HUNCHBACK La Jolla Previews- Page 8

[RW3]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 3:22pm

Promo looks so good!
Playbill Article

[laneyjd00]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 3:50pm

I really need to see this.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 10:08pm

Someone said a while back that they added a new song to the musical. Well, they have added 2:

"In My Life": Which Phoebus and Esmerelda meet in Notre Dame
"Bells of Notre Dame" (Part 2): Where Esmerelda enters the cathedral for the first time

http://enseeseven.tumblr.com/post/102652445887/disneys-hunchback-musical-detailed-synopsis

[Deiff2]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 11:05pm

^^^
Actually both songs have been in the production since first preview.

The show looks amazing!

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 11:36pm

Weird they aren't in the program

[Deiff2]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 11:41pm

Both are about 50 seconds long, maybe that's why. I don't really know why they didn't mention them in the program.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 11:45pm

^Gotcha.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 11/22/14 at 12:31am

End of act one, it's thrilling, at times breathtaking, heartbreaking and that's just the first act.

Act two needs a small amount of work, but in saying that it really was a heartbreaking night of theatre, the final twenty minutes is stunning.

People have said enough and reviewed it before , I am so glad I came from Australia for this, bravo to all involved

Updated On: 11/22/14 at 12:31 AM

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 11/22/14 at 9:27pm

Saw it again today and have to say this really is one incredible show. The production is rich, lush and full of some amazing music and performances.
Not to mention a captivating blend of staging and set designs.
Again, Michael Arden knocked it out of the park.
When you can totally lose an actor in a character, you know the actor is really on to something.
And your heart breaks for Arden's Quasimodo; his acting is stellar. Every look, every gesture, every word, every emotion. Phenomenal.
And Page, Renee, and the on-stage chorus once again sounded amazing. The scene in the dungeon prior to Esmeralda going to the stake had me mesmerized. Renee's number with Samonsky was incredible. As was her performance of "God Help the Outcast" in the cathedral.
While the play is certainly true to the Disney animated version in some ways, it clearly distances itself in others. And does so in a very effective way.
In fact, the divergences from the movie allow the story to be told in a much more powerful, emotional and meaningful way.
In my opinion it needed to be done this way, and not as some precise reflection of the movie.
Shows like Aladdin with all its glitz can bring on the cartoonish and playful renderings from the movie, but this one needed something different. And they achieved it.
Fantastic from beginning to end.
My first viewing of the show, I was thoroughly entertained and moved by this production.
Last night I added transfixed and touched.



Updated On: 11/23/14 at 09:27 PM

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 11/23/14 at 6:05pm

It really was amazing, if Disney do this right it should be a mega hit for them. Cant wait to see it again sometime in the near future.

[owenblinky]

Posted: 11/27/14 at 1:41pm

My favorite parts from Der Gloeckner were the finale's reprise of Wie Aus Stein (Made of Stone) and the moment when Quasimodo kills Frollo and tells him "you are a very good teacher!"

Now both parts are drowned out by narrators talking over it.

Feels like going to an opera and having some dick sit next to you and talk through the whole thing.

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 11/27/14 at 3:44pm

Having seen Hunchback twice at La Jolla, luckily I didn't feel that there was any problem with that scene. Very dramatic and emotional. I was actually able to hear everything that was going on at that point.

I do think there were certain places where the narration wasn't really necessary, but the show overall was electric and audience response was amazing.

[grumpyoptimist]

Posted: 11/27/14 at 8:07pm

Folks who have seen it (I have twice): is anyone else bothered by Frollo's death scene? That's the one thing in this show I just can't reconcile...in a staging as lush as this one can be, I have found myself frustrated and somewhat annoyed by the way the end of that scene is done.

