Breaking into song: How France is tapping its toes to American musicals
| Paris
The French have long looked down on musical theater, a staple of American culture, dismissing it as corny, over-the-top, or simply 鈥渢oo American,鈥� as one historian puts it.
But that鈥檚 started to change, with an opening in Paris tonight marking a key moment in the genre's trajectory: The French are finally starting to see 鈥� and like 鈥� it.
The new Broadway musical 鈥淎merican in Paris鈥� has its official world premiere in the city of lights. And it鈥檚 got the art world abuzz: This is the first time the Oscar-winning 1951 film starring Gene Kelly as an American soldier in postwar Paris hopelessly in love with a French girl, has been adapted into a musical for the stage.
Theater director Jean-Luc Choplin is in large part to thank for the rise of musical theater here. Mr. Choplin, the director general of the Chatelet Theater, was behind the co-production of "American in Paris," which聽transfers to Broadway next spring. He says聽Paris can not only put on productions that rival those on Broadway or London's West End, but become a place to stage musical theater you can鈥檛 see anywhere else.
鈥淚t鈥檚 exactly what I said to Stephen Sondheim,鈥� says Mr. Choplin, from his office at the 150-year-old Chatelet Theater that looks onto one of the prettiest stretches of the Seine.聽聽鈥淲hy don鈥檛 you create your next musical here, rather than do it聽in聽the States.鈥�
It鈥檚 a proposition that would have been unheard of ten years ago. Musicals were staged here from time to time, but they were usually second-rate shows that did little for the genre's reputation in聽France. And while shows like 鈥�Les Mis,鈥� based on the novel "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo, might be a French creation,聽the musical flopped in France. It was its adaptation into English for the London stage and Broadway that turned it into a quintessential musical.
During the intermission of a recent preview of "American聽In聽Paris", Domitille Vielle, a local lover of musicals, says she has always had to travel to New York or London to see a show, and says the genre still isn鈥檛 widely known here.聽鈥淚n聽Paris, people haven鈥檛 known the real musicals, like you can see on Broadway.鈥澛�
Mr. Choplin is on a mission to change all that. He took over the city theater eight years ago, and has made introducing top-rate musicals to French audiences a priority, from productions of "The Sound of Music" to "Sweeney Todd".聽聽
鈥淲e like to put things聽in聽boxes. For us there is a difference between culture and entertainment,鈥� says Choplin. That means a musical isn't seen as cultured, like the opera or ballet. Instead, it鈥檚 entertainment. 鈥淣ow, they have to think what we are offering is culture.鈥�
It鈥檚 still a hard sell. Patrick Niedo, a retired French dancer and author of 鈥淪tories of Musical Comedies,鈥� says that musicals, to many French, are inherently jarring. 鈥�(The French) don鈥檛 like that someone is talking and then all of the sudden starts to sing. They think it鈥檚 too聽American,鈥� he says. 鈥淢usicals stick to the way of thinking of Americans. You are more dreamers than we are, you like to have fun聽in different ways than we like to have fun."聽
Still, he says "American聽In聽Paris", inspired by the music and lyrics of George and Ira Gershwin 鈥� 鈥淚 got Rhythm鈥� and 鈥淪鈥橶onderful鈥� 鈥� shows how far France has come聽in accepting the genre.
First adaptation for the stage
The Paris production, which runs through early January, is sold out. Directed by acclaimed British聽choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, artistic associate at The Royal Ballet, it聽follows the film's storyline but adds new historic and cultural nuances.聽The setting takes the audience from the banks of the Seine, where the romance of the piece plays out, to the art world and cafe culture of postwar聽Paris.
Choplin says he was surprised when he learned "American聽In聽Paris" had never been adapted for the theater and saw a unique opportunity. He says he approached the Gershwin estate and found that two聽American producers had already had the same idea, which led to a transatlantic collaboration.
鈥淔or French people I believe the message is very positive, because something which is created first聽in聽France will go to Broadway,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a successful France, a France that can be entrepreneurial.鈥�
It鈥檚 also, he says, a tribute to a city that has long enchanted Americans, but whose mood has darkened recently with economic uncertainties.
鈥淭his show is an homage to聽Paris,鈥� he says.聽
