DVDizzy Forum

Look, I get that the stage version is being more faithful to the novel by offing Esmeralda for real, but it just bugs me senseless. Why?

Because the idea just really bothers me senseless. Since it's from Disney and I'm extremely more accustomed to their much happier endings.

Yeah, in Aida, the titular character in question and what's-his-face die after being sealed in a tomb together, but at least Disney made its ending bittersweet by reuniting them in the end in the present day. hunchback is just going all out dark here.

More information stolen from tumblr:

GENERAL CHANGES: This is much like a passion play. Very minimalist. The “congregation” serves as a Greek chorus of sorts and tells the story to the audience.

OPENING CHANGES

The lyrics to Bells of Notre Dame have completely changed (melody remains). The song now focuses on Frollo’s rise to power, his relationship with his brother, Jehan, and how he came to be Quasimodo’s caretaker. Apparently, Quasimodo was borne out of Jehan’s relationship with a Romani woman.

CHANGES TO CLOPIN’S CHARACTER

He is no longer the main narrator and does not sing “Bells of Notre Dame” by himself. He sings it along with the congregation. As a result, Clopin’s iconic high note at the end of the song has now been eliminated.

QUASIMODO’S DEFORMITIES

First introduction of Quasimodo has Arden coming out on stage like a normal actor. He is then given a pillow for his hunch and then contorts his face. Also would like to point out that Quasimodo is deaf, so he communicates via sign language and reading lips.

HOW THE GARGOYLES ARE PLAYED

Very simply, there are no gargoyles…at least none that are moving. Their parts are played away from the action by various members of the congregation as part of Quasimodo’s imagination. There is really never any true interaction with him.

“HELLFIRE” STAGING

Frollo stands in the middle of the stage and sings the song with a giant red cross in the background. Sounds simple, but is apparently visually stunning.

CHANGES TO “SOMEDAY”

As implied by the program released by La Jolla last week, this song is only sung by Esmeralda and Phoebus. Gone is the ensemble aspect heard in the German version.

SAINT APHRODISIUS

Remember how I teased about how I’d love to see a headless guy running around on stage? It looks like my wish has come true. Quasimodo imagines a portrait of a headless Aphrodisius coming to life to give him pointers on how to rescue Esmeralda. Aphordisius then sings about how he helped Joseph and Mary. Then his head magically goes back on at some point.

ESMERALDA’S FATE

As many of you have heard already, she dies much like in the German version.
FROLLO’S FATE

He gets thrown off of the cathedral by Quasimodo like in the German version. This is apparently staged similarly to Les Miserable’s Javert suicide (which I have never seen), but with less success.
MOLTEN LEAD

No longer staged like Der Glöckner (with the cathedral’s gargoyle gutters spewing out smoke accentuated with red lighting). A cauldron is brought down and then the lava spills down the tower…but the lead is now portrayed by silk which is shaken by the actors.

FINALE ULTIMO

Still intense and still includes the deaths to Frollo and Esmeralda. However, at the very end, the townsfolk show their appreciation to Quasi by putting on makeup and hunching over to show solidarity.
COSTUME COLORS

Quasi – Green
Esmeralda – Red
Phoebus – Dark colors
Frollo – White
Clopin – Muted colors…

A LOT of audio clips from the show:

http://lajollahunchback.tumblr.com

Bells of Notre Dame kind of drags with the new Frollo backstory

They described it as very minimalist but I like how the set design looks in these pictures



Do we need a separate thread for this yet?

The set looks really good. Thanks for sharing Cluck!
Im wondering if Frollo and the Archdeacon are one and the same again like the book. Does anyone know?
I'd assume they will still have Frollo as a Judge rather than a holy man for fear of a negative reaction from the Church.

I want to see this so bad!

Gotta love Esmeralda's dress.

I love how they actually went all out and create a serious, much darker adaptation. It was really the only way to go. Kudos!

This actually sounds like a very good show. I am disappointed they've changed most of "Bells of Notre Dame" though, particularly Clopin's high note. I like the costume colors they've chosen for each character, particularly "muted colors" for Clopin. Minimalist is probably for the best, plus the show won't be too expensive making it more likely to turn a profit maybe?

I also like that they have Esmeralda and Phoebus sing "Someday." The song sounds very similar to "Somewhere" from West Side Story the way they're using it.

So... Let me get this straight. Quasi is now deaf and uses sign language to communicate. Does he at least speak/sing vocally still?

