press kit

THE MUSICAL By
GERARD PRESGURVIC
Based on a conception by GERARD PRESGURVIC
And the play by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
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www.romeoetjuliette.eu
Throughout the world
Worldwide
Performed in 16 countries
Translated into 12 languages
Over 7,5 million Cds and Dvds sold
A Musical by
Gérard Pres
PresGurvic
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5
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IN THE wORLD
created on January 19th 2001.
at the palais des congrès in paris
A triumphant success in France (2001 – 2002)
France, Switzerland & Belgium
Records in both Audience and Record sales.
2 million spectators
Over 6,5 million CDs and DVDs sold.
Best-selling album in 2000
numerous gold records, double platinum and diamond awards
“les rois du monde” n°1 in the charts for 32 weeks
rewarded at the nrJ awards in 2001
The Musical around the world
Romeo y Julieta
El Musical
Roméo & Juliette
Romeo and Juliet
The Musical
羅密歐 與 茱麗葉
之愛恨纏綿
Canada
England
Korea – Taiwan
London
Seoul, Bussan & Tapei
Monterrey
October 2002 till February 2003
200 000 Spectators
Cast album
January to April 2007
350 000 Spectators
Critics Award and highest ever ticket
sales in Seoul
August to October 2008
50 000 spectators
로미오 앤 줄리엣
Romeo és Juliat
De la haine à l’amour
Canada, Montreal, Québec, Ottawa,
Saguenay
June to August 2002
220 000 Spectators.
Platinum record
Mexico
Romeo & Julieta
РРРРР Р РРРРРРРРР
РР РРРРРРРРР РР РРРРР
Romeo en Julia
Van Haat tot liefde
Korea
Romania
Seoul
Russia
Moscow
June 2004 till August 2006
520 000 spectators
Gold records
Netherlands
and Belgium
Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Hasselt,
Breda, Antwerp
2002 to 2003
480 000 spectators
Gold records
Bucarest
January & February 2009
100 000 Spectators
highest ticket sales
Created in April 2009
로미오 앤 줄리엣
Roméo et Juliette
ROMÉO PRODUCTIONS présente
korean version
Róméó és Júlia
Szerelem a gyulolet ellen
Les enfants de Vérone
Romeo und Julia
Das Musical
France
Korea
Paris
Seoul, Bussan, Daegu
Le spectacle musical de
Hungary
Budapest
Created in January 2004
Still running
Over 500 000 spectators
by December 31st 2009
Gold & platinum records
Video Captation & platinum DVD
Austria
Created in july 2009
Du 2 février au 4 avril 2010
Vienna
February 2005 till July 2006
520 000 spectators
Double gold record
Austrian Oscar Award for
Best Musical in 2005
GÉRARD PRESGURVIC
D’après l’œuvre de WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
PALAIS DES CONGRÈS
et en tournée en France - Suisse - Belgique
Rés. 0892 050 050*
Fnac · Carrefour · Magasins U · 0 892 68 36 22 (0.34eur/min) · www.fnac.com et points de vente habituels
www.viparis.com · www.ticketnet.fr · www.romeoetjuliette.eu
At the Palais des Congrès in Paris
February to April 2010
Over 100 000 Spectators
ロミオとジュリエット
TAKARAZUKA REVUE
Japan
Osaka
Creation of the show
in july 2010
Germany in 2012
Forthcoming
Czech Republic
Slovaquia
Spain
Singapore
China
Dubai
The Lovers of Verona
Gérard Presgurvic
the strength of a passionate author
romeo and Juliet, a fatal drama is brewing for these teen-aged lovers, born under the worst of stars. and nothing
other than their deaths will appease the inexpiable hatred that their noble families vow each other. destiny will
scoff cruelly at their love, leading them to death. they embody all the tragedy of youth rebelling in the name of love
against the conformity and stupidity of the world of adults.
