HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

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HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/17/08 at 9:48pm

Per JimHillMedia.Com:

"There's a rumor currently making the rounds that Disney Theatrical has asked Craig Lucas to rewrite James Lapine's book for this stage show. With the hope that a somewhat lighter take on this material would then be more palatable to a Broadway audience. But as to whether this means that the stage version of Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" will actually be bowing in the Big Apple anytime soon ... Who can say."

I take everything he says with a grain of salt, but who knows?

"I saw Pavarotti play Rodolfo on stage and with his girth I thought he was about to eat the whole table at the Cafe Momus." - Dollypop

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/17/08 at 9:52pm

How many times is someone going to post a "rumor" about the Hunchback transferring to Broadway?

Rant, Wickud, Rant, Wickud, Rant! We're not gonna pay Rant! 'Cause everythink is Wickud!

"Leave Walt Disney Theatricals new sparkling production of The Little Mermaid on Broadway alone!!!"

lakezurich will be played by Paul Groves in the BWW musical

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/17/08 at 9:52pm

It may be nothing more than rumors, but I take what I can get. That would be truly amazing. Hunchback's my favourite Disney film, tied with Lion King, and I've been hoping for a Broadway debut of Hunchback for years... though I don't know how much 'lighter' they would make the material. (Like, maybe it just means Esmerelda won't die and Quasimodo will scream less.) As long as it's not 'lighter' than the Disney film...

In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy

Updated On: 10/17/08 at 09:52 PM

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/17/08 at 10:34pm

LIGHTER take? Bleh.

"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/17/08 at 10:39pm

Well, in the current version of the stage show (SPOILER!) Esmeralda is murdered by Frollo and Quasimodo drops Frollo to his death, instead of Frollo slipping from his grasp. It's a hugely adult, darker take on already dark subject matter for Disney, and I can easily see them wanted to tinker with it before it comes to Broadway.

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/17/08 at 10:45pm

This would be a big mistake. I'm sorry, but there's no way tourist families will see Hunchback instead of The Lion King or Mary Poppins. It's a much less memorable movie than Tarzan, and we all know what happened there...

"I think of avant-garde as downtown shows where you rub waffles and chocolate on yourself."- Hunter Bell

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/17/08 at 10:50pm

Whilst I agree that Hunchback would be a harder sell for Disney, I would argue that, next to "Mermaid" and "Beauty," it has the most Broadway-compatible score and would work well as a stage show. I have a feeling that, given all the preliminary work, sets, costumes and score have already been finished (a la Poppins), it would probably at least break even on Broadway before closing if it opened.

Filmwise, I think it's a modern classic and MUCH better than Tarzan. It dares to deal with adult issues and morals while still appealing to a younger generation and being wholly satisfying, beautifully drawn and heartbreaking. I love the movie.

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/17/08 at 11:23pm

Why shouldn't Disney produce a non-family-target-marketed show? An adult target audience can be just as profitable.

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/18/08 at 12:12am

I was scared for a second that this was going to be Notre Dame de Paris!

I once heard someone describe her (Ruthie Henshall) singing as sounding as though she's trying to swallow a whole meatball slightly larger than her windpipe. (The same person compared Michael Ball's singing to sounding as though he's sitting on a washing machine on spin cycle and Colm Wilkinson's to a man with a paralyzed lip trying to eat cottage cheese.) --- Schmerg_The_Impaler

#10

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/18/08 at 12:20am

i think they'll keep Mary Poppins open until they have "Hunchback" ready. Poppins could surive another or so.

A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.

#11

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/18/08 at 1:18am

I love hunchback, but i'll believe it when I see it.

#12

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/18/08 at 2:08am

"Lighter" take. The pricks would, too. The German version sounded amazing, and I bet they undo everything James Lapine did. This is the first rumor about this show I believe.

#13

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/18/08 at 2:12am

the last thing i heard is the that they were revising the show for ameture and regional performances.

#14

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/18/08 at 2:19am

hunchback

#15

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/18/08 at 3:18am

I'm watching some of the subtitled videos on Youtube right now. Everything about this looks brilliant. They even made the Gargoyles work!

#16

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/18/08 at 8:58am

The sad thing is, if Hunchback did make it to Broadway, I doubt they'd put Drew Sarich in the starring role of Quasimodo-- he's too old now. I've never been a big fan of Drew's (and I didn't like him in Les Miserables), but he was outstanding as Quasimodo, and I can't imagine anyone better for the role.

