Hunchback of Notre Dame Quasimodo Out There Sheet Music Art Print
Of monsters and men
THEATER REVIEW
He becomes a hunchback before our eyes. One instant Thomas Hayes is continuing straight, tall and unblemished, and and so, in a few measures of song and with a few key costume additions, including a strapped-on hump that looks as if he's slinging on a small backback, and some smears of black makeup, we are introduced to Quasimodo.
Powerful performance: Thomas Hayes plays Quasimodo in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Photo / Selma Arts Eye
I like this moment of theatricality in the ambitious and sensitive new production of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" at the Selma Arts Eye. The transformation reinforces the lyrics: "Who is the monster and who is the man?"
Indeed, who is the "monster" in this classic tale? The disfigured and physically impaired fellow with a pure heart and a longing to commune with others? Or the preening and pious "man of God," the archdeacon of none other than the neat cathedral of Notre Dame, whose unbridled lust and cruelty destroys lives?
As is usually the case at the Selma Arts Heart these days, at that place's a lot to similar in this production, especially the top-notch acting, directing and artistic blueprint. The musical version of "Hunchback," which uses songs (past Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz) from the 1996 Disney moving-picture show, is a serious and thoughtful affair, and this production has a solid, dignified experience. From the moment you walk into the theater, it's as if y'all're entering a medieval cathedral, thanks to Erik Andersen and Nicolette Andersen's impressive set and Christina Martinez's dusky and sophisticated lighting blueprint. When the choir files in to take their positions flanking the stage, the only thing that's missing is the scent of incense.
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I've seen "Hunchback" twice at present in less than six months, and I tin can definitively say afterwards those viewings that it does not rank equally 1 of my favorite musicals. Something about Menken's musical manner just doesn't seem suited for the material. It feels too jaunty and yet too ponderous — oft at the aforementioned fourth dimension, which is non a pleasing combination. The bear witness fails to deliver much of an emotional connexion even as information technology'south trying to button all the right buttons. The phase production, with a volume by Peter Parnell, does strip away most of the Disney film's overt juvenile tendencies, but to me the music never rings true when when information technology comes to the storyline.
That said, the Selma product has many fine qualities. Hayes, as Quasimodo, does a fine job conveying trauma and malaise through song. (I didn't care much, though, for some of Hayes' weird vocal embellishments, scooping down from notes that were a piddling high for his range into a gravelly sound. I think he was trying to convey his character's oral communication impediment, but it doesn't work.) His physicality in the role, in terms of body and face, is powerful.
Terry Lewis, every bit the stern Frollo, the dean of the cathedral and Quasimodo'south uncle and chief, delivers a compelling performance. His brusque vocals and fiery acting capture the intensity of this human defenseless between his spiritual and earthly desires. Strutting about in well-baked ecclesiastical garments — the costumes by James McDonnell and Barbara Smith are nicely done — Lewis brings a welcome sense of gravity and menace to the production.
Strong acting: Sabrina Lopez makes an intense Esmeralda in "The Hunchback of Notre Matriarch." Photo / Selma Arts Center
Although Sabrina Lopez had some vocal problems at the Sunday matinee performance I attended, she brings a laser-like intensity to the role of Esmeralda, the proud gypsy woman who triggers Frollo's lust. At one signal, locked in a life-and-decease struggle with the archdeacon, she gives him a smile when he dismisses her that could burn a pigsty in you. Lopez as well sparks a believable romantic chemistry with William Bishop as Phoebus, the captain of the cathedral guard who falls for her.
Other sturdy members in the supporting bandage include Aaron Pierce, Benjamin Deghand and Camille Gaston.
Ane treat: the lush musical accompaniment, which is pre-recorded by the University High Schoolhouse Orchestra, nether the direction of Randall Cornelison.
Michael Flores' choreography was not a high point of the evidence for me. It felt at times overly fussy and mismatched to the material, particularly in "The Tavern Vocal." (I could become a long time without seeing any more "Les Miserables"-style marching in any more than shows; on today's stages, the motility now struggles to have meaning beyond parody.)
I like much of Dominic Grijalva and Juan Guzmán's direction. Together they maneuver their actors in artistic means around the small stage, including through some adequately convoluted narrative and chronological leaps. At that place were a few glitches at the performance I attended — a botched lighting cue to end of the get-go act, some unexplained cursory power outages — and an unabridged segment at the bear witness'southward climax involving a sheet as a special effect was lost on me. But other moments soar, including Grijalva'due south employ of projections (to portray a falling body, for instance).
One of my favorite moments comes at the very end of the bear witness. I don't want to requite anything abroad, but it involves more of that thick black makeup. It's a reminder that nosotros're neither simply men — nor monsters. We're human.
Show info
"The Hunchback of Notre Dame," runs through Sat, Dec. 2, Selma Arts Centre, 1935 High St., Selma. Tickets are $19 general, $17 seniors and students, $15 children.
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Source: https://munroreview.com/2017/11/29/of-monsters-and-men/
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