Notre Dame de Paris (Vegas)

[1980maxima]

The italian version is the best ever, in particular the versione where sings Roberto Sinagoga like Gringoire. He is incomparable!

[DanaKay97]

This was in the UK. Patti Russo was Esmeralda in the London West End production of Notre Dame.

[Lovewaakeen]

In English ? what a shit !!!

I saw it in Paris, and this was the best.

The original version is the best.

They did it in english too only for commercial purposes

[karina9912]

ew. french all the way

[smalley411]

hey whats the "message" of this while musical cause i have to do a composition on it was just wonderin if someone knew...

[isi1957]

THE FRENCH VERSION IS THE BEST!!!!!!

[mohnacheva]

it`s only your IMHO

[Salvobonomo]

lola ponce the best esmeralda

[sisso15]

the french verison is much more better

[fandalyssa14]

she's better in french but she's good too.

[polkadotpinkgurl]

the french version is best

[glorialucia]

ummm this was NEVER on broadway..

[9Shadowfax9]

I posted this whole video!! PEOPLE LOOK!!

[Itwasntyourfault]

ew god, french is much better.

[HawkFest]

Hmmmm... There are some songs/spectacles that just cannot be translated without loosing their spirit. Notre Dame de Paris is one of them. Or maybe it was the casting? Anyhow, it seems that the mystic drama was lost in the process, leaving an empty shell.

[NorthStar8211]

IMO there was no problem with the casting at all. The original cast included many of the original French cast members but the English members who replaced them were all good. All the principal Esmeraldas did an excellent job, including Tina Arena, Patti Russo, Dannii Minogue, Hazel Fernandez and Camilla Bard. The same goes for all the other cast members.

[NorthStar8211]

And compared to the original French version, the English version, apart from great singing also features great acting (or at least as much as the shows allows considering that there is not too much interaction between the characters). The French cast sang very well but the acting was less good in comparison. Of course this could be because they are singers and were acting as they were told to whereas the English version features performers who are singers AND actors.

[Lilacsin]

Actors? Excuse me but from the videos that I've watched of the English production there was no sign of good acting skills from any of the people on stage and they sounded hysterical and ridiculous when they sang.

'La Monture' in English is a great example as to how to murder a good song.

[NorthStar8211]

It's a matter of opinion but I should point out that unless you have seen the full English production onstage or a bootleg of it it is not fair to judge the artists' performances from scattered videos. i repeat that these videos are from the Royal Variety Show and not from the actual performance. At least I have seen the English production onstage several times and the French one on DVD and IMO the British cast was much better, as they are trained actors and not singers only.

[NorthStar8211]

My problem with the original French version is that the characters interact very little; whenever there is more than one onstage they just sing opposite to each other and sing, almost oblivious to the fact that they are talking to someone. Some of these bits were changed for the English version. La Monture is a fine example here; much more interesting and dramatic in English.

[Lilacsin]

I don't see any interaction problem between the characters so I really don't know where you see the problem I do however hear hysterical, over dramatic voices and horrible acting skills on all of the English versions of this production that I've watched. Maybe by some miracle they were better on stage but I doubt it.

[NorthStar8211]

I assume from your last sentence that you haven't actually seen the London production onstage whereas I have and I am thus capable of making the comparison between the two. Andmay I remind you that all later productions including the revival in France were based on the English production and not on the original one, so if you liked it in other language you would have probably liked it on the London stage too.

[NorthStar8211]

Other examples are the cage scene where there is some electrifying struggle between Frollo and Esmeralda and Esmeralda sings her lines "Just go" as if the scene is actually happening. In the original, Frollo stands embarassed for most of the time and only during the last two seconds seizes Esmeralda and I just don't feel the tension. I was told though that on the London stage Daniel Lavoie was more daring.

[Lilacsin]

Sadly I didn't like any of the later versions, not even the later French ones.

It doesn't matter what later productions were based on or if they moved the songs order a bit, what matters is how good the singers were. By the way unless you have watched the original French version on stage you can't make the comparison between the two versions either.

[NorthStar8211]

But at least I am not boycotting the French version,since I haven't watched it in theater. I was pleased with the DVD version which is a live onstage performance after all and I have good faith that it was equally good watching it in theater. So I still give this performance 5 stars and I am glad to have one official release on NDDP. Besides, a performance should sound better in theater than on DVD and as I like the singing on the DVD my review of the the real experience would be no different.

