French musical Notre Dame de Paris celebrates 100th performance in Shanghai

The French musical Notre Dame de Paris celebrated a milestone on Saturday, playing its 100th performance at the Shanghai Culture Square theater.

Based on Victor Hugo's classic 1831 novel of the same name, the sung-through musical by composer Riccardo Cocciante and lyricist Luc Plamondon has enthralled over 180,000 audience members in Shanghai since its local premiere in 2011.

The musical tells a tragic story set in the 15th century. The gypsy Esmeralda finds herself caught in a love dilemma between Frollo, the archdeacon of Notre Dame, Phoebus, the Captain of the Royal Archers, and the kind-hearted yet facially deformed bell-ringer Quasimodo.

The 25th-anniversary tour features an international cast, including 75-year-old Daniel Lavoie reprising his original 1998 role as Frollo. The production also welcomes Gian Marco Schiaretti making his Shanghai debut as the poet Gringoire, alongside returning cast members Angelo Del Vecchio, Elhaida Dani, Damien Sargue, Alyzée Lalande, and Jay.

"I really like playing in Shanghai. The role of Frollo has become part of my life, with new nuances to discover every day," said Lavoie.

Fellow cast member Del Vecchio, who plays Quasimodo, echoed the sentiment: "Notre Dame de Paris changed my life. I feel a duty to constantly breathe new life into this character."

At the end of the performance, audiences sang along in French to the encore Le Temps des Cathédrales in choral passages. "For our audiences in Shanghai to learn lyrics in another language and join in so passionately is incredibly moving," said Sargue playing Phoebus.