Tintin – Le Temple du Soleil – Le Spectacle Musical
Tintin – Le Temple du Soleil Le Spectacle Musical | |
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Didier van Cauwelaert | |
Basis | The Adventures of Tintin comics The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun by Hergé |
Productions | 2002 Charleroi |
Tintin – Le Temple du Soleil, subtitled Le Spectacle Musical, is a 2002
Synopsis
Act 1
An expedition of seven scientists, the
Tintin and Snowy go to Marlinspike Hall where Captain Haddock lives, and they meet Nestor the butler. He says that Haddock is currently horse riding, but he shortly returns minus the horse. Haddock introduces their old friend Professor Calculus, and then tries to show Tintin a magic trick to turn water into whisky, which fails. Angry at not being able to do it, he takes Tintin to the music hall to see Bruno the magician perform the trick.
That evening at the music hall, Tintin and Haddock watch a performance by the opera singer
Tintin, Haddock, and Calculus go to the home of Professor
At the hospital, Fleur and her mother sit by the bed of Clarkson. Tintin arrives following Bergamotte's attack, and Fleur asks him to help her father. Tintin says he will, and leaves the hospital, whilst Fleur reassures her mother that everything will be alright because Tintin will help them. In the garden, Calculus mysteriously disappears following his donning the bracelet.
Later at Marlinspike, Haddock is depressed because of Calculus's disappearance. Castafiore, her
Act 2
In
Meanwhile, Thomson and Thompson have found Calculus's pendulum and attempt to use it to locate him. They mistake the indications given by the pendulum, and travel to the North Pole and meet an eskimo, to the Far East, and to Scotland. Eventually they realise that the pendulum is pointing to Peru, where Tintin and Haddock are, and head off in pursuit.
Tintin, Haddock and Zorrino reach a waterfall. Zorrino and Haddock cross without incident, but as Tintin crosses, with Snowy in his rucksack, the rope snaps and they fall through the waterfall. He survives the fall and Haddock and Zorrino join him on the other side of the waterfall, in a cavern. At the same time, an Incan ceremony is taking place. Suddenly, Tintin, Snowy, Haddock and Zorrino crash through a hidden door in the wall.
They are blindfolded, and the Grand Inca declares that their punishment for profaning the temple is to die at the stake, but grants them one last wish: they are allowed to choose the day and hour of their deaths. Zorrino is separated from the others as they are imprisoned, visits them in their cell, and unfolds the little boat that Tintin had made for him. Tintin reads the newspaper and finds their salvation. He tells the Incan guard that they wish to die in eighteen days' time. When the day comes, they are bound to the stake on the funeral pyre whilst a ceremony takes place. Thomson and Thompson arrive, having finally found Calculus; they are also tied up. As they are about to be sacrificed, Tintin "commands" the Sun; everything goes dark as the Moon moves in front of the Sun's face. Tintin reveals to a startled Haddock what he read in the newspaper: the impending solar eclipse!
The Grand Inca begs Tintin to make the Sun show its light again, and he does so. The Inca sets them free, as they have the favour of the Sun. Tintin asks for the curse of Rascar Capac to be lifted, and in Europe, the expedition members awake, to the delight of Mrs Clarkson and Fleur, who thank Tintin. Back in Peru, the Grand Inca adopts Zorrino, and as everyone comes home in Brussels together, the cast takes their bows. The curtain falls.
Scenes and songs
Charleroi Cast
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Paris Cast
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Music
The show boasts an orchestral score composed by Dirk Brossé with lyrics by Seth Gaaikema (adapted to French by Didier Van Cauwelaert and performed by l'Orchestre National de Belgique (the Belgian National Orchestra). There are around twenty different songs in the show, and a few reprises. The two main themes that run throughout the show are Haddock's (first heard when he performs the trick with the whisky, later heard in full at Moulinsart and the port) and Soleil, or Tintin's theme, sung first after his leaving the hospital and as a finale.
A
Staging & effects
The show features an incredible array of
- A cliff parting to reveal the mummy of Rascar Capac
- A train steaming into the station
- The seven explorers trapped inside revolving crystal balls
- Ball lightning lifting Tournesol into the air on his chair
- A flying boat taking off
- A condor in flight, with Tintin hanging from the legs
- A waterfall drawn from a 6.5 tonne reservoir
- A total solar eclipse
The Paris affair
After the resounding success of the show in Belgium, the show was scheduled to be performed in Paris at the Hippodrome d'Auteil in 2003 as the highlight of the Christmas playbill. The cast was to remain the same as for Charleroi, with the exception of Frayne McCarthy (Haddock) being replaced by Patrick Rocca. It was a hotly anticipated performance, with a theatre being renovated to house the ambitious special effects. Tickets were sold in advance and a CD was produced (featuring the Belgian cast), a stripped-down version of the Charleroi release. A DVD was scheduled for release in January 2004.
Divisions began to appear between the investors and the producers. Although it was not clear who was to blame – a main investor was rumoured to have pulled out, or hadn't the proposed capital – events came to a head in October 2003 and a press release issued on 20 October declared that the show was cancelled. It was a major blow to everyone involved: thousands of ticket-buyers had to be refunded, the CD had already been launched and a huge media campaign had to be cancelled (which would have incorporated amongst others France 2, RTL and Télérama). Owing to the risk taken – and arguably demonstrating foresight on behalf of the management – the actors' contracts stipulated they would not be paid until the show had been performed.
The future
Tabas&Co and Moulinsart had chosen the wrong business partners, yet the Paris affair did not spell the permanent end of the show. Moulinsart is reportedly examining the feasibility of launching the show in other countries, with the Dutch city of Rotterdam apparently being considered.
Recordings
Tabas & Co. has released a recording.