My Rants

Now that I have seen Der Glöckner Von Notre Dame, I can safely say that it is one of the most impressive stage-shows I have ever seen. Even still, I did not understand exactly what they are saying and singing, as I speak very little German.

The big question is WHY Disney chose to show Hunchback to German audiences instead of American...
In Disney's history of Broadway musicals, they have never opened a show straight on to Broadway. They have opened to "out-of-town" locations, in various states of the U.S.A., to test the show, and fine-tune it without too much mainstream press. In the case of Beauty And The Beast, a few minor script updates took place, and a number of cosmetic overhauls. With Aida, the transition from trial-season to Broadway-season resulted in an almost entirely new show, with a complete replacement of cast and crew. Even the show's title was changed. So no one would have ever expected Hunchback to open on Broadway. Germany, though? Why Germany?

Apparently, Germany is the European country where the movie Hunchback of Notre Dame grossed the most money. The French found the film insulting, supposedly, and Victor Hugo's descendents stated their anger quite publicly. (I'd love to see their reaction to the direct-to-video Hunchback of Notre Dame II - even I can't stomach that!) So opening in Paris would be bad. Very bad. I believe the big decision-maker was when German theatre-producer Stella suggested to Disney that they could make a joint-effort out of the production. Stella is the company responsible for opening all of the major shows around Germany, including Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast and Miss Saigon. Without a major production in Berlin (the country's capital) Stella had huge aspirations for a world premiere that would take place in an entirely new theatre, built where the Berlin Wall once stood. Disney somehow obliged, and Der Glöckner went into pre-production.

So although it was rather unexpected, the production went as usual. Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz met to write new songs to fill in the movie's gaps and make the show longer, and an international cast was assembled and put through intense workshop and rehearsal sessions in New York City. All of the cast learned both the English and the German words and lyrics, so that the non-German speaking cast members could have a clue as to what they were saying! (Quasimodo himself was originally played by an American named Drew Sarich) The fact that the rehearsals were taking place in New York created a bit of a buzz amongst people in the know. Everyone simply assumed that the show would run for a few months in Berlin, all issues would be ironed out, and then it would make a triumphant debut on Broadway and be as successful as Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King... Those people are still waiting.

There are a number of reasons why Hunchback is still not playing to English-speaking audiences...

RATED PG for ADULT THEMES
The new libretto, written by director James Lapine, is significantly darker and more adult than the movie was, especially with the subjects of Frollo's lust and Esmeralda's death. Phoebus is also not as virtuous as the movie had him. As we all know, the name "Disney" immediately conjures up thoughts of talking teapots and delightful childhood memories. Perhaps the Mouse House doesn't want Americans to see this show on stage and associate it with the most family-oriented company on the planet.

YOUR REPUTATION PRECEEDS YOU
As much as I adore the movie, I can't help but admit that it didn't perform as well as it should have at the box office. It raked in less money than Pocahontas before it, and significantly less than The Lion King before that. One could easily blame Disney insistance to market it to children. (I mean, really, listen to the words of "Hellfire" and consider that the tag-line for the video was "Come To The Party.") The people didn't want a mature Disney movie (as Pocahontas had already proved) and so it was considered one of the company's biggest losses for the period. Money losses mean that less people have seen it, and less people wanted to see it. Some parents came away with sour attitudes, claiming that there wasn't enough light-hearted singing and dancing for their children. Many of these are the same audiences that would be prospective ticket-buyers for the Broadway Musical. Perhaps Disney simply thought that opening the show Stateside just would not be profitable. Even so, it seems unrealistic to go to all the trouble of creating an enormous production like this, and then only open it in one city.