Little Mermaid got bad reviews because it was cheesy, fluffy, over-the-top and had no depth. Hunchback wouldn't be any of those things (unless they REALLY made it too much 'lighter'), and even if it wasn't as popular as the public, it could probably get really good reviews. As a fan of Hunchback and Little Mermaid, I'd love to see both on Broadway at once. They'd attract totally different crowds.

In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy

#17

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/18/08 at 9:41am

SPOILERS

Personally, I think that the production made a mistake in killing off only Esmeralda. I was happy to see that the show was going for a darker tone and had a semi-tragic ending, but they way they went about it was wrong, because it contradicts everything that the show was about up until that point. Either they both should survive or both die (the original ending to the book, which was sweet and hopeful despite the body count), not have the Hunchback live on and live with the fact that he could not do enough to save the woman he loves or achieve any of the goals he set out to accomplish.

#18

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/18/08 at 9:46am

ALSO SPOILERS

Well, technically, in the book, we never know exactly how soon after Esmerelda's death Quasimodo dies. It cuts from him being alive and grieving to his skeleton being discovered entertwined around Esmerelda's. Basically, Quasimodo pined away for Esmerelda. If he lives on, isn't there some chance for him to succeed in different goals? I did like the ending to the book, but I'm not sure it'd work onstage. Just like how the book "Les Miserables" ended with Valjean's grave and the musical ended with him being taken up to heaven.

In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy

#19

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/19/08 at 1:14pm

Revising James Lapine's book sounds like an oxymoron to me =P Man is a genius. Although it does sound like killing off Esmeralda was a bad decision...whatever, I'd love to see this on broadway!

#20

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/19/08 at 2:20pm

Hugo is rolling in his grave.

A lighter take? It's a dark tale. Accept it and run with it, or back off the material.

"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman

#21

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/19/08 at 8:06pm

Yeah, I think a lighter take on this is stupid. It's a musical about a guy with a hunchback. Like, what? I say make it darker. What Disney doesn't understand is that families, or nobody, wants to see a show that's bad. It's not that something is "too dark" or "too scary," but if it's crap it's crap.

#22

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/19/08 at 8:12pm

Yes-- and I love the book-- but the truth is, it's not a musical adaptation of the book. It's a musical adaptation of the Disney film, which was *inspired* by the book. Disney's traditionally very loose with their interpretations of the original source material (even if the original source is solid history-- see Pocahontas).

Imagine if Disney's "Little Mermaid" on Broadway was true to the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale rather than the Disney movie. That would involve Prince Eric marrying "Vanessa" and Ariel dying. I don't think that'd go over well with audiences. The truth is, the target audience for Hunchback probably isn't familiar with the original plot of the book. People would go see the show, billed as "Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame" and bring their children, and be shocked by the violent Quasimodo and Esmerelda's death.

I do feel the show should be darker than the original film, but I feel it should be closer to the film than the Berlin production-- not because it'd be a better show, but because it would attract more audiences.

In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy

#23

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/19/08 at 8:56pm

But that's just it. The show is not crap...at least not until the last 15 minutes. It is, by far, the strongest Disney production since The Lion King, and if brought to Broadway correctly, could even surpass that in terms of quality. Up until those last few minutes, it's dark but not too dark for the kiddies to enjoy--certainly just as dark as the film which, let's face it, should have been PG.

My problem is that Esmeralda dies and Quasimodo lets go. No, I'm not the guy that always needs the happy ending in shows, but as stated earlier in the thread, this is based on the Disney film that was inspired by the book, not based on the book directly.

And working within those perameters, the ending completely invalidates everything that the show has tried to drive home thus far. The moral of the movie and the show is sung early and often: "Who is the monster and who is the man?" The moment Quasimodo lets go and allows Frollo to fall to his death he becomes the monster and no longer is a man. Quasimodo has turned into a creature of vengeance and therefore the question becomes moot. There is no moral, there is no point to the story...there is only death and vengeance. Pretty bleak for ANY show on Broadway, let alone a Disney production.

I think it SHOULD be changed when transferred to Broadway because of that. The show will still be dark and adult, but not bleak and hopeless.

#24

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/19/08 at 8:58pm

Oh calm down, all of you.

-Benjamin
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/

#25

re: HUNCHBACK To Be Revised For Broadway?

Posted: 10/19/08 at 9:00pm

Uh...none of us have actually lost our calm. It's actually been a spirited conversation without illogical, idiotic remarks thus far.

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