[NorthStar8211]

Here's an example of interaction: in the English La Monture (and later also done in French, Italian and Russian) Fleur shows her indignation at the beginning of the song, when she says "Hang" Esmeralda she vents all her bitterness and jealousy, she taunts and provokes Phoebus, she torments him all the way by caressing him and pulling away from him. I could just feel the passion.

[MLPAULA]

Ok, ok, you are right, but... can anyone tell me WHY DOESN'T ESMERALDA DANCE, REALLY DANCE, in te french version? The italian Esmeralda dances all around the stage...

[NorthStar8211]

Maybe they thought that it wasn't necessary to have her dancing as there are lots of dancers there. She moves her body around a bit but it's the singing that mattered. Or perhaps they couldn't figure out how to implement more of a choreography for her during the singing. Extra dancing was added in the English production (and later in the Italian one) mainly because Esmeralda's entrance is different as Phoebus meets her while she's dancing. Some brief dancing for her was also added during Belle.

[NorthStar8211]

Whereas in the original version although Julie sings beautifully, all she does is walking around in circles while Phoebus is standing at the opposite end of the stage looking at the audience. Plus the English Phoebus bothers to react to the things that Fleur sings and even wears a bandgage around his chest to look like he has been stubbed). Patrick Fiori is vocally the best Phoebus I have heard but I found his stage presence in the role almost comical (sorry).

[NorthStar8211]

In fact, later the French version was modified based on the English one and the Italian and Russian versions followed in the same footsteps. You can see for example clips of the Italian and Russian La Monture which are just like the English one.

[Lilacsin]

You seem to be looking for excuses as to why the London production is better than the original French production. The original cast had apart from great singers and actors a certain charm that is lacking from all other productions and even if we disregard the original version, the English production is still the worse version of all the ones that I've watched so fat and I've watched all of them.

[NorthStar8211]

Better? When did I say that the English production was better than the French? All I said was that the English cast were really good singers and actors and that IMO their acting was better than the original cast's but this doesn't necessarily mean that the overall English production was better !

[Lilacsin]

"It is a matter of opinion of course but I must disagree. I watched NDDP in London several times and owning the original French version on DVD I prefer the English one.", you have been comparing the two version, giving endless examples as to how the English version is better than the original French one, at least don't try to pretend that you didn't do it and you were so eager that you filled this page with comments.

[NorthStar8211]

Please read more carefully both that post of mine and the comment I was replying to. It's not like the author said that the French version is better than the English one and I disagreed. The author was saying that the English version gives the show a bad reputation. So I disagreed because, like many other fans, I loved the English version and I didn't think it was bad at all or that it was ruining the show's name. I felt inclined to check the French exactly because I liked the English show.

[NorthStar8211]

Second, whe I say I prefer something I never mean that it is the best. Or I would have said "I prefer the English version AND IMO it is the best production". I try to be as objective as possible when rating things and I often give higher ratings to stuff I like less. As I said, I consider Patrick Fiori the best singer for Phoebus, he is just not my "favourite" Phoebus. Same for Luc Mervil, best for Clopin but not my favourite in the role. English NDDP, my favourite yes, the best not.

[NorthStar8211]

And as for writing too many comments, I 'd love to put it all on one post but there is the word limit. Look, I do not underestimate the French production, in fact I see more often the fans of the French one bashing the English one than the other way round and it doesn't deserve it. Noone says the English production beats that one, but it is still good. And besides some adjustments both productions are still the same show, it is just some added elements that make the English work better for me.

[NorthStar8211]

Oh and as for those endless examples, they were focusing on acting and barely any other production values. And also some elements that I personally enjoy, not elements that have to put the English production a cut above. Another thing I disagreed with in my other post that so disturbed you was the author's suggestion that NDDP should be in French. Sure, the original lyrics are always better but nowadays they even translate in English classic operas like Aida and Tosca so a musical can't escape.

[NorthStar8211]

In fact, the cast that appears on this clip was a favourite for many London fans. And having seen them performing they were much better every time I watched them than in this special short performance for the Royal Variety Show. John Partridge (Gringoire_ is Ram Tam Tugger on the Cats DVD and Fred Johanson (Frollo) is Pilatus on the Jesus Christ Superstar DVD (the newer one).

[Lilacsin]

They indeed lost all the charm that the French version had, at least with the original English cast you had Daniel, Garou and Bruno to comfort you but later versions didn't have this light in the dark.

I do think that a good translator can make this show work but not with this cast.

[TwilightGeisha]

I so agree with you.

