| Napoleon | |
|---|---|
| A Musical | |
 Official logo | |
| Music | Timothy Williams |
| Lyrics | Andrew Sabiston |
| Book | Andrew Sabiston & Timothy Williams |
Napoleon is a musical by Timothy Williams and Andrew Sabiston. It has had 7 productions in 4 languages: English, French, Korean and Dutch.
The musical premiered at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto on 23 March 1994[1] with Jérôme Pradon as Napoleon and Aline Mowat as Josephine. It was directed by John Wood, and produced by Marlene Smith and Ernie Rubenstein. Orchestrations were by David Cullen.[2] It was nominated for a Dora Award for Best Musical.
It had a second production at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End with previews from 30 September 2000. It officially opened on 13 October, and starred Paul Baker and Uwe Kröger as Napoleon, with Anastasia Barzee as Josephine. It was directed by Francesca Zambello and produced by Duncan Weldon. The orchestrations were by Jonathan Tunick.[3] The London production ran for five months.
Work on a new version of the musical began in 2009 when director Richard Ouzounian helmed a concert version in Barrie, Ontario[4] with the story narrated by the character Talleyrand, the political mastermind who helped shape Napoleon's career. The concert starred Adam Brazier as Napoleon, Blythe Wilson as Josephine, and Cameron Mitchell Jr. as Talleyrand. This marked the beginning of a reworking of the musical as a behind-the-scenes political drama with a new book and score.
The new Napoleon debuted at the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) in July 2015 under the direction of Richard Ouzounian. Modern parallels with the making of leaders today figured strongly in the new narrative told through the eyes of Talleyrand.
The NYMF debut received glowing notices, praising it as having "a phenomenal, operatic score" and being "first and foremost an emotional experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end".[5] Deemed a "thrilling drama"[6] that is "riveting, compelling, and deeply moving"[7] its run at NYMF was sold out.
The musical has continued to evolve in subsequent productions:
2017 Seoul, South Korea - A large-scale production ran at the Charlotte Theater from July 15 to October 22. It featured a cast of 54 including B.A.P's Daehyun and BTOB's Changsub[8] alongside Korean musical theater stars Lim Tae Kyung, Michael Lee, Han Ji Sang and Summer Jeong. It was directed by Richard Ouzounian, orchestrated by Kim Sungsoo (the artist known as 23 who wrote the iconic theme Pink Soldiers from Squid Game (soundtrack)), and performed in Korean.[9]
2022 Zoetermeer, Netherlands - A small-scale production ran at the open-air Buytenpark Theater from June 29 to July 10. It was directed by Sebastiaan Smits who also adapted it into Dutch.[10]
2023 Seoul, South Korea - A large-scale production ran at the Kyung Hee University Grand Peace Palace from May 5–21.[11] It featured an international cast from France (leads and ensemble) and Korea (dancers and chorus), and was performed in French with Korean subtitles. Laurent Bàn[12] directed, starred as Napoleon, and wrote the French adaptation. The cast also included John Eyzen (Napoleon/Lucien), Chiara di Bari (Josephine), Tatiana Matre (Josephine/Thérèse), Christophe Cerino (Talleyrand), Jerome Collet (Talleyrand/Barras), Romain Fructuoso (Lucien), Emilien Marion (Anton), Pierre Etienne (Anton/Paoli/Barras), Anne-Marine Suire (Clarice), Mathilde Fontan (Clarice/Ensemble), Linda Latiri (Thérèse/Ensemble), Antoine Lelandais (Fouché), Eloi Horry (Garrau), Nollane (Henri), and ensemble Elisa Lys, Camille Viel, Lucas Mong-Mane, Gauthier Herbin and Rémi Torrado. Orchestrations were once again by Kim Sungsoo.
