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Jul. 2nd, 2013 11:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsSo much as I enjoy The Hunchback of Notre-Dame as a totally ridiculous novel, secretly I think that the real reason for its existence is to serve as the basis for Notre-Dame de Paris the French musical, which I love with a TREMENDOUS AND FIERY PASSION.
Don't get me wrong: Notre-Dame de Paris is exactly as cheesy and ridiculous as you would expect. But I love the music deeply and unironically, and I even more I love how it manages to put all the social conscience that Hunchback doesn't actually have back into the story, and turns a deeply racist book into a story that does its level best to grapple with racism, and exile, and exoticization and diaspora. I kind of love that a lot.
. . . I also love the fact that it earnestly fits in songs to go along with all of the lengthy Hugo digressions that have nothing to do with the plot -- imagine if Les Mis had done that! We now pause this musical so Gavroche can sing a song about argot! HOW GREAT WOULD THAT BE -- and the completely over-the-top staging and nonsensical dancing. I LOVE EVERYTHING, OKAY.
The musical begins by introducing us to Gringoire, troubadour and sometime narrator, who lets us know right away that we're in a Victor Hugo musical by starting out with an introduction on CATHEDRALS and ARCHITECTURE and the INEVITABLE PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION.
Sadly in this production he is goatless and will remain so, but to make up for it he does have some amazing eyebrows that he will deploy at various points throughout the production:
Next introduction: Clopin! One of the most important things that the stage musical does is introduce Clopin as a major character. In the book, Clopin is the leader of the court of beggars; here, his people are "les sans-papiers" -- translated variously as "outcasts," "illegal aliens," "the undocumented," or, literally, "those without papers." This is going to be relevant.
Anyway, Clopin spends most of his time storming around being very attractively ANGRY ABOUT INJUSTICE with an open shirt . . .
. . . and a backdrop of sans-papier dancers performing deeply confusing choreography thatgenarti described as a cross between Martha Graham and Newsies.
Alas, along comes Phoebus the Douchebag to break up the party, in a hilariously fake chain-mail shirt stolen from a high school production from Camelot. But he is distracted from his job of DISPERSING THE STREET PEOPLE by the opportunity to creeper on Esmeralda!
The musical takes this opportunity to have Esmeralda sing about her mother and her backstory, and also politely let us know that that whole thing where Esmeralda's mother is secretly a nun buried in the floor: NOT HAPPENING. THANK GOD.
Instead, her family is represented by . . . Clopin, who takes the opportunity to have a serious heart-to-heart with his adopted baby sister and remind her that men are assholes.
(I love the Esmeralda-Clopin dynamic, by the way -- largely because it's just so PLEASANT to have at least ONE unambiguously positive relationship in the story that is not represented by a dude and a goat. Much as I love the goat.)
Meanwhile, Phoebus, who represents these remarks, has gotten bored with all this exposition and wandered off to hit on his other girlfriend, fourteen-year-old Fleur-de-Lys. Why is Fleur-de-Lys fourteen in the musical when she is at least twenty-two in the book? WHO KNOWS. Maybe to emphasize that Phoebus is just that much of a douchebag.
I don't have a good reason for this screencap, I just think the lighting effects they do on the floor are really nifty.
Anyway, Gringoire promptly shows up to photobomb this tender moment, because that's what Gringoires do best.
He then ushers in the Feast of Fools, a celebration to crown the ugliest person in Paris, which of course introduces us to . . . Quasimodo!
While being crowned Pope of Fools, Quasimodo catches a glimpse of Esmeralda and falls immediately in love, which is a change from the book that actually bothers me -- in the book, Quasimodo falls in love with Esmeralda when she brings him a drink of water while he's chained up, which is kind of a better reason. BUT ANYWAY.
Frollo shows up to express his disapproval of Quasimodo's crush, and to show off his OWN amazing eyebrows, which may even better Gringoire's.
Then he explains his plan to have Quasimodo kidnap Esmeralda from the streets and bring her to his tower for . . . RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. Yes. Totally that.