DisneyJedi wrote:So... Let me get this straight. Quasi is now deaf and uses sign language to communicate. Does he at least speak/sing vocally still?

It's actually a silent musical. So no songs.

PatrickvD wrote:

DisneyJedi wrote:So... Let me get this straight. Quasi is now deaf and uses sign language to communicate. Does he at least speak/sing vocally still?

It's actually a silent musical. So no songs.

Very funny, Patrick.

Seriously, though. Does he get to speak vocally in some form with the other characters?

DisneyJedi wrote:

PatrickvD wrote: It's actually a silent musical. So no songs.

Very funny, Patrick.

Oh come on, smile a little sometimes. Life is beautiful.

I couldn't be happier that it's coming to Broadway at last... But, I can't help but feel, as a major fan of the original film and one of its steadfast defenders, that they're kind of letting us down by distancing themselves from the film so much. Like, "Oh, THAT piece of shit? The one you guys have loved and stood by all these years? Well, we're going to go in a DRASTIC direction from THAT." I don't know. I just wish they'd STAND UP for their original vision, instead of trying to cater to the Hugo purists, who are going to hate this regardless of what they do (which is ironic, considering that Victor Hugo HIMSELF adapted Hunchback into an opera that made even bigger changes to the source material than DISNEY'S did. Not only did Esmeralda live in the opera 'La Esmeralda,' but Frollo did as well. And Phoebus, who SURVIVES in the book, dies. It's WAY more drastic than anything Disney did, but ssh, don't tell the book's fans...)

As someone who has READ the original novel, I greatly prefer Disney's take. EVERY single character in the book is unlikeable. Not a one is a decent human being. Even Quasi is kind of an asshole in that thing, but, he at least has a reason. Phoebus is, of the main cast, the least despicable, but even he just wants to have sex with this chick and ditch her before he gets married and has to 'settle' for his (beautiful) fiancee. Esmeralda is whiny, mopey, bratty and, all in all, a total teenage girl, who spends the ENTIRE book pining for Phoebus. Frollo is a straight-up attempted rapist and a choad who has NONE and I mean NONE of the menace or deviousness of Tony Jay's portrayal. The Frollo of the book is EXACTLY like Esmeralda, only instead of pining for Phoebus, he's pining for HER, like a total teenage melodrama. And he's 35! So, he doesn't even have the excuse of, well, he's only 16... He's PATHETIC. A simpering, sniveling little man-child. HATE him. HATE, HATE, HATEEEEE book Frollo. Clopin is still cool in the book, but, he's a crusty old Gypsy and not the colorful and mysterious Master of Ceremonies Harlequin type that he is in the Animated version. And he's very minimally involved in the proceedings.

In short, I hated nearly every character in that damned book. I like the Disney version BECAUSE it's the Disney version and not an exact replica of the book. We all ready HAVE the damned book. If you want that version of the story, READ IT! It's there. So, why not stay truer to the spirit of the animated film? This is all speculation, of course, based upon what I've read of the changes that have been made. Some of them (explicitly making Frollo a former priest), I'm TOTALLY down with. But, cutting the Gargoyles? Changing Clopin so radically? Killing Esmeralda? I can't say these are making me anything other than anxious.

ProfessorRatigan wrote: As someone who has READ the original novel, I greatly prefer Disney's take. EVERY single character in the book is unlikeable. Not a one is a decent human being. Even Quasi is kind of an asshole in that thing, but, he at least has a reason. Phoebus is, of the main cast, the least despicable, but even he just wants to have sex with this chick and ditch her before he gets married and has to 'settle' for his (beautiful) fiancee. Esmeralda is whiny, mopey, bratty and, all in all, a total teenage girl, who spends the ENTIRE book pining for Phoebus. Frollo is a straight-up attempted rapist and a choad who has NONE and I mean NONE of the menace or deviousness of Tony Jay's portrayal. The Frollo of the book is EXACTLY like Esmeralda, only instead of pining for Phoebus, he's pining for HER, like a total teenage melodrama. And he's 35! So, he doesn't even have the excuse of, well, he's only 16... He's PATHETIC. A simpering, sniveling little man-child. HATE him. HATE, HATE, HATEEEEE book Frollo. Clopin is still cool in the book, but, he's a crusty old Gypsy and not the colorful and mysterious Master of Ceremonies Harlequin type that he is in the Animated version. And he's very minimally involved in the proceedings.