Napoleon is the behind-the-scenes story of the Corsican commoner who rose from nothing to become Emperor of France. Told through the eyes of Talleyrand, the political mastermind who latches onto the young Napoleon’s rising star and places him on the throne of an empire vaster than Rome, the drama unfolds as a clash of titanic wills. Talleyrand thinks he can manage the extraordinary man he’s grooming for greatness. What he isn’t prepared for is Napoleon’s sheer force of character - and his obsession with Josephine. In the battle to come, Napoleon and Josephine will play out one of the world’s most iconic love stories, while Talleyrand will emerge as the devil incarnate.
Timothy Williams is a multi-award-winning composer and orchestrator for theatre, film, and video games. Film highlights include Wild Horses, written and directed by Robert Duvall, (Robert Duvall, James Franco and Josh Hartnett), Walking With the Enemy (Ben Kingsley), I.T., directed by John Moore and starring Pierce Brosnan, The Mulberry Tree (Joe Morton), Red Sky (Rachael Leigh Cook and Bill Pullman), Debug (Jason Momoa), and Beyond All Boundaries (Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt). He has written additional music for and/or orchestrated/conducted over 60 films including Get Out, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Hidden Figures, It, Sucker Punch, Watchmen, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and 300. For Disney and Universal, his live theatrical works include adaptations and orchestrations of Aladdin (book by Chad Beguelin), Wicked (for Tokyo), Tangled - The Musical and thirty other shows directed by Gordon Greenberg, Joe Calarco and Eric Schaeffer. He recently arranged the songs for up and coming artist Zella Day. He has won a Dora Award and three Thea awards.
Andrew Sabiston is a writer, series developer, executive story editor and performer in the children's/youth television market with over 1200 episodes to his credit. Many of the programs in which he has been involved are multiple award-winners airing globally and include: Little Bear; Max & Ruby; Mike the Knight; Arthur; Justin Time; Trucktown; Bo On the Go; My Big Big Friend; The Moblees; Little Charmers; The Adventures of Napkin Man; Donkey Kong Country, The Neverending Story; Droids, Super Mario Brothers; Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs; Babar and Badou, and The Travels of the Young Marco Polo. He is a 2022 and 2020 Writers Guild of Canada Award nominee,[13] Executive Story Editor and Writer for the 2019 International Emmy Award nominated series Super Wings,[14] a 2015 Canadian Screen Award Nominee for Best Writing,[15] and has had multiple scripts nominated for Best Series in various categories in the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.[16]
1994 - The original cast recording of Napoleon was released by EMI Broadway Angel and featured 18 tracks from the show performed by the original Canadian cast from the Toronto production.[17] It was produced by David Krystal.
1994 - A pop single version of ‘On That First Night - Love Theme From Napoleon’ recorded by Dan Hill and Rique Franks, and produced by John Sheard was released to radio. It reached #16 on the Canadian Billboard charts[18]
1996 - The Act One finale "Sweet Victory Divine" was covered by Stig Rossen on his album The Impossible Dream[19]
2000 - Ahead of the London production opening, First Night Records recorded and released five tracks from the show featuring the original London cast and orchestra.[20] It included a new song ("Only In Fantasy") sung by Anastasia Barzee.
2001 - German musical theater star Uwe Kröger included the Act One finale "Sweet Victory Divine" on his live concert CD In Love With Musical Again.[21]
2008 - Adam Brazier performed "Sweet Victory Divine" on Field of Stars (Volume 2), Songs of the Canadian Musical Theatre, produced by Jim Betts.[22]
2009 - To mark the 15th anniversary of the musical’s stage debut, the 1994 cast album was remastered and a version featuring 15 of the original tracks was released by Stage Door Records.[23]
2023 - Chiara di Bari released "La Première Fois", the French adaptation of the Napoleon and Josephine duet "On That First Night" on her album, Delen. The adaptation was by Laurent Bàn, who also sung the role of Napoleon on the track.
Highlights were aired on CBC and BBC radio programs hosted by Richard Ouzounian in Canada and Elaine Paige in England.