Lion King leaps onto French stage

By Emma Jane Kirby
BBC News, Paris

Le Roi Lion opened at Paris's Mogador theatre on Thursday

It's perhaps a surprising choice for a country which has almost no history of musical theatre and which tends to look down a little on sing-along shows.

But The Lion King, the blockbusting Disney stage musical, opened at the Mogador theatre in Paris this week as Le Roi Lion.

The last musical to be tried out in Paris's Mogador theatre was Les Miserables - but despite being home-grown, it failed to take root with the French public and ran for just eight months.

Le Roi Lion, however, has been greeted by standing ovations on each of its six preview nights, and Stephane Laporte, who adapted the stage show and translated the lyrics into French, was confident before the curtain went up in Paris on Thursday that this American coming of age musical would have its French audiences hooked.

"I think the French are getting accustomed to the idea that it's possible to have theatre that sings," he told the BBC.

"It's something we used to do in the Twenties and lost track of. So I hope its going to be the start of something new.

"We've adapted the show a bit for the French audience - where there's a Charleston dance for example, we've put in a cancan. The French audience appreciate seeing a bit of their own culture in the show!"

Superpower spat

France's cultural relationship with America has frequently been fraught.

However, there are more McDonalds restaurants in France than in any other European country, American pop music is seen as being much cooler than French "chanson" and new French President Nicolas Sarkozy has made warming up transatlantic relations one of his top foreign policies.

After spending his summer holidays in the United States, he gave a joint press conference with American President George W Bush to confirm the Franco-American relationship was now back on track.

Fine tuning the harmony of this relationship may take some practice but culturally and politically the gaps are closing.

Fiercely protective

While the French are happy to host Disneyland just outside Paris and are now familiar with phrases like "Grande Skinny Latte", they're also fiercely protective of their own high-brow culture.

Political analyst Dominique Moisi said such seeming contradictions represented a complex relationship.

"There is a tradition of liking America in particular and resenting it in general," he said.

We don't fear the American model will be imposed on us - we fear that secretly, we're becoming American ourselves Dominique Moisi Political analyst

"We don't fear the American model will be imposed on us - we fear that secretly, we're becoming American ourselves."

That fear goes deeper, though, with the Academie Francaise, the body designed to protect and promote the French language and culture, concerned that American influence is causing France to dumb down.

"The United States are seen to be symbolically responsible for globalisation, which risks provoking a crushing of other cultures," said Jean-Marie Rouart, a member of the academy.

"It's a case of David and Goliath. But can this American invasion, this colonisation, be stopped? That's the question."

Cause for comfort

As Le Roi Lion kicked off in Paris this week, its cast can be comforted by the fact that Cabaret, another American musical, has done so well here that it is extending its run.

Stephane Huard, who brought both shows to France, hopes the French will soon be crying out for more.

Le Roi Lion aims to continue The Lion King's global success

"So long as they're emotional shows and translated into French, they could work over here," he said.

"Let's have the Sound of Music in French, Phantom of the Opera and even Billy Elliot!"

Tim Rice, the Lion King's lyricist, remains modest about the musical's chances of success in France.

"I don't think the entire future of France is going to be changed by people dressing up in animal costumes and singing Hakuna Matata," he said.

But, he added, with the musical doing so well in so many other countries he saw no reason why this success could not be duplicated in France.

"There is that terrifying thought the French don't like anything and won't go, but so far they seem to be enjoying it."