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| Tintin – Le Temple du Soleil Le Spectacle Musical | |
|---|---|
 Original Cast Recording | |
| Music | Dirk Brossé |
| Lyrics | Seth Gaaikema Frank van Laecke |
| Book | Seth Gaaikema Frank van Laecke Didier van Cauwelaert |
| Basis | The Adventures of Tintin comicsThe Seven Crystal Balls andPrisoners of the Sun byHergé |
| Productions | 2002Charleroi |
Tintin – Le Temple du Soleil, subtitledLe Spectacle Musical, is a 2002Belgianmusical in two acts with music byDirk Brossé, lyrics and scenario bySeth Gaaikema andFrank van Laecke and adapted to French byDidier Van Cauwelaert, based on two ofThe Adventures of Tintin byHergé:The Seven Crystal Balls (1948) andPrisoners of the Sun (1949). It is the French-language version of the Dutch showKuifje – De Zonnetempel that premiered in 2001. It premièred inCharleroi in 2002 and was scheduled forParis in 2003 but was cancelled.[1]
An expedition of seven scientists, theSanders-Hardiman expedition, discovers the tomb of theIncanmummyRascar Capac and provokes the anger of the Sun God. Acurse descends upon them. Meanwhile,Tintin andSnowy arrive on the train at Marlinspike, and Tintin talks to another traveller about the recent return of the expedition fromPeru. He says that all will end badly, desecrating the burial chambers of the Incas likeTutankhamen's – five members of the expedition have already been mysteriously struck down.
Tintin and Snowy go toMarlinspike Hall whereCaptain Haddock lives, and they meetNestor the butler. He says that Haddock is currently horse riding, but he shortly returns minus the horse. Haddock introduces their old friendProfessor 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 singerBianca Castafiore, which Snowy turns into an impromptu duet. Haddock storms out from the show because of Castafiore's singing. Ragdalam thefakir and Yamilah theclairvoyant perform after Castafiore; after a few novelty predictions, Ragdalam asks Yamilah to tell him about a woman in the audience, Mrs Clarkson. She says that her husband, Clarkson, is aphotographer, and that he has been struck down by the curse of Rascar Capac. Mrs Clarkson must leave the show with her daughter, Fleur, when she receives a message that her husband is indeed ill. The magician's act is on, and Haddock stumbles onto the stage with a stage prop of a cow's head on his, after having got lost backstage trying to find his way out.
Tintin, Haddock, and Calculus go to the home of ProfessorHercules Tarragon to protect him, as he and Calculus were students together. The police detectivesThomson and Thompson have also been sent to protect Tarragon. Tarragon reveals the mummy of Rascar Capac, and Tintin reads theprophecy that the expedition found in his tomb. A storm comes, aball of lightning comes down the chimney, destroys the mummy, and Bergamotte realises that the prophecy is true. He is then struck down by the curse like the others.
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, heraccompanistIgor Wagner, and her maidIrma arrive; Castafiore announcing she will be staying for a period. Tintin, Haddock and Snowy manage to escape and head to thedocks, where they discover that Calculus has been spotted on the ship «Pachacamac» and is going to Peru. They catch aflying boat to Peru, and as it flies into the distance, the curtain closes on Act One.
InPeru, Tintin and Haddock ask whether anyone has seen Calculus, but are met with "No sé" ("I don't know") from everyone. Tintin and Snowy intervene to stop two men bullying a child. The child,Zorrino, reveals that he is an orphan living on the streets. Tintin cheers him up by making him a little boat out of newspaper. Zorrino reveals that he knows where Calculus is – he has been taken to the Temple of the Sun. Zorrino leads them on a trek to the temple, with many perils against them. Snowy is taken by acondor, and Tintin climbs to the top of a cliff to look for him. He is attacked by the condor and, hanging onto its legs, is carried to the ground where he discovers Snowy.
Meanwhile, Thomson and Thompson have found Calculus'spendulum and attempt to use it to locate him. They mistake the indications given by the pendulum, and travel to theNorth Pole and meet aneskimo, to theFar East, and toScotland. 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 awaterfall. 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 acavern. 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" theSun; everything goes dark as theMoon moves in front of the Sun's face. Tintin reveals to a startled Haddock what he read in the newspaper: the impendingsolar 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.
Charleroi Cast
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Paris Cast
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The show boasts an orchestral score composed byDirk Brossé with lyrics bySeth Gaaikema (adapted to French byDidier 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) andSoleil, or Tintin's theme, sung first after his leaving the hospital and as a finale.
ACD release, containing 18 studio-recorded songs sung by the original cast, appeared in 2002. Most songs were present in their full versions as heard in the show. Some songs were not featured, partly because they were variations on others already present (for example,Rien dans les manches being a pared-down version ofMille millions de mille sabords). A notable omission wasPromenade avec Tournesol, a cheerful tune that would have appeared between tracks 9 and 10 on the CD.
The show featuresspecial effects andstaging including:
Tabas & Co. has released a recording.