Quasimodo, who would much rather be in a shoujo manga, wishes his fake dad would just talk to him about his feelings. :(
Anyway, this all goes about as well as can be expected, which is to say Quasimodo gets arrested, Phoebus gets another chance to hit on Esmeralda, and Gringoire has an opportunity to perform another Hugo digression about sexy crime.
Back to Clopin and the Cour des Miracles, where the sans-papiers hang out. It's notable, by the way, that Clopin is the only main character whose songs are always backed by a full chorus; even his solos are generally in first person plural. Because he is the VOICE OF THE PEOPLE. Get it?
Gringoire shows up to photobomb again . . .
. . . and is very surprised when Clopin not only immediately calls him out on it -- wait! but he's supposed to be a third-person neutral narrative observer! WHAT IS THIS -- but decides it would be fun to hang him from the ceiling in a giant bag, because he has had it up to HERE with ironic hipster misery tourism.
Esmeralda decides a poet-in-a-bag will be a nice accessory for her regular outfit, and claims him for her fake husband. Clopin's like, eh, fine, whatever, as douchebags go, you could do worse.
Gringoire introduces himself optimistically to his new fake wife . . .
. . . Esmeralda is profoundly uninterested.
Since, as douchebags go, she and Fleur-de-Lys have both already done worse:
Just in case you forgot: they are talking about this dude.
Patrick Fiori is a great singer, but he kind of wanders through his entire role as Phoebus looking vaguely puzzled and hapless, which is sort of a shame. "Dechire," his next song, all about the GREAT TRAGEDY of Phoebus' life in having two hot girlfriends oh wait no that's not actually a tragedy at all lol, is always really smirky and cocky in my head, and Patrick Fiori just kind of . . . gormlesses his way through it.
But he does have a backdrop of really well-muscled dudes writhing in their underwear behind him throughout the whole thing, so . . . that's something?
Frollo shows up to forbid Gringoire from sleeping with Esmeralda, and show off his fancy priest bat-wings.
Quasimodo gets tied up on a wheel, Esmeralda brings him water, and we're into "Belle," the song otherwise known as Everyone Objectifies Esmeralda And It's Really Creepy.
YES. YES YOU ARE.
I actually really love the staging of this song, though, as creepy as it is, because the way it's done leaves us no doubt about how sketchy this is -- and makes Quasimodo complicit in the objectification of Esmeralda, not just a sad Nice Guy, which I think is also really important. (Meanwhile, Clopin stands in the back and judges you all.)
Quasimodo then offers Esmeralda the sanctuary of his nice homey gargoyle-filled cathedral . . .
. . . so Esmeralda decides it's time to take a bath in the fountain, as you do.
Meanwhile, Frollo sings about how Esmeralda is going to destroy him while the staging LITERALLY ZOOMS IN ON HIM AND SMASHES HIM IN THE FACE while he bats it irritably away like Giles getting rid of Harmony, and it's completely hilarious.
Then he wanders off and Esmeralda sings an Ave Maria about how she won't go on her knees while . . . on her knees . . .
A lot of the stage directions for Esmeralda are sort of inexplicable. We are also really confused by the fact that people keep telling us she's dancing, and yet this Esmeralda, at least, NEVER ACTUALLY DANCES.
Anyway, Esmeralda can't stay and pray too long, because she has a hot date with Phoebus! Which Frollo does his best to avert . . .
. . . but is unsuccessful as we segue into the inevitable Big Musical Prostitute Song.
The big "NO" in the corner sort of expresses my feelings, too. Gringoire is also photobombing the Val d'Amour, but he's not there for love . . .
. . . after all, he's got a goat waiting for him at home.
Phoebus pops up, looking gormless. At this point when I made her watch it,genarti asked me, "is he going to sing about his manpain?"
. . . well, not exactly.
Esmeralda brings a knife to their date, but alas, she does not stab him, and leaves that job to Frollo instead, who has been creeping shadowily behind them the whole time.
DRAMATIC END OF ACT I.