this emblematic story is filled with all the timeless ingredients of the best plots: thwarted love, secret marriage,
magic potion, feigned death, chance, fatal misunderstandings…
the lovers of verona have acquired immortal status, thanks, of course, to shakespeare’s immortal words
but especially to the obstinate force of their love, which transcends death. hatred will always find a thousand
arguments to feed on itself. But when it happens to destroy the loveliest flowers of youth, the reasons for hating
become utterly absurd.
clearly, this message has lost none of its topicality. in any case, that is what gérard presgurvic thought when he,
in turn, decided to tackle this myth.
the action takes place in verona, where two great families, the capulets and the montagues, have vowed each
other a mortal hatred for years. exasperated, the prince decrees a formal ban on fighting in his city, on pain of
death.
during this time, the sweet young Juliet, daughter of the capulet clan, is nervously preparing for the great ball
that her parents have organized to introduce the suitor they have chosen for her, count paris. her destiny awaits
her. romeo, the romantic son of the montague clan, sneaks into the party with his lifelong friends Benvolio and
mercutio. it is love at first sight. the young people are immediately bewitched by the other’s beauty but they are
brutally separated by tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, who has recognized romeo. in spite of the devastating discovery of
their respective identities, romeo later comes to Juliet’s balcony, and they swear eternal love.
after a final oath, romeo goes in search of Friar lawrence, whom he asks to marry them. in the hope that this union
will reconcile the two enemy clans, his confessor agrees to marry them in secret.
Bursting with happiness, romeo finds his friends Benvolio and mercutio in the main piazza of verona where they
run into tybalt, who has been looking for romeo since his intrusion at the capulets’ ball. romeo refuses to fight,
and an indignant mercutio takes up the challenge. When romeo tries to intervene, mercutio is mortally wounded.
mad with grief, romeo catches up with tybalt and kills him.
Both grieving families demand vengeance from the prince, who, out of a concern for justice, spares romeo’s life but
sentences him to exile in mantua.
after spending the night together, romeo and Juliet have trouble parting. after he has left for mantua, Juliet
laments, and her father, worried about her sorrow, decides to move her wedding with count paris to the next day.
she runs to Friar lawrence who offers her a potion that will give her the appearance of death for 48 hours—just
enough time for the priest to warn romeo of the ruse and go together to deliver her. a grateful Juliet obeys him and
bravely drinks the potion.
the next morning, the whole family is weeping over the death of Juliet, who will be placed in the capulet mausoleum.
unfortunately, the faithful Benvolio witnesses the scene and rides off to mantua to inform romeo. Friar lawrence’s
messenger will not arrive in time to warn romeo, who, beside himself with grief, rushes back to see his beloved,
whom he believes dead. after a final declaration of love, he swallows a poison that will enable him to join her in
death.
upon awakening from her sleep and discovering her dead lover, Juliet cannot bear to outlive him. she takes his
dagger and, after a last kiss, kills herself on his body, joining him for eternity.
When he discovers them, Friar lawrence loses his faith, whereas the warring families, overcome with guilt, make
their peace over the dead bodies of their children whom they will bury together.
Photo © Patrick Carpentier
“For never was a story of more woe than this
of Juliet and her Romeo.”
throughout his career, gérard presgurvic has always been fascinated by the
union of music and image. initially tempted by the movies, he made several
short features and composed scores for a few films (moitié-moitié, la vérité si
je mens!...) and tv series (pause café, da costa...), before turning to songwriting.
after the outstanding cult success of «5 heures du mat» by chagrin d’amour,
he composed numerous hits for leading French singers including patrick Bruel,
Florent pagny, mireille mathieu, henri salvador, liane Foly...
