Paris Cathedral, a historical musical for the first time on the stage of the Korça Theater

2025-12-29 13:38:00, Kulturë CNA

Paris Cathedral, a historical musical for the first time on the stage of the

On the stage of the “Andon Zako Çajupi” Theater in Korça, for the first time, a large-scale musical was staged. “The Cathedral”, inspired by Victor Hugo’s monumental work “The Cathedral of Paris”, brought to the Korça audience a spectacle that combines acting, vocals and choreography.

Well-known names on the Albanian stage such as Gerald Murrja, Amri Hasanlliu, Arsi Bako, Mateus Frroku, Donald Shehu, among others, artistically interpreted the world-famous romantic work, receiving long applause from the audience.

Director Xhuliano Brisku said that this project was a great artistic courage, which was crowned with success on the stage of Korça. According to him, the work has a lot in common with the city, describing Korça as the “Little Paris”, which made it even more significant to set this musical here.

"I am very happy to be part of the Korça theater, as an actor. It was a great madness to put it on stage, a courage that was finalized today. I am very excited because this is a world masterpiece and a great challenge for everyone. The Paris Cathedral and the Korça Cathedral have a lot in common. Korça is Little Paris and why not bring this work to Korça ," said the director.

Tenor Gerald Murrja emphasized that this is the first musical staged at the Korça theater, and described the experience as a special professional challenge, especially due to the transition from opera to the musical genre. He also praised the collaboration between artists from different cities in the country.

" I believe that in Korça it is the first musical to be staged in a theater. There were quite a few ovations, the people welcomed us very well. For me it is a very big challenge because I am a soloist in TOB. It has been a little difficult because in opera you don't need microphones, while in the genre of musicals you do. We are very lucky that we work with very good actors and singers, connecting several cities like Shkodra, Dibra, Tirana ," the tenor said.

Singer Arsi Bako described this role as a different and challenging experience, where for the first time she combined acting, singing and dancing, while stating that this performance will remain an important moment in her career.

" It was a different experience than anything I've done before. Combining acting with singing and dancing was a challenge. I think it was very well received and I feel very happy with this role. It will remain a long part of my career ," said the singer.

Meanwhile, actor Amri Hasanlliu, in the role of Quasimodo, described the musical as one of the most difficult challenges of his career, especially due to the vocal and physical demands of the character, but appreciated the positive reaction and applause from the audience.

"A bit tired but overall it turned out well. An emotion, a very big challenge, I'm torn between the two, but I'm not the only main character. Without Esmeralda we wouldn't have Quasimodo, nor the priest, nor the captain. From the audience's applause, it seemed good. It was quite difficult for the vocalist because the position of Quasimodo was difficult. It was the most difficult role I've ever had in a musical ," said the actor.

"The Cathedral" marks an important step for the artistic life of the city of Korça, bringing to this stage for the first time a musical of international proportions and further expanding the cultural offer for the public./CNA