The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a musical with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. The musical is a stage adaptation of the animated 1996 Disney film of the same name, which was based on the 1831 novel by Victor Hugo. While the animated film was very successful, the story had changed significantly from the original Victor Hugo novel to ensure it kept a family friendly G rating. The Victor Hugo estate was outraged at how far the movie had strayed from the original novel.
The musical adaptation followed closer to the original text, resulting in a much more intelligent musical with deeper and heavier themes. The musical made its world premiere in Berlin, Germany in 1999, titled Der Glöckner von Notre Dame, with a book by James Lapine. The musical ran for three years and became one of Berlin’s longest running musicals. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is by far the darkest of all the Disney musicals. It no doubt enjoyed such a successful world premiere in a country that had grown up with very dark and gruesome fairy tales by the Grimm Brothers.
An English language version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame debuted in California in 2014 with a revised book by Peter Parnell. Further changes were made to the libretto when the show opened in New Jersey. This new revised version opened in Berlin in 2017, in German language and again titled Der Glöckner von Notre Dame. I saw this German language production in Berlin in 2017 – and it was stunning. Despite knowing very little German I found this musical to be profoundly moving. The musical is dark and I’ve been told Disney has no plans to ever bring this musical to Australia, which means amateur theatre is now the only way Australian audiences can see The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I had very high expectations of CLOC’s production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and thankfully they managed to exceed my expectations. The opening scene took me straight back to that professional production in Berlin and literally gave me goosebumps. I immediately knew CLOC had nailed it. I expected this production to not have some of the same “Disney magic” of the professional production – and then they completely surprised me with some “CLOC magic” instead. Bravo!
Director Shaun Kingma has delivered an exceptionally outstanding production. Kingma has captured the depth of this story, clearly presenting the conundrum the audience is asked: What makes a monster and what makes a man? The audience watches as a man transforms to the “monster” of Quasimodo, and then later returns to be being a man as the story ends and it’s clear he is not the monster after-all. The characters are complex. The story is layered with themes and messages to unpack for days afterwards. That itself would be enough to make for an intriguing story, but the music of this show is arguably the best of any “Disney” musical and elevates the show to something quite extraordinary. Ironically, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is also the least “Disney” musical of all and doesn’t follow the standard Disney happily-ever-after journey.
The complexity of the story and its mature themes make this a very intelligent a very adult musical. Kingma has found the right balance of the darker, heavier moments interspersed with moments of lightness and warmth.
Kingma also designed the stunning set that perfectly captures the French Gothic styling of Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral. The iconic rose stained glass window of the real Notre Dame is beautifully recreated and instantly recognisable. Despite our modern concept that “goth” implies darkness, the Gothic style of architecture was about allowing the light in through these windows. In the darkness of this story, this window provides a welcome beacon of light. In the darkness of the staging, this window provides some stunning contrast. And then there’s the Notre Dame bells which are quite magnificent.
From the moment the audience arrives in to the theatre, the atmosphere has been set and creates quite an immersive feel. Gentle candle light flickers. The sound of fire crackles in the background. Two large angel statues stand either side of the stage, surrounded by skulls. Gargoyles can be seen on various beams.
A large choir, dressed appropriately in church type robes spend most of the show sitting in a loft overlooking the church, but also have their moment centrestage in the spotlight. Their collective voices are superb and days later their “ah-ah-ah” are still playing in my head. It is wonderful to see every single member of the choir listed with photos and bios in the program rather than simply a list of names. Their input is pivotal to the success of this production.
Melanie Ott’s excellent choreography is executed well by the cast and captures the energy and passion of the Romani people. Every dance routine and every movement feels purposeful and story-driven. Cast move set pieces on and off stage seamlessly, sometimes at a frenetic pace to match the music, serving only to enhance the story and not distract from it.
I’ve been listening to the German cast recording of this musical for the past nine years and know this score so well. Under the Musical Direction of David Clausen-Wisken the 14 piece orchestra is outstanding and bring this stunning score to life with flawless precision. The orchestra pit is entirely covered for this production, so I’m glad the live orchestra was announced to the audience, and David Clausen-Wisken appeared onstage during the curtain call, just in case any audience member mistook this exceptional live music to be a recording. It’s worth noting CLOC’s orchestra is larger than the current professional production of another Disney musical currently playing in Australia!
The sound is rich and lush, and perfectly balanced, aided by a quality sound design by Marcello Lo Ricco.
Victoria Horne’s elaborate and detailed costume design is superb, capturing the time period and creating a visual feast.
Lighting design by Jason Lord is stunning and captures the darkness of the inside of the imposing cathedral but ensuring the action is not obscured by shadows. Candlelight provides a lovely warm glow in certain scenes.
And then there’s the perfect casting.
Jackson Howe is exceptional as Quasimodo in his debut CLOC production. He perfectly balances the vulnerability and strength of Quasimodo, and delivers a remarkably believable performance. Quasimodo is a likeable character and it’s impossible to not feel a sense of compassion for his situation.
Mike Gardiner is brilliant as Frollo, a character with a similar arc to Javert in the other Victor Hugo musical – Les Miserables. Driven initially by a sense of righteousness rather than compassion for humanity, Frollo is a more sinister villain than Javert, and the contrast between good and evil even more striking. Gardiner is spine-chillingly good in this role.
Teresa Giansiracusa is wonderful as Esmeralda, bringing the much needed warmth and humanity to this story, yet also a sense of strength and fiery gypsy passion. Thomas Bowman delivers a convincing performance as Phoebus. The pair share a lovely onstage chemistry.
Evan Evans, also making his CLOC debut, brings a sense of fun and mischief to his portrayal of Clopin and has a commanding stage presence.
The ensemble cast and choir are all highly experienced performers, many of whom have impressive training credentials, awards and extensive experience, This really is the crème de la crème of community theatre.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is an epic musical on a grand scale and CLOC’s production is an absolute triumph on every level.
While Disney has no plans to ever bring this musical to Australia, CLOC’s production may be the best version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame you will ever see in this country. The mammoth scale of this musical with the massive cast and orchestra that are needed to do it justice pretty much precludes it from a full professional production these days.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a profoundly deep and complex musical with themes to unpack for the weeks following. Or you can just sit back and enjoy this sumptuous musical score.
CLOC’s production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame is now playing at the National Theatre in St Kilda. Seriously, do not miss this one!
For more information and tickets: https://www.cloc.org.au/hunchback.html
Photography by Ben Fon
