Hunchback of Notre Dame movie/musical- Page 2

[WishingWells]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 10:36am

I would have liked to see Hunchback on Broadway instead of Tarzan!

[Tsao5]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 10:48am

Actually, the cast learned the score in English first. The entire cast had a month of rehearsal in New York City prior to flying over to Germany for another month or more of rehearsal. Most of the cast were already living in Germany and were flown in, Drew Sarich, and one of the ensemble men were the only ones who would be totally new to Germany. As the entire cast spoke English (it was an international cast), many were a bit sad that the opportunity was lost to make an English full Demo at the same time that the German CD was recorded.

The score was written around the vocal talents of the cast. It was one of the most difficult scores to sing 8 times a week as the Alan Menken-Michael Kosarin combo like to write everything VERY HIGH for all the vocal parts......but the challenge was met, you would agree LeeFowler?

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 12:50pm

The one thing I like less about Bob Iger than Michael Eisner--he canned this project, which I was REALLY looking forward to. It's a shame Disney's so afraid of bringing it to America.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 3:03pm

Eisner didn't can it - it was his passion project. When Disney canned Eisner, Disney canned the Hunchback musical on both TV and stage.

[whatever2]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 3:37pm

i saw this in berlin when it was playing ... looking down in the pit at aintermission, i can tell you the books were all in english. it's very disappointing that something original like this sits ignored, while disney continues to dilute its broadway franchise w/ re-hashes of its DVD library.

[LuPonatic]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 4:03pm

Why did Disney Can Eisner?

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 4:47pm

I'm pretty sure Scarywarhol meant Bob Iger canned the project, not Eisner.

Posted: 3/30/07 at 7:54pm

As much as I'm sad this was Eisner's pet project, I'm glad he was fired--he was micromanaging Disney into the ground (cutting the hand drawn animation department, hiring a spendthrift to run Disneyland, years of bad will, etc...)

Yeah I heard the full cast and crew actuallyr ehearsed in English in New York and then went to Germany and learned the orles phonetically. So I guess an English demo of some sort must be out there somewhere.

What I don't get is why there seems to have been ZERO afterlife--not even any other European dates in, say, Vienna or somewhere similar to Germany. It was a hit basically, right?

Also I remember there used ot be a great fansite in English for this with song clips, pics etc but for the life of me I can no longer find it. Anyone know?

Hunchback is far from perfect but it sound sliek the changes they made were for the better, the set (whichw as largely projections wasn't it? pre Woman in White) was innovative and it's perhaps my fave Menken score musically...

E

[ElFantasma14]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 8:21pm

The set, from what i've read and the video's I've seen, was amazing. It was made of a grid of blank blocks powered by a hydro-engine (the type of engine that makes those ghetto cars bounce up and down), and could rearrange itself to make any shape. Then the different locales were projected on the blocks. One minute, they'd be the walls of a church, the next something entirely different. The theatre was built especially for this show and set.

I'm having a hard time finding that fan site as well. It was a really good resource, as there's so little out there on this show.

I'd cry tears of joy if this ever reached the U.S. It's a brilliant piece of theatre, and deserves more than one production. I see London as a more probably possiblity than the U.S., though.

EDIT: Found the website: http://home.alphalink.com.au/~paga/hunchback/
Updated On: 3/30/07 at 08:21 PM

[Tsao5]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 10:56pm

http://home.alphalink.com.au/~paga/hunchback/

This guy who made the sight was a young Australian theater fan who was in love with the show. If you go there, there is a brief tv commercial showing some of the clips from the show. It is short but still interesting.

Actually, THERE WAS a production of Hunchback in South Korea a few years back...same music, same story. But, of course, different sets/costumes/language. As I recal the woman who played Esmirelda was a local pop singer and Quasi was a young man picked from the ensemble

Many people thought James Lapine WAS an odd choice (including many on the creative team). As he had worked on smaller projects (Into the Woods, Passion) this would have been at the time (and since) his largest and most expensive production for the stage. T
he orginal Variety review said it best, basically calling Drew Sarich a revelation and liking aspects of it, but thinking it needed a lot of work....and thinking that that work would have been done prior to coming to New York.

Regarding the 3 gargoyles, they were Not the happy go lucky witty figures in the movie. They were not really funny at all. In fact, at the end of the show, when Frollo is hanging off the side, and Quasi has a knife in his hand this is how it goes.....

Frollo: You do not want to hurt me boy, did you?
The Jason Alexander gargolyle then says: OH YES YOU DO!!!!
And Quasi says: You have been a very good master Frollo, A very GOOD MAAAAAAAAAASTER! and basically lets Frollo fall to his death.

The character of Frollo was NOT really THAT bad....think more along the lines of Javert; duty is important, but he happens to fall in love with someone he is not supposed to. And THIS was a bit of a problem with the book...

The German production ends with Quasimodo (just basically KILLING Frollo..who actually thought the way MOST of Paris did at the time about gypsies) slowly walking from the Catherdral with a dead woman in his hands. The townspeople just look at him ( well singing and looking at him) and he just sort of walks away with her in his hands, and Pheobus following.

