Reading · Nora Loreto · RSS Amplifier

There’s this thing that happens when you learn a new language and you realize that your friendships can be divided out by the original language that the friendship was forged in. After I learned French, I didn’t start speaking French with my Francophone friends who I had known before I spoke French. Relationships have a language and, while learning a new language allowed me to make double the friends, it wasn’t as if all of a sudden, our friendship language would change.

But sometimes, you and your friend do speak that new-to-you language and realize that things are virtually the same, though more authentic.

That’s what I felt while watching Les Misérables today.

This French production is based on Cameron McIntosh’s blockbuster English musical. And the French made it even better.

The play was not the bombastic production of Broadway (which I saw in Montreal two years ago). But it wasn’t pared down either. Knowing every song by heart, except sung in a language that was more natural and more authentic than the cheesy French references in the English version, was a real treat. The sets were extremely well done, the singing was great and it just felt so much more natural. I’m not sure how it would have come across for someone who speaks no French at all, but probably, it would still be outstanding.

If you’re in Quebec City in the next two weeks, do yourself a favour and check it out.

Here are the headlines for this week’s Daily News podcast episodes.

British Columbia

B.C.’s labour board orders Amazon, union to reach deal via binding arbitration

1 dead after mid-air plane crash in B.C.’s Fraser Valley

Quebec

Construction holiday less deadly than 2025 on Quebec roads, but water tragedies mount

Bakery in Montreal vandalized with anti-tech message after switching to self-serve model

Ontario

First Nations chiefs call for public inquiry as Ontario defends wildfire response

Data centre proposal in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. met with opposition

Niagara municipalities hit by floods declare emergencies