Stories can be told in many different ways as we see with Gigi, which started as a novella or short novel, was then transformed into a small French film, a Broadway play, a major musical film epic and, finally, a staged musical, all within the space of 28 years. In all five versions, the basic story remains remarkable similar. However, the different media have different advantages and different disadvantages causing differences. The story of the young French girl who grows up in front of our eyes illustrates these factors. Below are a few examples; the readers may think of others.

THE ORIGINAL STORY 1945
Colette's tale is very short and compact (about 60 small pages in a recent English edition). Everything needs to be spelled out in words: the appearance of Mamita's apartment, the clothes the characters are wearing, their reactions to certain events, their thoughts and facial expressions, et cetera. If the length of the work is limited, so then is the story, which must be told in what is left of the space allowed, and two readers may still have two different pictures in mind as the story unfolds. Thus the story has to be relatively simple, and the number of characters and plot lines are limited. All the events of Gigi unfold in either Mamita's apartment or Alicia's. Only four characters (Gigi, Mamita, Alicia and Gaston) are fully rounded.

THE FRENCH FILM 1949
A film changes this completely. Everyone sees exactly the same room and furniture, the same scenery, the same reactions, et cetera. Nothing of the physical production is left to the imagination. The scenery can be more varied — For example, some of the scenes of this film, shot in Paris, take place in the real Eiffel tower. Plot complications can be expanded.

THE BROADWAY PLAY 1951
A staged version falls between the two above. Everything does not need to be described, but neither is everything real. If the Eiffel tower is to be used as a setting, it can only be suggested. The set may look like the Eiffel Tower, but it is not real, and the audience knows this.

THE LERNER AND LOEWE MUSICAL FILM 1958
This is the ultimate. More characters can be introduced. Real places can be used as sets. We are on the beach at Trouville (although these scenes were actually shot in Venice Beach, California), we are actually in the real famous Maxim's Costumes are more elaborate since quick changes are not necessary. Finally, there is time for the musical numbers which add a new dimension. They may interrupt the action or they may actually carry the action forward as in Gaston's aria Gigi, during which he completely changes the way he feels about the girl. The Night They Invented Champagne adds a joyousness difficult to portray without the music.

THE LERNER AND LOEWE BROADWAY MUSICAL 1973
Here we must contract again. The advantages of the music remain, but the physical places can only be simulated. Acoustical concerns affect the way the actors project their lines. Sudden scene changes are difficult unless sets are very simple and only suggestive of the locale. In the film the singing of Leslie Caron was dubbed by another singer. This would be difficult in a play. (Scenes with poor coordination between the actress and the singer can be reshot, but in the live theatre such errors can not be corrected.)

It is amazing that, under these conditions, the basic story remains very much the same in all versions.

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Revised August 2010
Please credit Lyric Opera San Diego when using this material.