HCM CITY — La Vie Parisienne (Parisian Life), one of Jacques Offenbach’s most popular operettas, will be staged in a Broadway style in HCM City next week.

Composed in 1866, the play portrays the contemporary life of Parisians.

The work revolves around the jokes, pranks and flirts of two middle-class Parisian men named Bobinet and Gardefeu, who fell in love with a girl named Matella.

But when they see her with a rich man and pretending not to know them, Bobinet and Gardefeu feel resentment towards the aristocratic upper-class men and intend to humiliate them.

La Vie Parisienne premiered at the Palais – Royal Theatre in Paris in 1866. It has been performed in many different styles of staging and setting, ranging from classical to modern.

The play was staged in classical style by a French specialist and artists from Việt Nam National Opera Ballet in Hà Nội on the occasion of the Francophonie Summit in 1997. It was performed in Vietnamese.

Meanwhile, the performance in HCM City will include songs in the original language of French with Vietnamese dialogues. There will be English subtitles.

Directed by young singer and director Tây Phong, the play will feature outstanding artists from the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO), including tenor Nam Khánh, baritone Đào Mác and soprano Phạm Khánh Ngọc who won second prize at the SLO - ASEAN Vocal Competition in Singapore last month.

“I chose a contemporary style of staging for La Vie Parisienne. The stage is constantly changing by rearranging positions of the props to create different backgrounds,” said Phong, a graduate of vocal and stage directing at the Conservatory of Music, and University of Cinematography and Theatre in HCM City.

French conductor Patrick Souillot will lead the HBSO Symphony Orchestra in the performance.

He studied conducting with American maestro Leonard Bernstein in 1986. Since 1989, he has been music director of L’Orchestre, the symphony orchestra of Grenoble’s University. He has worked with numerous orchestras in Europe and Asia, and staged many operas for opera houses in Europe.

La Vie Parisienne will be presented on November 19-20 at the HCM City Opera House, 7 Lam Sơn Square, in District 1. Tickets can be purchased at the venue’s box office. — VNS