Act II begins with . . . another amazing digression song, as Gringoire and Frollo sing some more earnest Hugovian opinions about ARCHITECTURE and PRINTING PRESSES.
(I really love that last line, okay. JUDGE ME IF YOU MUST.)
Finally they get back around to remembering there's a plot on and lead into "Les Cloches," Quasimodo's song about his bell-wives.
The song itself is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music, but the staging here is kind of manic -- I mean, I understand having dancers as the bells, and I understand having floor dancers, and I understand having dancers climbing the walls, but . . . all three at once?
Frollo meanwhile wants Gringoire to tell him where Esmeralda is with Gringoire's narrator-powers, but Gringoire kind of hilariously blows him off and goes to tell Clopin instead.
Where is Esmeralda? She's . . . in dramatically slanted German Expressionist prison!
Quasimodo sits in a gargoyle's lap and pines for her. I love this gargoyle, by the way. It's so ENTHUSIASTIC.
And then Clopin and the sans-papiers attempt to rescue her and get rounded up and arrested? Or maybe just get arrested for being sans-papiers; it's sort of unclear, but what is clear is that BIGOTRY IS THE WORST AND BORDER POLITICS ARE TERRIBLE.
(I jest, but I also really love "Condamnes" as a song, and everything complicated that it's trying to be about immigration and borders and refugees.)
Esmeralda has meanwhile gotten shifted from her German Expressionist cell into another, even tinier cell, I guess because the big cell is now all full of sans-papiers.
Back to Fleur-de-Lys, who sings "La Monture," one of the prettiest and creepiest songs in the show -- a heartbroken, vicious fourteen-year-old lashing out in classic style, and demanding the death of the Other Woman.
It helps that, for once, they refrain from throwing a bunch of enthusiastic dancers at the staging, and let Julie Zenatti sing it alone with her shadow.
The next bit of staging is . . . not subtle, but it cracks me up anyway, as Phoebus earnestly sings his undying loyalty to Fleur-de-Lys while groping his way through a line-up of sexy background dancers.
PHOEBUS GET AWAY FROM THE FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD. No? No. :(
Frollo comes to tell Esmeralda that he's in love with her; Esmeralda: GROSSED OUT, as well she should be.
He attacks her, but Quasimodo lets out Clopin and the sans-papiers just in time to rescue her and claim sanctuary in the cathedral. Everything from this point on is a huge digression from the book -- in the book, Clopin and the beggars are actually attacking Quasimodo and the cathedral -- but, sorry Hugo, this makes it SO MUCH BETTER. AND LESS RACIST.
Clopin and Esmeralda, fed up with all this shit, start a protest . . .
. . . which Gringoire turns up to photobomb as per usual, but this time he's being actually helpful, at least to a certain extent.
Team Not Actively Terrible, Unite!
. . . and now we interrupt this revolution so that . . . Gringoire can sing a completely unrelated song about the moon?
I mean it's a pretty song and all, but NOW IS NOT THE TIME, GRINGOIRE.
Well, if everyone's going to take a singing break, Quasimodo decides to jump on the bandwagon to sing about his manpain . . .
And Esmeralda sings about how she'd RATHER NOT DIE, making this the most justifiable digression of the three.
-- okay now the riot is back on! Clopin, Esmeralda and the sans-papiers are still claiming political asylum in the cathedral.
Frollo and his bat-wings show up with the Riot Police to tell them that there is NO RIGHT OF POLITICAL ASYLUM HERE, busters.
As you can see, all of this staging is highly subtle. (I love it shut up.)
Tragic death of Clopin!
And for five shining seconds, Esmeralda in her righteous fury gets to lead the riot and have actual agency and everything is great!
. . . it doesn't last long.
Is it time for Frollo to talk about his FEELINGS, Quasimodo wants to know?
. . . whoops, they're evil feelings, as Frollo cheerfully explains.
So Quasimodo throws Frollo off the building and jumps down to sing his sad final song to Esmeralda, because EVERYONE'S DEAD, DAVE.
