Notre Dame de Paris opens in Moscow, May 21

Russian theatre Moscow Operetta started sensational musical Notre Dame de Paris on May 21. Organizers say, two thousand people came to the musical casting, but only 50 of them were picked for the roles. Metro Entertainment company organized the performance. It is to be pointed out here, the musical is adequate to foreign performances of this kind from the point of view of quality and price. But low paying capacity of spectators has practically turned the project into a charity performance.

Total budget of Notre Dame de Paris in Moscow makes up $4 million. As calculations reveal, the project will not repay in Russia regarding the present-day situation. Other musicals performed in Moscow were sponsored by patrons. Popular actors who play in the musical can be also called maecenases, as their fees are really very insignificant. Quazimodo role in the Russian performance will be played by Vyacheslav Petkun, the leader of Russian group Tantsy Minus. Famous poet Yuly Kim adapted text of the Russian version of the musical.

Notre Dame de Paris is Europe’s most popular musical over past five years. It was first performed on September 18, 1998 in Paris. Tickets were booked for half a year ahead. Within the first year the musical was entered into the Guinness Record Book as a best-seller. Over 3 million people watched the musical in the French-speaking countries only.

In two years an English version of Notre Dame de Paris was staged in London. It was a success again. Nowadays the project is on in Russia. Well, let us wait for Moscow’s opinion.

Yelena Kiseleva PRAVDA.Ru

In the photo: Vyacheslav Petkun, actor to play Quazimodo role

Translated by Maria Gousseva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/culture/2002/05/21/41449.html