The "Hunchback" Musical Did Exactly What It Was Supposed to Do

200 years ago, Victor Hugo noticed a shift away from a once great era of art. In hopes to preserve the French Gothic architecture that paved the way for some of today’s most incredible buildings, he wrote a captivating story that introduced readers to the gargoyles and complex features of a style lost to time.
Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz replicated this process in the late 90s with the same story, this time focusing on the music of the same era. As it is with most adaptations, the final result will not be 100% authentic, but that was never the goal. Through hidden themes, clever lyrics, and a new form of theater, these composers are keeping Medieval and Renaissance music alive with every stream of the cast recording and each ticket sold.
Eli Wasserman
History of Music 1 w/ Professor Weiss - Final Project
Spring 2021
Peabody Conservatory - Johns Hopkins University

[@CaitlyngothandhorrorgirlKeefer]

AWESOME video!! I just watched a version of the musical on youtube, loved it but it was definitely not the clips you showed. There's so many diffrent versions of it on youtube, do you have a link to that one or a really good version? Hellfire is my favorite song in the movie and musical and the one I saw today didnt even use red lighting effects, the lights barely changed throughout the musical and Frollo didnt even seem that menacing. this version looks AMAZING! If you find it on youtube or elsewhere please let me know. And you deserve more views and subs! Great job!

[@eliwasserman8588]

Thank you so much! Here is the video I watched: ua-cam.com/video/i-Ot9rv6iDA/v-deo.html

[@CaitlyngothandhorrorgirlKeefer]

@@eliwasserman8588 omg thank you! I saw this when I was searching this morning but didn’t click on it cause I assumed it wasn’t in English. Thank you! And you’re welcome! Keep making more videos!

[@CaitlyngothandhorrorgirlKeefer]

@@eliwasserman8588 omg it's AMAZING so far, waaay better than the production i watched this morning. I paused it at the Feast of Fools, gonna watch it all tonight on my tv. it's not that the other production was awful, great actors, Frollo meh, and the set just hardly changed it honestly bored me halfway through but i also like didnt wanna look away cause of the music. and the way it's SO much different from the film and that ending omg makes me wanna read the book. I'll let you know if i keep enjoying this version more. Love the stage, can't wait for Hellfire, hope it's not a let down like the one i watched. oh yeah, i think you mentioned it in your video, but is the choir really singing those melodies, the grand opening one from the movie everyone knows (the 'aaa..aah' part) because in this version and even the other version sounds SO good, it literally sounds like they pulled the audio from the movie. Are they really singing that? lol

[@CaitlyngothandhorrorgirlKeefer]

@@eliwasserman8588 It was AWESOME!!! Sooo much better than the other one HOWEVER, at the very end they omitted a very very important and deep line about how Esmerelda and Quasi’s skeletons were found years later in the basement of the cathedral and that when they tried to pull the skeletons apart Quasi’s bones turned to dust. I can’t believe they didn’t say that line but the lesser version did! Still better though and Hellfire was killer!!

[@eliwasserman8588]

@@CaitlyngothandhorrorgirlKeefer Yeah idk why they took it out it always made a impact on the audience. And I agree, Patrick Page can do no wrong.