Wishful Thinking - HUNCHBACK?

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 12:41am

I just saw a BEAUTIFUL production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame in Orlando and got to thinking about Disney on Broadway's current output.  The shows they seem to be focusing the most on are the Beauty and the Beast tour (which has not gotten great word of mouth) and Hercules (which has now had four major productions and is still getting mixed reviews, especially on its pacing).  This is very much just wishful thinking and not any inside scoop, but with other in-development works like The Greatest Showman still at least a year off, would Disney ever consider doing Hunchback professionally again, whether on Broadway, on tour, or in an out-of-town sit-down run (more likely one of the latter two due to the well-documented financial concerns over hiring the choir as Equity performers)?  So many people know this version of Hunchback as "the darker one where

 

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Esmeralda dies at the end"

but I forgot until tonight just how political it is, with dialogue that feels VERY relevant to discussions being had today about the American immigration system.  (All things that Disney likely wants to avoid joining the conversation about, but a girl can dream.)

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 8:05am

I think given the current political climate, comedy and heart is what audiences want right now. Which is why Maybe Happy Endings and Death Becomes Her are doing well and stuff like Cabaret is closing. I think it’s one of the best scores out there but I don’t think the book works. To me it comes across as a Sunday school storytelling. 

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

Posted: 7/26/25 at 10:33am

Concerning the book, I will forever beat the drum that, while there were elements present from the film that still needed to disappear in that version, they did themselves a great disservice when they threw so much of the baby out with the bathwater by letting go of the James Lapine book from Berlin. It did a lot of heavy lifting without nearly so much of the sturm und drang "Disney's Les Mis" now has.

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 12:09pm

I saw Hunchback twice at Papermill and love love loved it. I hope they bring it to Broadway eventually. I do agree that there were certain elements of the Berlin Lapine version that were superior-some of the more spectacle based moments (particularly rescuing Esmeralda) rather than relying on narration and my preference of Out of Love and its reprise to how they structure that section of Act 2 in America. Also in Berlin they did it without the “cost prohibitive” chorus and it still sounds great.
 

I also think I prefer Guy Like You to Flight out of Egypt. That said Notre Dame de Paris (a French rock opera adaptation of the book) has a perfect song in that spot Les Cloches. Where essentially Quasi lists all the bells and what they ring for for and the last line is something along the lines of “I’ll ring all the bells if Esmeralda is living, to tell the world how Quasimodo loves Esmeralda”

[KrupYou]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 3:56pm

 Hercules is filler in London to keep theatre open for The Greatest Showman. This show is Disney's next big priority.  ALW owns the theatre Disney wants for their next big hit

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 4:20pm

While I love Hunnchback, that current narrative filled book needs to go.

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

Posted: 7/26/25 at 10:54pm

bwayobsessed said: "I also think I prefer Guy Like You to Flight out of Egypt."

Finally, someone says it! I honestly think it worked better onstage than it did on film. In the movie, yes, completely tonally inappropriate for that moment, but live, it made sense the same way "I Feel Pretty" does near the top of Act II of West Side Story onstage -- as a needed tension break before plunging back into the drama of the story.

(It helped that they cut as many of Jason Alexander's punchlines as they could get away with, and portrayed the gargoyles explicitly to mirror aspects of Quasimodo's psyche, making them more dramatically germane. They were far more palatable than either the film or the "story theater" nonsense imposed on the current script as a narrative framework that largely serves to plaster over the gargoyle-shaped gaps in the story.)

Updated On: 7/26/25 at 10:54 PM

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 7/27/25 at 1:18am

I know the production in La Jolla took some heat for its narration style, but I really enjoyed it. 
I thought Michael Arden was outstanding as Quasimodo and, of course, Patrick Page was beyond incredible as the villain. I liked Ciara, as well, who brought Esmeralda’s humanity to life in a touching manner. 
The first time I saw the movie with my ex, we just looked at each other and agreed that the majestic nature of the music had Broadway written all over it. 

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 7/27/25 at 10:19pm

theatreguy12 said: "I know the production in La Jolla took some heat for its narration style, but I really enjoyed it.
I thought Michael Arden was outstanding as Quasimodo and, of course, Patrick Page was beyond incredible as the villain. I liked Ciara, as well, who brought Esmeralda’s humanity to life in a touching manner.
The first time I saw the movie with my ex, we just looked at each other and agreed that the majestic nature of the music had Broadway written all over it."

Patrick and Michael were robbed Tonys by it not transferring (unless they put both in lead but alas)

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 7/27/25 at 11:36pm

Just going off of who won Best Lead & Featured in the years following La Jolla - they would have needed to wait for the 2017-18 or 2018-19 seasons to really have a shot at those awards. There’s no way they were beating Leslie & Daveed for Hamilton, or Ben Platt for DEH.

I don’t even know if they would truly rival Tony Shalhoub or André De Shields for their respective seasons. 

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 7/28/25 at 8:12am

Fair regarding the Hamilton year. I think it’d be wild if Tony won over Michael but I’d also vote for Hunchback for most awards over Bands Visit so maybe I’m biased… I’d say in general Patrick would be the safer bet regarding a win most years