I've always despised Esmeralda in the book, she's such a whiny, bratty and bitchy character that is beyond detestable, despite that she does show some kindness to Quasi now and then. It's a pity that she remained a bitch and I've always hated her with a big passion. Phoebus is just as much of an asshole and although I don't remember every detail from the book, you're mostly right about the characters being unlikeable, although I thought at least Gringoire had some decency.

It's kind of funny how Disney made the characters the complete opposite of the book; Quasimodo, Esmeralda and Phoebus are all beyond good characters without a trace of malice with them (though I still wonder why Phoebus accepted Frollo's job in the first place) and Frollo is a devil in a human form.

In short, I hated nearly every character in that damned book. I like the Disney version BECAUSE it's the Disney version and not an exact replica of the book. We all ready HAVE the damned book. If you want that version of the story, READ IT! It's there. So, why not stay truer to the spirit of the animated film? This is all speculation, of course, based upon what I've read of the changes that have been made. Some of them (explicitly making Frollo a former priest), I'm TOTALLY down with. But, cutting the Gargoyles? Changing Clopin so radically? Killing Esmeralda? I can't say these are making me anything other than anxious.

Disney got a lot of criticism for adapting a Victor Hugo novel and while it's understandable, it isn't the first time that Disney radically changed a lot from original adaptations and many of them being as raw as the original "Notre Dame de Paris" were. There aren't many that have actually praised the changes from the novel, although most fans of the film hated the Gargoyles and the comic relief.

I applaud the choice of cutting the Gargoyles, but I don't see why they should kill Esmeralda in the stage show.

It is also kind of interesting how fans of the book who criticized Disney's adaptation praised the Charles Laughton one which has both Esmerelda and Quasimodo living (though Phoebus and Clopin get axed.) Though in all fairness, it's not that happy of an ending as Quasimodo is left all alone wishing he were dead.

If it's true Quasimodo will be completely deaf and use sign language, I find that a bad idea because he has, well, songs to sing. Really big songs.

But if he's only partially deaf and can still hear a little, and he sings, then I could understand it.

But what would make the most sense and what I think would be best is him not being deaf and being able to sing those songs in reality.

DisneyFan09 wrote:Phoebus is just as much of an asshole and although I don't remember every detail from the book, you're mostly right about the characters being unlikeable, although I thought at least Gringoire had some decency.

Gringoire was just as bad. Probably WORSE, actually, that little goat fucker. Seriously. He was WAY too into Djali. Saving the goat's life at the end and leaving Esmeralda to be taken by Frollo. If he had helped her then, the way SHE helped him in the Court of Miracles, she might have lived. But all he cared about was absconding with her goat. Creep.

Disney Duster wrote:If it's true Quasimodo will be completely deaf and use sign language, I find that a bad idea because he has, well, songs to sing. Really big songs.

But if he's only partially deaf and can still hear a little, and he sings, then I could understand it.

But what would make the most sense and what I think would be best is him not being deaf and being able to sing those songs in reality.

Here's an in depth review that explains the deafness a little more

http://veritiesandbalderdash.wordpress. ... m-i-right/

I've also read they've been toning it down in subsequent showings. It might be eliminated entirely eventually.

ProfessorRatigan wrote: Gringoire was just as bad. Probably WORSE, actually, that little goat fucker. Seriously. He was WAY too into Djali. Saving the goat's life at the end and leaving Esmeralda to be taken by Frollo. If he had helped her then, the way SHE helped him in the Court of Miracles, she might have lived. But all he cared about was absconding with her goat. Creep.

Oh, I forgot. I'm sorry

Quasimodo talks and sings in the show.

At one point during previews, the show referenced the fact that the bells made Quasimodo partially deaf. During a scene with Esmeralda, she talks to him while he is looking away but he doesn't respond, until she touches him--he turns and realizes what's happened, and indicates that the bells make it hard for him to hear. I don't know if this is still in the show. According to one of the choir members on another website, they removed all references to him being deaf--but according to a reviewer who saw the show after the choir member posted this comment, that scene was still there.

In the show, Quasimodo talks with a slightly affected voice and usually in simple sentences when he is talking to other people. When he is singing, or talking to himself or the gargoyles, he speaks normally. This is a holdover from the Berlin production, which used a similar tactic. Essentially, Quasimodo talks "normally" when he is on his own or singing because that is how he perceives himself, but when he is with other people he sounds as they would hear him.

Oh yay that doesn't sound too bad thanks guys for telling me!