The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Embracing the Darkness and Light
Article by Kristen N. Schweizer
When I first heard that La Jolla Playhouse had been greenlit by Disney for The Hunchback of Notre Dame the theatrical musical, I could not decide how I felt about it.
Mind you, I am already on the fence about the popular Disney animated film that The Playhouse’s musical production would be borrowing inspiration, book and song from. The reason for my hesitation is the grandiose purpose and loneliness of the original Victor Hugo novel. I believed Disney had gone too far in an attempt to sanitize the gothic material for their 1996 cartoon, and wondered if La Jolla Playhouse would continue down that well-manicured path for a bestselling, every-high-school-in-America-will-be-d0ing-Hunchback-in-2018-moneymaker. I feared the piece would remain an easy, popular, light production.
As a refresher, the story of The Hunchback of Notre Dame follows the lonely life of the deformed and possibly mentally handicapped Quasimodo, born as a “monster.” In this staged version, Quasimodo (Michael Arden with the voice of an angel) is the outcast nephew of Notre Dame arch deacon Claude Frollo (Patrick Page, with the stage presence and the gravity any child would fear). Quasimodo rescued by Frollo to be Notre Dame’s bell tower keeper, and hid from the judgmental eyes of Paris. When Quasi ventures in to the city without permission, he meets the beautiful gypsy girl Esmeralda (a stunning Clara Renee) and finds a new view of the world. Esmeralda is in love with a young Army captain Phoebus (a dashing Andrew Samonsky), but when Frollo falls in love with her and refuses to take no for answer, only Quasi can save her from the condemnation of Notre Dame.
Varying adaptations have altered the Hunchback story from the 1830 novel ending where the Esmeralda is hung, and Quasimodo dies of starvation after refusing to stop guarding her grave, to the Disney version where all the g00d-guys live and Quasimodo is hailed by Paris has a hero. I could not have been more pleased to discover that La Jolla Playhouse struck a beautiful balance between both worlds.
Reminiscent of Side Show, the grand musical of their last season which is currently on Broadway, the creative team embraced the darkness and the light. Scott Schwartz’s intentional direction is shown immediately at the opening, when the talented Michael Arden (Quasimodo) walks on stage to the company and choir overpowering the room with gorgeous voices layered over a full orchestra, imploring the audience to ask, “what makes a monster and what makes a man?” In full view of the audience, the attractive Arden dons the Hunchback’s hump, his posture mutating before our eyes, applying his own stage make-up for a stylized disfiguration of his face: art.
With all the grandeur audiences expect from a La J0lla Playhouse musical, Alexander Dodge’s scenic design, Alejo Vietti’s grand costumes, and Howell Binkley’s lighting transport audiences to Paris. Flying in the imposing bells, and using their sounds throughout the chorus style narration, the balance between art and magic is found. The creative use of props and the ensemble itself created an abstracted labyrinth under the shadows of Notre Dame, echoing the poetry of Paris that book writer Peter Parnell occasionally pulled directly from Hugo’s language.
Clara Renee as Esmeralda, backed up by the overwhelming choir SACRA/PROFONA, turns the popular ballad “God Help the Outcasts” in to a powerful staging and chorus that you’ll have stuck in your head all day.
That number more than any reminds audiences that storytelling is the most immediate way that one human can explain one’s view on the world. Musical theater is an expensive, laborious, subjective storytelling form that is often not the best medium for many tales, but thanks to the creativity and humanity of the creative team, designers, and cast of La Jolla Playhouse’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame became an evening even Victor Hugo would enjoy.
