight minutes shorter than the French one. The scenes are compressed, the songs are shortened, solos have become duos. “I prefer this version,” Gilles Maheu confesses. “I think that one can say that this is the definitive version”. On Monday, the translator of Notre Dame, Will Jennings (writer of the theme song for Titanic) confessed to having “fallen head over heals in love” with the show. The London critics, known for their savagery, murdered the show the day after the first night. Their opinions don’t always count for much: at the time, they totally demolished Le Misérables.

Eurostar "Notre Dame de Paris"

A big hit for Notre Dame de Paris in London.

After a week of previews with closed box offices, the show by the duo, Plamondon and Cocciante, has passed the test with flying colours at its first night in London. Nevertheless, nothing was taken for granted beforehand. “I confess I was lucky” a happy and relaxed Luc Plamondon admitted after the show. “I saw the critics in the first rows making their notes. All the worse for the audience.”

If that’s the case, Notre Dame can expect a triumph … Tuesday evening, this audience with a reputation of being difficult, gave a more than warm reception to the new arrival. The show ended with an ovation that lasted more than five minutes which, in itself, was a huge success. One is much more used to it in France and in Québec, but “here, on a first night it never happens” remarked a “regular” of musicals. It’s true that practically a quarter of the red seats at the Dominion Theatre were occupied by French and Québec people connected with the production (Robert Charlesbois, Carole Laure, Jacques Villeneuve, Josiane Balasko, Patrick Fiori, Hélène Segara …) but if they bravely led the clapping, it wasn’t they who tipped the scales. The fact is that the English version of Notre Dame, shorter by 10 minutes, is excellent. This most holds true of the choreography. Taut, more street-wise, more rap, with some “brake-dance”numbers, it’s more effective, more dynamic.

Garou, who made a very strong impression, already seems to be the big discovery of the show. “By himself, he can do all the singing” said his friend Maxime Leforestier in the interval. “Think; he succeeded in becoming a star in France by singing one third of a song…”. As usual, Daniel Lavoie and Bruno Pelletier were faultless, as was the young Natacha Saint-Pier who portrays a moving Fleur de Lys.

First nights in London are more glamorous than in Paris, Tuesday night, the luxury limousines drew up in front of the theatre and one gave up counting the young women with plunging necklines. But it was Richard Cocciante who stole the limelight: he made his entrance in the company of the Italian actress, Sophia Loren, no less!