With his first musical show, romeo and Juliet, gérard presgurvic achieved both a
long-standing dream: he finally succeeded in combining his two artistic passions,
theater and music, and from this marriage was born a phenomenal success.
opening in January 2001 at the palais des congrès in paris, romeo and Juliet
went on to draw more than 2 million spectators in France while the disk broke
sales records with more than 6 millions cds and dvds sold.
his show was crowned by such a wonderful success in foreign countries. after
montreal, Quebec, ottawa, london, antwerp, amsterdam, moscow, Budapest, vienna, romeo and Juliet
eventually seduced asia where a triumphant tour took place, particularly in seoul and Bussan in korea
and in taipei in taiwan in 2007. it has been performed in mexico since the beginning of august 2008. a
second tour is scheduled in asia for the end of 2009. the show will open in January 2009 in romania, in
september in slovakia and will also soon be performed in singapore, china, Japan, hong kong, germany,
prague, italy, dubaiŠ
in 2003, after obtaining the rights from the eligible american parties, presgurvic launched into the
musical adaptation of gone with the Wind, margaret mitchell¹s world-famous bestseller. Faithful to his
innate sense of popular feeling and to the spirit of its author, his new show, which attracted more than
600,000 spectators in less than a year, was a new hit. after triumphing in paris and the provinces,
gone with the Wind had considerable success on dvd, spending several weeks at the top of the charts.
the show is currently being prepared for foreign productions.
gérard presgurvic is currently preparing gone with the Wind for foreign productions and this show is
sure to enjoy the same success as romeo and Juliet has.
romeo and Juliet has celebrated its ten year anniversary by a comeback in paris in 2010, and gerard
presgurvic’s new musical is scheduled for 2011.
why is Romeo and Juliet still being played today, centuries
after william Shakespeare first created it ?
Because dying at the age of 15 is the most “beautiful” and most horrifying of all destinies. Because a
deed as absolute and final as preferring to die together rather than living apart will remain the most
fantastic of all mysteries and the clearest proof of Love.
Because life without love means nothing.
Gérard Presgurvic
« magnificent »
TQS (Montreal)
« A success for the emblematic
french musical scene »
Taiwan News (Taipei)
« Best musical award in 2005»
(Austria)
« the best musical
in years »
Moskovsky Komsomolets (Moscow)
« outstanding ! »
Daily Mirror (London)
« great songs »
Hello Magazine (London)
« Wonderful music,
poetical lyrics, splendid scenes »
« magnificent show ! »
The Hankoreh (Seoul)
La Vanguardia (Mexico)
« An elaborate and captivating show »
Frankfurter Rundschau (Vienna)
« standing ovation ! »
Magyar Hirlap (Budapest)
« Vertiginous, perfect ! »
De Standaard (Antwerp)
« a unique show that can expect to win the award
for the best show of the year »
Evenimentul Zilei (Bucarest)
Set
dominiQue leBourges
For inspiration he turned to the italian architecture of the great era.
verona, beautiful verona, scene of all passions, shines on stage.
Costume Design
laurent deJardin
Who has imagined the costumes of this show from the depths of the shakespearian universe.
he revisits the italian renaissance fashion. With crystalliZed – sWarovski
W
Warovski
elements
Choreography
carl portal, based on an original idea by redha
The French Cast
also sing in English
Benvolio
Cyril nICCOLAI
Lady Capulet
Stéphanie RODRIgUE
Romeo
Damien SARgUE
Juliet
Joy ESTHER
Mercutio
John EyZEn
Tybalt
Tom ROSS
Lord Capulet
Arié ITAH
The nurse
Ida gORDOn
Lady Montaigue
The Prince
Friar Laurent
Brigitte VEnDITTI Stéphane METRO Frédéric CHARTER
THE MUSICAL By
GERARD PRESGURVIC
Based on a conception by GERARD PRESGURVIC
And the play by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
choreography
CARL PORTAL
collective staging
based on an original idea by Redha
musical arrangements
GERARD PRESGURVIC & CAROLIN PETIT
lights
TOM IRTHUM
stage set
DOMINIQUE LEBOURGES
sound
PHILIPPE PARMENTIER
costumes
LAURENT DEJARDIN
hairstyle design
LAURENT FALCON
www.romeoetjuliette.eu
Design : Stéphane KERRAD
http://www.kbstudios.fr
make-up design
AUDREy BODILIS
& JEAN-MICHEL DACQUIN