The
Hunchback of Notre Dame is a classic, am I right!? Yes. I am right. I recently
read the book in anticipation of seeing this musical. Don’t ask me why I’m so
ready to include musical theatre in my Approved Interpretation lists but not
movies. But. There we are.
Hunchback
is about a man of the church (arch bishop?) who adopts a deformed baby who
becomes the bell ringer of a great French cathedral… Notre Dame. Duh. Stories vary about from whom and for why he adopts the kiddo but all sources agree that he's verbally abusive and over-controlling. The Arch-bishop becomes upset with a dirty gypsy woman who falls in love with a captain of the guard. As you might expect when a man of power loves someone who doesn't love him, hijinks ensue. As you might expect from Victor Hugo, people die.
Disney’s
animated movie misleads you in all directions, y’all! There is NO FEEL GOOD
ENDING! Victor Hugo had issues. For real.
Anyway,
the musical was produced as the regional debut by Greece Performing Arts
Society (GPAS). It was performed in the beautiful Lyric Theater, a refurbished
old church. The theater has maintained the pews as seating so it’s first come
first, first serve and the sight lines can be a wee of a nightmare. Especially
if there’s an old woman next to you complaining about the tall guy in front of
her. But, whatever. And the sound system was a bit inconsistent.
That
being said, this is a wonderful version of the story. I was worried it would be
TOO Disney. I’m sad to be so old that I think something can be TOO Disney but
having reading Hunchback I wanted something at least a little closer to the
grim story.
GPAS
made some excellent choices in the use of the gargoyles, having Esmeralda use a
bit of sign language with Quasimodo (I almost cried, y'all), and having the
Greece Choir round out the sound. I still get goose bumps thinking about the
vocals.
Book
Recommendations:
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