It's okay, though, because the entire cast is really adorable during the curtain calls!
NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS.
Don't get me wrong: Notre-Dame de Paris is exactly as cheesy and ridiculous as you would expect. But I love the music deeply and unironically, and I even more I love how it manages to put all the social conscience that Hunchback doesn't actually have back into the story, and turns a deeply racist book into a story that does its level best to grapple with racism, and exile, and exoticization and diaspora. I kind of love that a lot.
. . . I also love the fact that it earnestly fits in songs to go along with all of the lengthy Hugo digressions that have nothing to do with the plot -- imagine if Les Mis had done that! We now pause this musical so Gavroche can sing a song about argot! HOW GREAT WOULD THAT BE -- and the completely over-the-top staging and nonsensical dancing. I LOVE EVERYTHING, OKAY.
The musical begins by introducing us to Gringoire, troubadour and sometime narrator, who lets us know right away that we're in a Victor Hugo musical by starting out with an introduction on CATHEDRALS and ARCHITECTURE and the INEVITABLE PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION.
Sadly in this production he is goatless and will remain so, but to make up for it he does have some amazing eyebrows that he will deploy at various points throughout the production:
Next introduction: Clopin! One of the most important things that the stage musical does is introduce Clopin as a major character. In the book, Clopin is the leader of the court of beggars; here, his people are "les sans-papiers" -- translated variously as "outcasts," "illegal aliens," "the undocumented," or, literally, "those without papers." This is going to be relevant.
Anyway, Clopin spends most of his time storming around being very attractively ANGRY ABOUT INJUSTICE with an open shirt . . .
. . . and a backdrop of sans-papier dancers performing deeply confusing choreography that
genarti described as a cross between Martha Graham and Newsies.
Alas, along comes Phoebus the Douchebag to break up the party, in a hilariously fake chain-mail shirt stolen from a high school production from Camelot. But he is distracted from his job of DISPERSING THE STREET PEOPLE by the opportunity to creeper on Esmeralda!
The musical takes this opportunity to have Esmeralda sing about her mother and her backstory, and also politely let us know that that whole thing where Esmeralda's mother is secretly a nun buried in the floor: NOT HAPPENING. THANK GOD.
Instead, her family is represented by . . . Clopin, who takes the opportunity to have a serious heart-to-heart with his adopted baby sister and remind her that men are assholes.
(I love the Esmeralda-Clopin dynamic, by the way -- largely because it's just so PLEASANT to have at least ONE unambiguously positive relationship in the story that is not represented by a dude and a goat. Much as I love the goat.)
Meanwhile, Phoebus, who represents these remarks, has gotten bored with all this exposition and wandered off to hit on his other girlfriend, fourteen-year-old Fleur-de-Lys. Why is Fleur-de-Lys fourteen in the musical when she is at least twenty-two in the book? WHO KNOWS. Maybe to emphasize that Phoebus is just that much of a douchebag.
I don't have a good reason for this screencap, I just think the lighting effects they do on the floor are really nifty.
Anyway, Gringoire promptly shows up to photobomb this tender moment, because that's what Gringoires do best.
He then ushers in the Feast of Fools, a celebration to crown the ugliest person in Paris, which of course introduces us to . . . Quasimodo!
While being crowned Pope of Fools, Quasimodo catches a glimpse of Esmeralda and falls immediately in love, which is a change from the book that actually bothers me -- in the book, Quasimodo falls in love with Esmeralda when she brings him a drink of water while he's chained up, which is kind of a better reason. BUT ANYWAY.
Frollo shows up to express his disapproval of Quasimodo's crush, and to show off his OWN amazing eyebrows, which may even better Gringoire's.
Then he explains his plan to have Quasimodo kidnap Esmeralda from the streets and bring her to his tower for . . . RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. Yes. Totally that.
Quasimodo, who would much rather be in a shoujo manga, wishes his fake dad would just talk to him about his feelings. :(
Anyway, this all goes about as well as can be expected, which is to say Quasimodo gets arrested, Phoebus gets another chance to hit on Esmeralda, and Gringoire has an opportunity to perform another Hugo digression about sexy crime.
