Notre Dame de Paris

So the new cast of Notre Dame de Paris is now firmly in place at the Dominion Theatre on Tottenham Court Road. And a new Esmeralda, Danni (or is it Dannii?) Minogue. So I decided to go see the show again and see how it stood the test of time. First of all a brief synopsis of the show. Critics have said there's no storyline - that's not quite true, there's simply no narrative, so unless you know the story well, you may end up a little confused. The music is obviously French-influenced and fairly modern for a West End musical. And some of the set movements induce giggles (the dancing pillars of doom amongst them). Still, on the good side, some ...

The set. The choreography/acrobatics. The music. Ok, so that would pretty much sum up any musical, but in the case of Notre Dame de Paris, these were what made me sit up and pay attention. Though being no particular fan of Riccardo Cocciante(1), I appreciate his music and was curious to see how his pop regime translated to a West End musical. [ (1) Riccardo Cocciante is a leading Italian pop "cantautore", meaning singer/songwriter, with the added flair of being extremely popular in France, too - a rare accomplishment for any Italian artist short of Sophia Loren! ] I wasn't disappointed. The Mediterranean roots of the music were so very ...

I went to see Notre Dame de Paris with an open mind, having read the other opinions on this site. I am an unashamed musical fan, the chance of tickets at £10 each curtesy of lastminute.com meant I had nothing to lose. I was not disappointed! To get the most out of this show you need to know the basis of the Victor Hugo novel, the songs & action distracted from the storyline & without prior knowledge of the story this musical may not make sense to you. The set was a simple one a large stone wall in effect, it came alive with various doors within it opening & posts that protruded at times. The dance & acrobatics was simply stunning & the ...