[NorthStar8211]

The translation could be improved but, again in my opinion, the cast was brilliant (well, there were more than one although some performers did stay all the time that the show was playing in London). Powerful singing AND acting. Again, judging from actual performances, not the hastily put together Royal Variety Show act (BTW, the guy acting as Quasimodo here is not a cast member).

[Lilacsin]

It's a matter of taste I guess, I love singers who move me without crying and whining on stage. I can't stand cheesy singers and that's exactly what I get when I listen to the London cast. A singer is a singer, it doesn't matter where he sings or if this was a Royal variety show or the actual musical, you can watch 'Belle' as it was recorded for various TV shows or on Garou's show and it's always good. when someone is good he is good all the way.

[NorthStar8211]

It's not about being over-emotional but there are some nice touches in English like Esmeralda's cry of despair and spitting in Frollo's stage and Frollo's reaction that I appreciate. And there are things like facial expressions, body posture/stage presence and staging of scenes which I liked more (I never shuddered during the cage scene in the original production which I found thrilling in the London one). I am not saying this is what makes the London production better; it is what I prefer.

[NorthStar8211]

About the RVS, I cannot speak from personal experience but I remember reading comments by people who actually watched the RVS live at Dominion and said that parts of the broadcasted version suffered from terrible sound editing which I believe. There is no way that people who sound excellent every night could sound anything less.

[NorthStar8211]

Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with the RVS performance; it doesn't sound as good as the live singing of the actors but knowing well how these artists performed in the context of a live onstage performance , well, I just have to disagree if it is suggested that they were not brilliant.

[NorthStar8211]

BTW, when I say "English" production, I mean thet production in London at Dominion theater; I am not familiar with the Las Vegas version which obviously had a different cast (but I think that Mark Smith who was the principal Phoebus in the final London cast did play Phoebus in Las Vegas).

[ashie20]

Notre Dame de Paris should be in French! The English version has given the musical a bad rap in other parts of the world and now no-one will give it a chance!

[NorthStar8211]

It is a matter of opinion of course but I must disagree. I watched NDDP in London several times and owning the original French version on DVD I prefer the English one. Yes, the translated lyrics for many songs were so-so but although not a huge success in London, it got lots of fans and became almost a cult show for many. And the bad English reviews were not just based on the translation, it was that the show was different when it comes to scenery, costumes etc compared to other West-End shows.

[ashie20]

Sorry I'm a music snob- orginal cast and language only.

[NorthStar8211]

No problem, I am a bit of a purist myself on other occassions and if I had been used to watching the show in French I wouldn't have been pleased with different versions but it happens that I watched the show in English first (with many different performers) and then in French (on DVD only) so I know the English version better.

[raisingirl83]

Yes, this is the second incarnation of the London cast. The Esmeralda is Dannii Minogue, Kylie's younger sister. Younger, more talented sister, in my opinion. But not as good as the first Esmeralda, who was Tina Arena.

[lillypaw]

I thought that this Esmerelda was Patti Russo..

Hmmm. That's what I read on a site, but they could be wrong.

[NorthStar8211]

Yes, this is Esmeralda is Patti Russo, not Dannii Minogue. Patti Russo was in the cast from August 2000 till February 2001. Dannii was in the cast from February till June 2001. And these clips are not from a full performance but instead from the 2000 Royal Variety show in London. I actually liked Patti much better than Dannii.

[LadyDragonbane]

I like Dannii better than Tina...

[NorthStar8211]

Many people like Dannii better than Tina. I have not actually seen Tina playing Esmeralda but I have listened to her and I like her voice better than Dannii's. But Dannii is more likely the better actress of the two.

[Xaniski]

This sounds so different. The atmosphere of the piece is different than the French version. Thanks for posting though I've been interested.

[mohnacheva]

Yes this version essentially differs from French

[Renfeildette]

When was this production?

[mohnacheva]

I do not know, but I think it year 2000

[thephantomshadow]

Thank you for posting this! Aside from the original English cast CD, I've never heard or seen the English version of NDP being performed.

[mohnacheva]

I too heard only in мр3 the English version and it was interesting to me to see this video

[lillypaw]

I wanted to let you all know that I'm almost positive this is the London cast with John Partridge.

[RitaDaae]

Thanks for sharing!

[mohnacheva]

There is nothing

[sailorknightwing]

OH MY GOSH the English version! Awesome! Who is this singing?

[mohnacheva]

I unfortunately not know

[sailorknightwing]

Where did you get this? This looks professionally recorded and, if possible, I'd like a copy.

[mohnacheva]

I have found this video on the Internet very much for a long time.

Give the address of the letter box, I shall try to send you.