Countless famed movies have drawn inspiration from staged shows. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Romeo and Juliet and even the recent Closer just skim the surface of this oft-successful tradition. This weekend's world premiere of the stage version of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, produced here by Tympanium Euphorium, offered a clue why the opposite is rarely true. The production had good intentions, but the adaptation didn't seem to quite find its footing in front of a live audience.Based on a French film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is the brainchild of Deniz Cordell '07, who directed both the music and acting for the show. Cordell spent over a year securing the rights for the production and collaborating with Sheldon Harnick, lyricist of Fiddler on the Roof, who had originally adapted the movie for the theater-Harnick's version was never performed in its entirety. Yet despite the great deal of ambition and work put into bringing Umbrellas to life, something got lost in the translation.

Set in a small town in post-World War II France, the play finds a young couple falling deeply in love. The boy, Guy Foucher, well-played by newcomer Jeremy Bannett '09, is called up to serve in the army and must leave his teenage sweetheart, Genevieve Emery, aptly portrayed by Kara Manson '08. She is devastated by his departure, and her family's already-dire financial situation is worsened by the unplanned pregnancy with which her lover left her. Her mother pressures her into marrying a kindly businessman (Eli Matzner '08), and by the time Guy returns two years later, Genevieve has left with their child. He sinks into a depression which is worsened by the death of his aunt, only to end up being comforted by, and eventually marrying, his aunt's maid (Rebecca Webber '08). At the end of the play, he has one final run-in with Genevieve, who is visiting the town of Cherbourg after the death of her mother, bringing with her the child Guy fathered but has never seen.

The story line was quite moving, although its presentation was hampered by factors out of the actors' control. Every line of the show was sung in English, translated from the far more lyrical (and poetic) French script of the movie. Although the actors' voices were up to par, the script didn't come to life as it should have. Umbrellas is stuck somewhere between a musical and an opera. The actors simply sung out very unappealing phrases like "Is my car ready yet?" or "I want a black umbrella," making the entire story quasi-musical, but only enough to undermine the dramatic tension and not nearly enough to make it agreeable to just listen to the music. There were no catchy songs the audience could enjoy, and English lacks some of the operatic qualities of languages like Italian or German.

The music quality was further aggravated by the orchestra. As every single line was sung, it was accompanied by a constant melodramatic drone from the musicians arrayed in front of the stage. The Shapiro Campus Center Theater was not built for a pit orchestra, and the acoustic balance between the singers and the players was seemed warped. The actors had to resort to microphones clipped on their cheeks, causing their voices to be projected by speakers above the stage. Often, it was difficult to hear their lines over the repetitive musical score. The music was enlivened by the occasional novel innovation (such as the director/conductor donning an accordion to accompany his musicians), but always managed to return to a quickly tiring theme.

The show had a few high points. There were moments of quirky humor that brought a smile to everyone's faces, and the kids used for the roles of the children were adorable. The set design and colorful ambience were top notch, giving the tangible feel of a small French town, and the show managed to move almost seamlessly between houses, storefronts and cafs. This look at a slice of French country life was refreshing in a play dominated by darker themes.

Still, these were not enough to pull the show from its quagmire of dissonance. The story's themes of impossible love and loss rang true, but its medium just couldn't function correctly after being translated for an English stage. Too much of what would have made the show more powerful seems to have been lost in the transition. It seems a noble venture to take a musical foreign film and adapt it to an American stage, but if Umbrellas is any proof, perhaps this task is better left to professionals.

Editor's note: Eli Matzner '08 and Rebecca Webber '08 are staff writers for the Justice.