1789 – Les Amants de la Bastille

 

The hottest show in Paris is – without a doubt – 1789 – Les Amants de la Bastille, a musical extravaganza for eyes and ears.

The story of the musical follows a relatively easy recipe: take the dawn of the French revolution (including some historical figures like Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Jacques Necker (Louis’ beleaguered Minister of finances), George Jacques Danton and Maximilien de Robespierre), add a tragic love story (including the death of at least one of the lovers just before the finale), amazing costumes and scenery pieces, songs that will immediately get stuck in the audiences heads, and awesome choreographies et violà!

            I went to the musical with two friends, and all of us kept repeating variations of “Wow!” and “Look at that!” throughout the spectacle. But honestly, it was almost too much to take in because it was so good. My eyes would jump from the dance ensemble to the main characters’ costumes to the scenery and back, trying to take it all in, and ultimately failing. When we left, we couldn’t stop talking about the show – or humming the songs, and for the following days. I even had the youtube-playlist of the songs playing on repeat for the next couple of days. I would even go back and watch it again in January, just to be able to focus on more of the details, now that I know the words to the songs.