Back to Clopin and the Cour des Miracles, where the sans-papiers hang out. It's notable, by the way, that Clopin is the only main character whose songs are always backed by a full chorus; even his solos are generally in first person plural. Because he is the VOICE OF THE PEOPLE. Get it?
Gringoire shows up to photobomb again . . .
. . . and is very surprised when Clopin not only immediately calls him out on it -- wait! but he's supposed to be a third-person neutral narrative observer! WHAT IS THIS -- but decides it would be fun to hang him from the ceiling in a giant bag, because he has had it up to HERE with ironic hipster misery tourism.
Esmeralda decides a poet-in-a-bag will be a nice accessory for her regular outfit, and claims him for her fake husband. Clopin's like, eh, fine, whatever, as douchebags go, you could do worse.
Gringoire introduces himself optimistically to his new fake wife . . .
. . . Esmeralda is profoundly uninterested.
Since, as douchebags go, she and Fleur-de-Lys have both already done worse:
Just in case you forgot: they are talking about this dude.
Patrick Fiori is a great singer, but he kind of wanders through his entire role as Phoebus looking vaguely puzzled and hapless, which is sort of a shame. "Dechire," his next song, all about the GREAT TRAGEDY of Phoebus' life in having two hot girlfriends oh wait no that's not actually a tragedy at all lol, is always really smirky and cocky in my head, and Patrick Fiori just kind of . . . gormlesses his way through it.
But he does have a backdrop of really well-muscled dudes writhing in their underwear behind him throughout the whole thing, so . . . that's something?
Frollo shows up to forbid Gringoire from sleeping with Esmeralda, and show off his fancy priest bat-wings.
Quasimodo gets tied up on a wheel, Esmeralda brings him water, and we're into "Belle," the song otherwise known as Everyone Objectifies Esmeralda And It's Really Creepy.
YES. YES YOU ARE.
I actually really love the staging of this song, though, as creepy as it is, because the way it's done leaves us no doubt about how sketchy this is -- and makes Quasimodo complicit in the objectification of Esmeralda, not just a sad Nice Guy, which I think is also really important. (Meanwhile, Clopin stands in the back and judges you all.)
Quasimodo then offers Esmeralda the sanctuary of his nice homey gargoyle-filled cathedral . . .
. . . so Esmeralda decides it's time to take a bath in the fountain, as you do.
Meanwhile, Frollo sings about how Esmeralda is going to destroy him while the staging LITERALLY ZOOMS IN ON HIM AND SMASHES HIM IN THE FACE while he bats it irritably away like Giles getting rid of Harmony, and it's completely hilarious.
Then he wanders off and Esmeralda sings an Ave Maria about how she won't go on her knees while . . . on her knees . . .
A lot of the stage directions for Esmeralda are sort of inexplicable. We are also really confused by the fact that people keep telling us she's dancing, and yet this Esmeralda, at least, NEVER ACTUALLY DANCES.
Anyway, Esmeralda can't stay and pray too long, because she has a hot date with Phoebus! Which Frollo does his best to avert . . .
. . . but is unsuccessful as we segue into the inevitable Big Musical Prostitute Song.
The big "NO" in the corner sort of expresses my feelings, too. Gringoire is also photobombing the Val d'Amour, but he's not there for love . . .
. . . after all, he's got a goat waiting for him at home.
Phoebus pops up, looking gormless. At this point when I made her watch it,
genarti asked me, "is he going to sing about his manpain?" 
. . . well, not exactly.
Esmeralda brings a knife to their date, but alas, she does not stab him, and leaves that job to Frollo instead, who has been creeping shadowily behind them the whole time.
DRAMATIC END OF ACT I.
Act II begins with . . . another amazing digression song, as Gringoire and Frollo sing some more earnest Hugovian opinions about ARCHITECTURE and PRINTING PRESSES.
(I really love that last line, okay. JUDGE ME IF YOU MUST.)
