Staging a comeback: Amateur performers stage L'Avenue. A new version of this revue will be presented next month. — File Photo

HA NOI (VNS)— A Broadway-inspired revue which became a stage phenomenon in Viet Nam last summer is set to briefly return to Ha Noi next month.

Titled L'Avenue, the show is the spiritual offspring of 22-year-old Vietnamese art student Nguyen Phi Phi Anh from the theatre department of the University of New Hamsphire in the US.

Following its debut in Ha Noi last August, the show, which is a combination of musical performances, drama and contemporary dance, attracted over 1,2000 people to watch it.

Alongside songs from famous musical, including Cell Block Tango and Roxie from Chicago, Masquerade from Phantom of the Opera and Memory from Cats, the revue also features contemporary international hits.

Anh wrote Vietnamese lyrics for the songs for local audiences to better understand the show and for the music to more closely match his plot – a contemporary love triangle.

Despite the huge success of the show last year, Anh was still not entirely satisfied and he has promised that audiences who attend this time round will find "a more beautiful, more interesting and more perfect than the old version".

"I know the first times round things were not perfect because it was the first time I worked on a production on that scale," he said. "In addition, my team and I did not have much money to invest in the show. Now we are able to cut unnecessary details and add new elements and choreography to improve the show."

Anh's ambition is not restricted to remaking L'Avenue. He has already begun work on a new drama, which will be titled Dem He Sau Cuoi (A Mid-Summer Night Murder).

Influenced by the English crime writer Agatha Christie, the detective fiction story will revolve around two murders that occur in a family of many children. The play will reflect the conflict between people in a modern family and some contemporary social problems.

For the casting of both shows, Anh and his team took to Facebook and Skype in March to begin the selection process.

Hundreds of young people, including college and university students in Ha Noi, attended the online selections. Some of the hopefuls then made it to the next round, a stage audition in May.

The best performers were chosen for the shows and a company of more than 50 actors, dancers, singers and musicians are currently going through intensive daily rehearsals.

Vietnam Idol 2013 finalist Nguyen Bao Tram and Vietnam's Got Talent 2012 runner-up Nguyen Huong Thao are among the cast member for the new and improved L'Avenue, which will be presented to audiences at the Cong Nhan Theatre, 42 Trang Tien Street on July 5-7. Dem He Sau Cuoi is expected to be staged in mid-August. — VNS