So what is the lesson? How is the audience supposed to feel?
Sympathy for Quasi? He just killed the man who had protected him his whole life and he is carrying a dead woman through the streets of Paris...

Most involved with the project agreed that the score was great....the book was not.

Many liked the show, many did not. BUT MOST LOVE THE CD which got raves across the boards...especially Drew and the ensemble and the Act I finale. Still gives chills......

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 11:18pm

About the time this opened, ENTERTAINMENT DESIGN ran an extensive pictorial on the production, including photos of the set pre- and during performance. It was indeed remarkable, and it's a shame it never made it over here.

Posted: 3/31/07 at 12:14am

The trailer on that site makes it look VERY gloomy--which is appropriate. I can see why Disney theatricals woud be at a loss about what to do with it--I'd love to know more about the genesis of this--who's idea it was to open it in Germany (though I have heard that the film in general did much better in Germany).

I'm surprised Disney didn't steal some of the songs and reuse them in the hideous looking (even by Disney's direct to video sequels) video sequel.

[[e-mail]]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 12:36am

Since I doubt I will ever be able to hear this score in my life I want to know maybe from someone who has heard it, does the score resemble King David? one of Menken's other scores? I'm just wondering what the overall sound of the "new" songs were.

[Tsao5]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 12:51am

Gloomy it was. It was a very dark show lighting wise (which I think it had to be for the projections to have maximum effect)

At the time, all the American/London productions that were coming to Germany were produced by a company called STELLA, which went bankrupt soon after (or during ??? Hunchback was playing). Stella wanted the prestige to say that they had a WORLD PREMEIRE of a show, and a Disney show all the better. As I understand it, it was STELLA that paid for the production, which at the time (1999), was the most expensive musical ever. Maybe someone out there (Mr Fowler, for example), could claify this, but I think STELLA owned the rights to this production, and when STELLA went bankrupt, the rights kinda vanished with the bankruptcy.

I do know the set was basically thrown away (pieces of it ended up at a local gay club in Berlin called the Metropole), and all the props and alot of the paperwork, including show reports where basically thrown out as trash.

If the show had gone to New York, finding an audience, would have been a bit difficult. How to market it? If it was to be Disney's Hunchback then it would have to be a bit brighter, and having Esmirelda die at the end, might not have happened (as was the the case in Berlin). The wit of the movie would have to be put back in...basically it had all been taken out by the director...and the set would have had to have been modified....the rising and falling floor cubes were too high and there is no theater deep enough to have housed them.

But there was some talk of bringing it under the Hyperion Banner ( the Aida branch of Disney). That would have allowed the Berlin production to come over essentially in tact. BUT, then you loose the "Disney" identification. So, what to do? Well we all know what happened.

The Hunch stayed in Berlin (actually I think the foam hunches that Drew and the other actors who played Quasi wore, were made into pillows)

[Quasi]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 4:29am

Actually I think its Menkens best score. I loved this show, saw it 6 times in Berlin. But unfortunately it wasn't a success, it has lost a lot money and was the final reason that Stella went bankrupt.

Even with a great score and some wonderful sets, the inside of the cathedral was just beautiful, it lacked a good direction. It was very serious and a lot of emotion were lost. I will always remember the last 20 minutes of the show, which were just breathtaking.

And I think people understood why Quasimodo killed Frodo. Frodo was portraied more or less as the bad guy, as a stereotype and I am sure most people in the audience would have done the same. Because he tried to kill Quasimodo and he killed his love and friend.

All in all it was a great experience.

Greetings from Germany

[Sleeth1]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 4:41am

I think Hunchback (much like Phantom) would stand a much stronger chance of being a hit on Broadway than Mermaid. I just think it would reach a larger audience.

[tazber]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 5:40am

I agree with Sleeth. And I love Mermaid. But Hunchback seems so much more theatrical.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 5:47am

I disagree. MERMAID was a bigger hit (it launched the so-called "Disney renaissance"), which means that its immense popularity will fill up seats. HUNCHBACK may be more theatrical, but it's not a commodity.

[Sleeth1]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 5:48am

I love MERMAID, too - but how EXACTLY are they going to do all that under water ****? And even MORE importantly... is Ellen gonna be in it?

[StageManager2]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 5:50am

Weren't you here for the whole Heelys discussion?

Updated On: 3/31/07 at 05:50 AM

[Sleeth1]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 5:56am

"Weren't you here for the whole Heelys discussion?"

Nope. Do tell.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 6:03am

There was a (substantiated) rumor that the cast was going to wear Heelys to simulate swimming... or something.

[Sleeth1]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 6:06am

"There was a (substantiated) rumor that the cast was going to wear Heelys to simulate swimming... or something."

SORRY, but... could you explain to a TEXAN.... what EXACTLY are "Heely's".... and how is it that when you WEAR them you look like you are underwater?

[StageManager2]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 6:09am

These are Heelys:

[tazber]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 6:11am

I have no idea how this is going to simulate being underwater. It looks like something they would use for the day school version of Starlight Express