Boublil & Schönberg’s Do You Hear the People Sing?
The audience gathered like disciples in a cathedral to celebrate and drink in the music and lyrics of Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil.
To my surprise and delight the dynamic duo were seated right next to me in the stalls of the newly renovated Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House. (Yes, I got a selfie.)
Their visit to Australia has shone a light on their undiminished passion for the craft of song writing and telling stories on stage, as well as the story of their remarkable success. It is a boy’s own adventure of pop song writers who defied the odds to create some of the most successful musicals of all time.
An impressive 24-piece orchestra accompanied international and local artists with an ensemble.
The artists regaled their personal connections to the songs.
British star Michael Ball told the audience of his thrill at being in the room where Les Misérables was first put together on the West End, giving extra poignancy to his renditions of “Stars” and “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables”.
David Harris spoke about his Cinderella-like transition from an usher, at the first Australian season of Miss Saigon, to scoring the lead role of Chris in the most recent production. His duet of “The Last Night of the World” with Sooha Kim was an early highlight.
French soprano Marie Zamora - dressed stunningly - gave a piercing rendition of “L’un Vers L’Autre” a song from the original French version of Les Mis.
Adding to the smorgasbord of accents was the gorgeous Irish lilt of Rachel Tucker and Welsh strength of Jean Valjean veteran John Owen-Jones.
The standout performer was Bobby Fox. His dancing and charisma electrified the concert with renditions of “The American Dream” and “Master of the House”.
The also production provided a platform to showcase songs from their other less known musicals.
We learnt a little about The Pirate Queen and Martin Guerre which Schönberg and Boublil remain passionate about.
A quarter of a century after first penning Martin Guerre, the duo is still re-writing the musical – offering the audience a recital of a new song which they hope to be in a production earmarked for the West End in 2024.
However, the fans had come to hear a blast of hits and were not disappointed with a crescendo of Les Misérables favourites concluding concert.
The mystery of why Schönberg and Boublil had not returned to their seats after interval was solved. They were needed on stage to accept their standing ovation.
David Spicer
Photographer: Prudence Upton
Do You Hear The People Sing? continues in the renovated Concert Hall until 2 October.
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