Finally they get back around to remembering there's a plot on and lead into "Les Cloches," Quasimodo's song about his bell-wives.
The song itself is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music, but the staging here is kind of manic -- I mean, I understand having dancers as the bells, and I understand having floor dancers, and I understand having dancers climbing the walls, but . . . all three at once?
Frollo meanwhile wants Gringoire to tell him where Esmeralda is with Gringoire's narrator-powers, but Gringoire kind of hilariously blows him off and goes to tell Clopin instead.
Where is Esmeralda? She's . . . in dramatically slanted German Expressionist prison!
Quasimodo sits in a gargoyle's lap and pines for her. I love this gargoyle, by the way. It's so ENTHUSIASTIC.
And then Clopin and the sans-papiers attempt to rescue her and get rounded up and arrested? Or maybe just get arrested for being sans-papiers; it's sort of unclear, but what is clear is that BIGOTRY IS THE WORST AND BORDER POLITICS ARE TERRIBLE.
(I jest, but I also really love "Condamnes" as a song, and everything complicated that it's trying to be about immigration and borders and refugees.)
Esmeralda has meanwhile gotten shifted from her German Expressionist cell into another, even tinier cell, I guess because the big cell is now all full of sans-papiers.
Back to Fleur-de-Lys, who sings "La Monture," one of the prettiest and creepiest songs in the show -- a heartbroken, vicious fourteen-year-old lashing out in classic style, and demanding the death of the Other Woman.
It helps that, for once, they refrain from throwing a bunch of enthusiastic dancers at the staging, and let Julie Zenatti sing it alone with her shadow.
The next bit of staging is . . . not subtle, but it cracks me up anyway, as Phoebus earnestly sings his undying loyalty to Fleur-de-Lys while groping his way through a line-up of sexy background dancers.
PHOEBUS GET AWAY FROM THE FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD. No? No. :(
Frollo comes to tell Esmeralda that he's in love with her; Esmeralda: GROSSED OUT, as well she should be.
He attacks her, but Quasimodo lets out Clopin and the sans-papiers just in time to rescue her and claim sanctuary in the cathedral. Everything from this point on is a huge digression from the book -- in the book, Clopin and the beggars are actually attacking Quasimodo and the cathedral -- but, sorry Hugo, this makes it SO MUCH BETTER. AND LESS RACIST.
Clopin and Esmeralda, fed up with all this shit, start a protest . . .
. . . which Gringoire turns up to photobomb as per usual, but this time he's being actually helpful, at least to a certain extent.
Team Not Actively Terrible, Unite!
. . . and now we interrupt this revolution so that . . . Gringoire can sing a completely unrelated song about the moon?
I mean it's a pretty song and all, but NOW IS NOT THE TIME, GRINGOIRE.
Well, if everyone's going to take a singing break, Quasimodo decides to jump on the bandwagon to sing about his manpain . . .
And Esmeralda sings about how she'd RATHER NOT DIE, making this the most justifiable digression of the three.
-- okay now the riot is back on! Clopin, Esmeralda and the sans-papiers are still claiming political asylum in the cathedral.
Frollo and his bat-wings show up with the Riot Police to tell them that there is NO RIGHT OF POLITICAL ASYLUM HERE, busters.
As you can see, all of this staging is highly subtle. (I love it shut up.)
Tragic death of Clopin!
And for five shining seconds, Esmeralda in her righteous fury gets to lead the riot and have actual agency and everything is great!
. . . it doesn't last long.
Is it time for Frollo to talk about his FEELINGS, Quasimodo wants to know?
. . . whoops, they're evil feelings, as Frollo cheerfully explains.
So Quasimodo throws Frollo off the building and jumps down to sing his sad final song to Esmeralda, because EVERYONE'S DEAD, DAVE.
It's okay, though, because the entire cast is really adorable during the curtain calls!
NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS.
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Date: 2013-07-02 07:13 pm (UTC)I have to go listen to the music now.
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Date: 2013-07-02 10:16 pm (UTC)