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 11/27/14 at 11:57pm

I'm not so sure I was frustrated by it.
I think I was so emotionally moved by the play at that point that it sort of went by without much thought.
That is, if you're referencing what I think you're referencing.
If you're talking about the event that happens right after they carry him off, screaming….that rather dramatic little event…then I know what you mean.
A little startling perhaps the first time I saw it, but overall, it didn't bother me that much. Unnecessary maybe, as you knew what was happening to him, but not bothersome.

Updated On: 11/28/14 at 11:57 PM

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 11/28/14 at 12:03am

That moment wasn't bothersome, i thought it was perfect, this aint no happy little Disney musical, nor should it be. I can't remember the last time I cried at a show, I was a sobbing mess by the end of this.

Some of the narration wasn't needed

[owenblinky]

Posted: 11/29/14 at 5:04pm

Here's my unsolicited focus group feedback.

LOVED:

The book by Peter Parnell is great. The characters are fleshed out so much better than the Disney movie and the Berlin Version. It's thrilling to watch these cartoon personalities come to life as real humans through masterful writing and acting. Frollo's abusive relationship with Quasimodo is just stunning to watch, especially in the opening scene which blends seamlessly into him singing "the world is cruel, the world is wicked..." The new mini musical numbers exploring Frollo's shame of Quasimodo and the way he manipulates his love gave me goosebumps. Going into the show I was afraid Frollo had gone soft, but I'm happy to report that the genocidal maniac we know and love from the Disney movie is here and in full force, while at other times occupying the role of the animated version's kindly Archdeacon who welcomes Esmeralda to the church, only now he does it in the creepiest way possible. The fact that this new Frollo can be amusingly pathetic and naive at times while cold and calculating at others makes him even more unpredictable and scary in a way that reminded me of Breaking Bad's Walter White. Phoebus and Clopin are wonderful in their introductions, providing a Dionysian mirth and bawdy humor that lightens the dark mood while adding a layer of adult gray area at the same time (Rest and Recreation is now in a brothel and Topsy Turvy has some delightful air-humping by Clopin). Nearly every song was perfectly staged and executed. I nearly cried 4 or 5 times in the first hour of the show.

DIDN'T LOVE:

QUASIMODO:
The Disney character had a lot on his plate already with those physical deformities, and now he's mentally and linguistically deformed as well, making him more like he was in the book. It adds vulnerability to the character but detracts in other ways. For example, In previous Disney adaptations it was kind of shocking and disappointing to have Quasimodo lose the girl; in this adaptation Quasimodo's so far gone, it's kind of pitiful to watch him get his hopes up because he never had a chance to begin with. That in itself is not a problem though.

What bugs me is how Quasimodo's handicapped voice creeps into his singing. Michael Arden spends a lot of "Out There" flipping back and forth between his polished broadway singing voice and his crippled Quasimodo speaking voice. Lapsing in and out between singing and acting is practically a cliche of modern musical theater, but here it's taken to such absurd binary extremes it comes across like some Jekyll Hyde multiple personality shizo gimmick... Out There is a great song without gimmicks and that's all I wanted to hear.

Quasimodo's black streaked face worked from far away, but sitting up close it looks odd. The metatheatrical transformation sequences book-ending the show added nothing for me. It felt gimmicky and at odds with everything else. Quasimodo is already so dehumanized; now the show ends with his character reduced to a discarded piece of costume. Ouch. And the cryptic message I'm supposed to glean from the ensemble "hunchbacking" themselves at the end... I don't know, For a show that prides itself on simplicity and not pulling punches it seems like a more direct approach is needed here.

STAGING THE FINALE:
The set was described as static and minimal in what I read online. I couldn't disagree more. The scenery was able transform and transport me completely from scene to scene. The Court of miracles was anything but minimalist, with giant pieces of scenery and lighting that made it look like a big cartoony sewer from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (I loved it!). The scene where Quasimodo and Phoebus walk around a giant map with the big replica of Esmeralda's pendant was a bit goofy, but I understood that they wanted to give us some kind of visual rather than making the audience rely entirely on imagination... Which is why I cannot believe why they'd choose the finale of all scenes to force the audience to rely on their imagination to the point that someone unfamiliar with the story would have no idea what's going on.

