Sunday afternoon, AC and I went to see Notre Dame de Paris at the new Taipei Arena. Months earlier, around the time I bought the tickets, I also went out to buy the DVD which seemed like a small price to pay compared to the tickets, and a necessity to best understand the story and lyrics in this French musical. [The musical also probably stays truer to the original Victor Hugo novel, and further from the world of Disney where all the bad guys die and the good guys live happily ever after.] Of course, the real thing was much better than the DVD, and we had a great time - especially since we knew the music. Familiarity with the songs gave me the freedom to paid less attention to the singers and words, and focus more on the performance on stage (the dancing, the visuals). At times, I found that if the audio engineer would turn down the volume a little bit, it would have been just right. When the performers belted out showing their impressive vocals, the amplifiers took it to the next level to give you an earache. I also did notice that there were a few minor changes to lyrics and who-sang-what between the show and the DVD, which was made 6 - 7 years ago. I'm sure they were improvements, although I wasn't paying that much attention.

On a radio interview a few days earlier, Matt Laurent (who places Quasimodo) said that the audience in Asia is generally more enthusiastic about musicals than other places in the world. I don't think so. After each number, they seemed to politely clap. It wasn't until after the finale that there were hollers and loud applauds. Whereas, when I saw The Lion King in London, each song was met with a huge applaud. Taiwanese people also need to learn to arrive to a venue on time. But that's perhaps a cultural thing.

All in all, a great show and enjoyable afternoon.