Severus Snape
Proud Member
There's more than enough threads about mainstream pop music to last us a lifetime here on MJJC, but I've noticed there's a lack of discussion about musicals. Therefore, I am beginning a thread where people can post their favourite songs from any musical piece, in any language.
My favourite musical of all time is Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame), based on Victor Hugo's novel of the same title. My favourite versions of this musical are the Russian and French version, with each version's Claude Frollo being my favourite character. Thus, it is only natural that my favourite selections from the piece would include Frollo as the focus, or as one of the participants.
Here is the Russian version of "Tu Vas Me Detruire," as sung by Alexander Marakulin's Frollo:
He is entirely too sexy for his own good.
Here is the French version of the piece with English subtitles as sung by Daniel Lavoie, so you guys can get the jist of what he's saying:
Here is the Russian version of "Belle," in which Marakulin's Frollo dominates the second verse:
The English version of "Belle," so you can get the idea, with clips from the Disney film:
The first verse of "Belle" is sung in the musical by Quasimodo, the second by Frollo, the third by Phoebus, and the final one by all three.
Note: To those of you familiar with the Disney film, but unfamiliar with everything else, in Hugo's novel and the musical, Phoebus de Chautepers was engaged to his cousin, Fleur-de-Lys (typical in the middle ages, when the story takes place), but he was so taken by his lust for Esmeralda, that he was willing to break his vow to her and to God, to spend a night with her. In the novel, he goes so far as to seduce her and almost rape her, when Frollo intervenes by stabbing him with a dagger (He was kinda-sorta stalking her...ok, he was stalking her.) Esmeralda, however, is hopelessly in love with Phoebus and ignorant of his engagement to Fleur-de-Lys. By contrast, Frollo is in love with Esmeralda, but she does not return this affection. In the novel and the musical, Frollo is a Catholic priest, thus, he cannot be with Esmeralda for obvious reasons (other than the fact that she finds him ugly and creepy), but this does not stop him from having feelings for her (as expressed in his solo numbers, "You Will Destroy Me," and "A Priest Loves A Girl," in English--"Your Love Will Kill Me" and "I'm A Priest."
Thus, Phoebus by his lust for Esmeralda and Frollo by his obsession with her, both represent the negative sides of passion and perversions of love. Only Quasimodo, by his acceptance of his feelings for Esmeralda and the fact that she will never return these (because she's superficial and stupid, was pretty much Hugo's point), represents love in its purest form.
Esmeralda represents innocence, in that she is hopelessly in love with Phoebus, despite his numerous faults and lack of positive attributes (he's pretty much the scum of the Earth in both the musical and novel.) She rejects Quasimodo for being ugly despite his benevolence and internal beauty, and Frollo for being creepy and old, despite his intelligence and altruism (he does save Quasimodo from being put to death by adopting him, something Disney completely leaves out in their attempts to make him a one-dimensional and loathsome figure [which don't work on me], and also supports his younger brother Jehan, after their parents die of the plague.) In any case, Esmeralda is notably superficial because the only reason she loves Phoebus is because he's handsome (she says this repeatedly in the novel.) Fleur-de-Lys, by contrast, represents the more sober side of love, the lack of innocence and awareness of her surroundings despite being bound to inhabit her balcony, lol. She knows Phoebus lusted after Esmeralda, she knows his true nature, and yet she still loves him. So the two are opposites in that regard.
Anyway, that's all. To the rest of you, post your favourite selections from your musical of choice. I look forward to seeing them.
My favourite musical of all time is Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame), based on Victor Hugo's novel of the same title. My favourite versions of this musical are the Russian and French version, with each version's Claude Frollo being my favourite character. Thus, it is only natural that my favourite selections from the piece would include Frollo as the focus, or as one of the participants.
Here is the Russian version of "Tu Vas Me Detruire," as sung by Alexander Marakulin's Frollo:
He is entirely too sexy for his own good.
Here is the French version of the piece with English subtitles as sung by Daniel Lavoie, so you guys can get the jist of what he's saying:
Here is the Russian version of "Belle," in which Marakulin's Frollo dominates the second verse:
The English version of "Belle," so you can get the idea, with clips from the Disney film:
The first verse of "Belle" is sung in the musical by Quasimodo, the second by Frollo, the third by Phoebus, and the final one by all three.
Note: To those of you familiar with the Disney film, but unfamiliar with everything else, in Hugo's novel and the musical, Phoebus de Chautepers was engaged to his cousin, Fleur-de-Lys (typical in the middle ages, when the story takes place), but he was so taken by his lust for Esmeralda, that he was willing to break his vow to her and to God, to spend a night with her. In the novel, he goes so far as to seduce her and almost rape her, when Frollo intervenes by stabbing him with a dagger (He was kinda-sorta stalking her...ok, he was stalking her.) Esmeralda, however, is hopelessly in love with Phoebus and ignorant of his engagement to Fleur-de-Lys. By contrast, Frollo is in love with Esmeralda, but she does not return this affection. In the novel and the musical, Frollo is a Catholic priest, thus, he cannot be with Esmeralda for obvious reasons (other than the fact that she finds him ugly and creepy), but this does not stop him from having feelings for her (as expressed in his solo numbers, "You Will Destroy Me," and "A Priest Loves A Girl," in English--"Your Love Will Kill Me" and "I'm A Priest."
Thus, Phoebus by his lust for Esmeralda and Frollo by his obsession with her, both represent the negative sides of passion and perversions of love. Only Quasimodo, by his acceptance of his feelings for Esmeralda and the fact that she will never return these (because she's superficial and stupid, was pretty much Hugo's point), represents love in its purest form.
Esmeralda represents innocence, in that she is hopelessly in love with Phoebus, despite his numerous faults and lack of positive attributes (he's pretty much the scum of the Earth in both the musical and novel.) She rejects Quasimodo for being ugly despite his benevolence and internal beauty, and Frollo for being creepy and old, despite his intelligence and altruism (he does save Quasimodo from being put to death by adopting him, something Disney completely leaves out in their attempts to make him a one-dimensional and loathsome figure [which don't work on me], and also supports his younger brother Jehan, after their parents die of the plague.) In any case, Esmeralda is notably superficial because the only reason she loves Phoebus is because he's handsome (she says this repeatedly in the novel.) Fleur-de-Lys, by contrast, represents the more sober side of love, the lack of innocence and awareness of her surroundings despite being bound to inhabit her balcony, lol. She knows Phoebus lusted after Esmeralda, she knows his true nature, and yet she still loves him. So the two are opposites in that regard.
Anyway, that's all. To the rest of you, post your favourite selections from your musical of choice. I look forward to seeing them.
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