BASH’s musical “The Hunchback Of Notre Dame” was a smash success this weekend. It earned many standing ovations from varying crowds throughout it’s nights. The musical’s story was based on the book by the same name, as well songs included in the musical were based on the Disney film.
For those who are unaware here’s a general story recap, and beware spoilers in this section contains the entirety of the plot of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame. The story focuses on the titular Hunchback Quasimodo (Jack Burrell), who lives away from society in the belltower of Notre Dame and is taken care of by his uncle, the Archdeacon Dom Claude Frollo (Anthony Scheponik). On the night of The Feast Of Fools, Quasimodo sneaks out and meets Esmerelda (Rosalie Camper), a Gypsy girl who is the only person who treats him kindly. Phoebus De Martin (Joseph Casey), a guard who came from nothing and has been called in to help Frollo enforce his hatred of the Gypsies, meets Esmerelda as well and they begin to fall in love. When Frollo meats Esmerelda and attempts to seduce her she rejects him, leading to a violent rage where he sings about how he can’t bear the want to sin, and a search throughout all of Paris to find Esmerelda.
At the story builds to its climax, Esmerelda and Phoebus are captured thanks to Quasimodo unintentionally leading Frollo to where she and the other Gypsies were hiding. Finally, in a heroic moment, Quasimodo attempts to save Esmerelda from being burned, but it turns out he is too late. Esmerelda dies and while Frollo tries to insist things can go back to the way they were Quasimodo throughs Frollo from the belltower, presumably killing him. The musical ended with narration that there is no moral to this story and an epilogue states Quasimodo and Esmerelda were buried together in death.
The story itself is good, but the amazing actors were the highlight of the musical. Every moment of storytelling expanded upon by the amazing voices of the cast, the booming symphony of the ensemble, and the humming chorus of the choir added so much emotion to every moment that I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. To begin at the start, the set design (pictured at the top) was perfect, the bells came down for scenes in the belltower and really made you feel like your were in the Notre-dame. The creativity with the det pieces was creative as well, with some wooden banisters also being used as a battering ram, kindling wood, and even the bars of a cell. Effects like a confetti canon during topsy turvy or a smoke machine to represent fires were nice little touches that added to the overall experience.
The costumes were really good and even the best part in some scenes, the vibrantly colored gypsies outfits contrasting to the very plain outfits of Frollo or the congregation allow for an easily observed and very stark difference. Quasimodo specifically had to perform the whole musical with a cushion acting as his hump but this didn’t seem to impede him and he gave an amazing performance anyway.
Speaking of performances, I was blown away by how good every single one was. A personal favorite of mine was Esmerelda’s mostly solo “God Help The Outcasts,” but I would be remiss to not mention all parts of “Sanctuary” had even crowd members humming to themselves during intermission, or the burning passion felt in Frollo’s classic “Hellfire” which was accompanied by not-actually-flaming torches hung from the ceiling.
Every actor nailed their lines and their delivery, with technical issues in microphones kept to a minimum every night. I loved how Anthony Scheponik was able to convey the desperation and general infatuation when trying to convince Esmerelda to live a life he deems fitting, and even representing Frollo’s almost perverted idea of love when it comes to people with subtle changes in his tone of voice and mannerism.
BASH’s performance of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame was nothing but pure joy and awe for everyone who went to see it. The heartbreak that Quasimodo feels was the feeling of everyone else in the auditorium, and Frollo was certainly a man you hated to hate because his actor played him just so well. A massive thank you to everyone involved in the making of the musical (a cast list can be found here), it was a performance to remember.
