Does anyone know about the recent French musical of Don Juan? What the story line was? Who were the actors? Perhaps lyric translations? Anything would be of great help! 2003-2004 production, CD is available on Amazon.
2007-03-12 05:40:08 · 2 answers · asked by sephienie 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Performing Arts
Don Juan is a legendary fictional libertine, whose story has been told many times by different authors. The name is sometimes used figuratively, as a synonym for "womanizer".
Don Juan, legendary hero in many folklore traditions, originating in Spain, who is the prototype of the unrepentant libertine. The old Spanish tale recounts the promiscuous Don Juan's seduction of the daughter of Sevilla's military commander. After killing the commander in a duel, Juan cynically invites the victim's funerary statue to a feast. The statue comes to life, seizes the defiant Juan, and drags him down to hell.
The first formal literary treatment of the story was the play El burlador de Seville (The Libertine of Seville, 1630) attributed to Tirso de Molina. An important later Spanish version, still popular, is the verse play Don Juan tenorio (Don Juan the Rake, 1844) by José Zorrilla y Moral. About 1657 traveling Italian actors performed the story as a pantomime in France. There it was later dramatized by several French playwrights including Molière, who wrote Dom Juan; ou, Le festin de pierre (Don Juan; or, The Stone Banquet, first acted in 1665). The theme was treated in 17th-century England by Sir Aston Cokayne in The Tragedy of Ovid (1669) and by Thomas Shadwell in The Libertine (1676). The story and character of the hero were greatly changed by later writers, including Lord Byron in his mock epic Don Juan (1819-1824) and George Bernard Shaw in his comedy Man and Superman (1903). The legend has also inspired musical masterpieces, most notably the opera Don Giovanni (1787) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, and the symphonic poem Don Juan (1889) by Richard Strauss. Both of these works portray Juan as a tragicomic hero, destroyed by his obsessive search for the ideal woman.
The story is a romance based on a Spanish legend about a villainous seducer. The show is to include extravagant gala performances.
Directed by Gilles Maheu, renowned for his previous directorial work of ``Notre Dame de Paris,’’ this version of ``Don Juan’’ is a mixture of three previous versions _ Tirso de Molina’s original copy, ``The Seducer of Seville’’ (1630); Moliere’s play, ``The Stone Feast’’ (1665); Mozart's opera, ``Don Giovanni’’ (1787). It offers a fresh interpretation, bringing youth and modern touches to the story of the legendary womanizer.
The musical was a huge hit when it was staged in Montreal, Canada, in 2004 and in Paris last year. It lured more than 300,000 spectators in Montreal, and about 400,000 copies of the album for the musical were sold even before the opening of the musical in Canada.
In the show, spectacular and enchanting Spanish flamenco dancing troupes led by Angel Rojas and Carlos Rodriguez will entertain fans.
```Maria, a character who was created in this version, will lead Don Juan to realize true love. That is different from other versions of Don Juan,’’ said Marie-Eve Janvier, 25, who will play Maria.
The actors said that the musical differentiates itself from both English-language musicals and other French musicals presented before.
``The musical deals with all kinds of love _ love between Don Juan and Maria, her love of the arts, Don Juan’s fatherly love for his son and Raphael’s love or patriotic loyalty,’’ Breau said.
``I think such a common value touching all kinds of love has made the musical a big success in France and Canada, enabling people from all walks of life to enjoy it. I hope Korean fans will really love Don Juan too,’’ he added.
The Seoul performance’s organizer said that spectators will be satisfied with the last scene, which is designed to turn Don Juan into a warm-hearted human in this extravagant gala show.
Breau and Janvier promised that they will fine-tune the powerful but beautiful Spanish-tinged melodies.
The musical was arranged and composed by Felix Gray, acclaimed French singer and composer, in 2003, and it consists of 41 songs in French.
2007-03-12 05:46:01 · answer #1 · answered by Dandirom 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Don Juan Tenorio Summary
2016-11-01 21:43:58 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