They couldn't have Quasimodo descend on a rope for some reason, they had the music put on hold while the narrators describe him sliding down a bench and the ensemble creates a ridiculous human wall. Okay, it's an authentic medieval staging convention, cute, but it looks ridiculous and the play is already being staged on a modern Wagnerian template controlled by computers so what's all this talk about medieval staging and authenticity? Just have Quasimodo drop down on a rope.

And how hard would it be to show Phoebus breaking free? Instead the music gets put on hold so he can describe how Clopin freed him instead of just acting it out.

I can only wonder what people unfamiliar with the story are thinking when the soldiers chase after Quasimodo while Quasimodo stands directly behind dumping molten lead on the floor from his magic levitating pot (with music-pausing narration of course) followed by waterfall of hot lava that seemingly kills Quasimodo everybody on stage. I don't think it would've been that hard to have Quasimodo up in the balcony dumping that red fabric lead on the soldiers below.

Then Frollo falls to his death in the most preposterous way possible, perpendicular to gravity in the OPPOSITE direction of the ledge from which he is supposedly being thrown, while the ensemble carries him off like he just won the world series. Then Frollo falls a SECOND TIME in the proper direction of gravity, only this time Frollo is portrayed not by Patrick Paige but by a sack of potatoes in a white sheet (no, really). How easy would it have been to chuck Paige off a fake ledge that goes directly backstage? I don't know, but I wish they had.

ORCHESTRA:
Oh, you poor little tiny orchestra. When the songs are soft and intimate or dominated by the choir it's usually okay, but when the orchestra is really needed to sell a bombastic piece for solo voice (Made of Stone, the Finale, parts of Esmeralda) it falls terribly short. Reminds me of when they'd take the music from Star Wars and adapt it for the 16-bit Star Wars Nintendo game. Ouch. Too bad about those budget constraints. I wonder if some members from The UC San Diego Orchestra could've done it for course credit (they have the chops, I've seen them play in the pit for operas and it sounded much better then this). Hopefully it'll get beefed up for Broadway. If not, then at least the studio-recorded album.

THAI MOL PIYAS/FLIGHT INTO EGYPT
The Tavern scene really added nothing for me, it just removed the immediacy of Heaven's Light/Hellfire, which serves as a much more natural conclusion to that eventful day in which Esmeralda enters the lives of Quasimodo/Frollo.

Flight into Egypt = "A Guy Like You 2.0".

Anyway, I nearly cried at points and Parnell's script acted by the cast was sheer delight, so I loved it in spite of everything.








Updated On: 11/29/14 at 05:04 PM

[RW3]

Posted: 11/30/14 at 12:18am

For the people who have seen the show, I just have one question. How does Esmeralda die exactly? From my understanding, Quasimodo rescues Esmeralda from the stake, they talk and then she dies? Can someone please elaborate this for me?

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 11/30/14 at 12:43am

It isn't specified exactly what the cause of her demise was, but when he rescues her she's fallen unconscious. They do exchange some words but she's very weak. I saw her death as simply being caused by smoke inhalation (?) or burns (possibly) that you don't see. You kind of use your own imagination as to what leads to her death. It isn't specified though. Some might have their own take on it, but that's my take on it.

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 11/30/14 at 1:04am

Interesting take, owen. And this is what is so great about theater. I can see where you're coming from on some points. Your point on the death of Frollo is well taken, but I must say that I was cool with the way it was staged. I'm not sure throwing him physically over the edge of the railing would have been any more effective. It seems like it would have to be done with such preciseness so as not to make it look cheesy in its own right. Throwing a live actor over the precipice of anything would rely on that actor making it very realistic. I don't know how old Patrick Page is but that could have come off as quite ineffective if not done right in my opinion. Sometimes simplicity is the best.
As for Quasimodo? I just loved him from start to finish. Again I see where you're coming from in "Out There," but again it didn't bother me. I didn't find his change in voice inflection a distraction. It didn't even cross my mind actually.
And as for the sound of the orchestra, I'm not sure how big it was, but the sound system was fantastic I thought. My friend even commented on how great the show sounded. Again, it didn't really draw my focus in a negative way.
The great thing about theater is that there are so many ways that a play can be staged and understandably it won't always hit the mark with everyone.
I don't think it necessarily makes what they did wrong. We might have ideas how we would do it, but in my opinion if it isn't overly distracting, I roll with it.
And to be honest, I was so moved by the show from start to finish that any glitches or disconnects that some might see did not pull my focus to such a degree that I found the show problematic in any sense.

[RW3]

Posted: 11/30/14 at 1:16am

sctrojan65, Thanks for your input. I interpreted that she died of smoke inhalation. Anyway, like you said, it is all up to your own interpretation.

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 11/30/14 at 1:52am

Sure, RW. They do have an exchange of words as you mentioned, but she is very weak throughout the dialogue. Since he's just rescued her from a smoking, burning stake, that's the only conclusion I could come up with. :) Very interesting to watch the look on her face when she's tied to the stake, and one last time, propositioned by Frollo, spits in his face. As the fire is lit her face turns from a smirk directed at Frollo, to the sudden reality of what is about to happen to her. Renee is a very good actress. And especially so in the dungeon scene with Phoebus when they're sharing one last moment. The angst in her face and voice….so emotional.

[owenblinky]

Posted: 11/30/14 at 2:11am

I agree Sctrojan, all those little facial expressions were magnificent. I remember those nuances in Esmeralda's final moment of defiance. I also liked how she leaned in towards Frollo as if she were about to kiss him and then spit in his face. Not to mention the tears in Frollo's eyes as he sentenced her to death. What an amazing cast.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 11/30/14 at 6:09am

In the words of Mort Rainey, "This is not my beautiful house. This is not my beautiful wife. Anymore..."

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 11/30/14 at 9:54am

Agreed, owen.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 11/30/14 at 10:24pm

I saw the production today, and easily one of the most moving afternoons I have had in the theatre. Patrick Page is phenomenal as Frollo, adding depth to the role. Likewise, Michael Arden is in great voice and his physicality and voice work throughout the show is astounding. Ciara Renee is stunning as Esmerelda, a true triple threat.

In terms of changes, I think the relationship between Frollo and Quasimodo was very clear and established. I think they focused a lot on deepening Frollo to give him moments of creepiness, coldness, and some warmth (in the first few scene to Quasimodo). I liked that they made Quasimodo deaf and dumb, although I was weary of it. After "Out There," I think that the choice to make him deaf and dumb was strong and became more natural to the storytelling for me.

I think that while the creative team really focused on Quasimodo and Frollo, they snubbed Phoebus and Clopin. Because of the Greek chorus, Clopin's role has been trimmed significantly. I think his role needed some more power and presence (especially in the opening) and that Topsy Turvy could have been a bit more exciting. I also think Phoebus was a little too one-dimensional. During Act One, I found it hard to like him at all. Andrew Samonsky has a great voice and a look that works well for Phoebus, but I did not think that his relationship with Esmerelda could have been more strongly established besides a really long kiss.

The choir added so much power to the show and the sets, costume, and lighting were great. I was worried about the Greek chorus, but I think it worked very well for the show. Their work as the gargoyles was very interesting, and I loved it.

These are picky things that could get easily fixed, but I think the show is in great shape. Disney has something special on their hands as long as they continue to market it as the adult, non-Disney show it is. This could be the show that makes them truly credible on Broadway (Aladdin and Newsies were a step in the right direction after Tarzan and Mermaid). Looking forward to hear about changes in Paper Mill and hopefully New York!

Side note: La Jolla is beautiful! Got a burrito bowl from Chipotle and ate on the beach (10 minute drive away!) before the show.