A HUNCHBACK FOR ALL SEASONS
Perhaps a more realistic explanation involves another show which was playing all around the world at the same time as Disney's show: Notre Dame de Paris. Yes, another musical based on Victor Hugo's novel. This one was written in France by Richard Cocciante and Luc Plamondon. It's played in London and Las Vegas, amongst other international cities. Reviews have been luke-warm. Audiences seem to either be ecstatic and very enthusiastic, to bored and apathetic. Out of interest, I bought the London cast recording. I know you cannot judge a show by its soundtrack, but I got bored enough just by listening to the music. There doesn't seem to be any variety in the songs; they all have the same droning pace, the same forgettable tunes. There isn't a single slightly-upbeat tune on the C.D., or even any dramatic pieces. I couldn't help but wonder how this music was playing in theatres all around the world, and yet Alan Menken's incredibly dramatic and moving score was only being listened to by Germans and tourists. Which lead me to this conclusion. From Disney's point of view, it may be biding its time. Why even put the two musicals in competition? Why not wait until the opposition has completed its seasons, and then unleash the beast? This would save an awful lot of confusion on behalf of the general public, and save any press comparing the two shows. (The Walt Disney company never likes being compared to anyone) If my instincts are correct and this is the main reason for Hunchback being restricted to Berlin, we may see it in English within the next couple of years. However, the opposing show has long since closed for good in London, as audiences were dwindling and the media had been particularly nasty.

DISNEY DOES BROADWAY
A more recent reasoning behind Hunchback of Notre Dame's absense was stated on May 2nd 2001, in an interview with Stuart Oken and Alan Levey, who are both big-shots in the Disney Theatrical world. They stated that Broadway already had two shows running that were based on animated musicals, and it didn't seem like a wise idea to introduce a third. Disney is already under a fair amount of scrutiny by many who claim that they've "bought out" Broadway. Oken and Levey claimed that once Beauty & The Beast closed, they might consider bringing Quasimodo to America. While this seems like a media cover-up to me, they did close on the words "I don't think you've heard the end of it." I guess that could translate to something hopeful. The only souring of this theory comes with the fact that Tarzan opened (and closed) recently, as well as the premieres of Mary Poppins and The Little Mermaid... and still no Quasimodo...

WOULD THE REAL WALT DISNEY PLEASE STAND UP?
I've also heard that Disney simply thought the German production too expensive to risk opening anywhere else. Barbara Raunegger, a cast member of Der Glöckner, claimed that there wasn't a theatre on Broadway big enough to house the show as-it-is. After all, an entire theatre was custom-built for the German production. Either a theatre would have to be built or rennovated, or else the show would have to be redesigned. Either way results in a lot of money. There could be a million different reasons, and truth be known, it's probably a combination of all of them. The fact remains though, unless you travelled to Berlin between 1999 and 2002, you missed out on this wonderful show. So what are the Walt Disney Company going to do about it?!?!

Early in 2002, the Walt Disney Company distributed a progress paper to its shareholders. This is fairly regular practice. It lets the investors know where the company is headed, and its successes and fallings over the last year. Regarding the Berlin production of Der Glöckner, it proudly stated that it had become the best-selling musical in Berlin's history, and also mentioned that the a national tour of the show was moving ahead. That was all the paper said. By "national," we could assume that it means "American," and by "tour," we could assume it means "not on Broadway." So most likely what this meant is that in the next year or two the show will be adapted for American audiences (ie. Esmeralda will not die, the gargoyles will be wackier, etc. - groan) and the entire set will be redesigned so that it can be fit in a number of theatres. (I think we can say goodbye to the cubes - sob) Sadly, since then, nothing has happened.

My Mission Begins...
My current mission, insane as it may sound, is to not only have The Hunchback of Notre Dame open to English-speaking theatres, but open in Australia before anywhere else, and even better - open in Melbourne. This would be beneficial on a number of levels. First of all, I could audition for Quasimodo! w00t! :-p

Secondly, this could prove to be a great boost to the tourism industry. "See the only production of Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame in English - playing only in Melbourne." Thus, tourists from America and all other countries would come flocking to Australia, making the Aussie dollar soar even further!

Thirdly, it doesn't sound like Disney Theatrical in America have any intention of producing the show on Broadway anytime soon. So I've taken the liberty of trying to open it somewhere else.

STEP ONE...
First thing I did was write to the biggest names in musical production here in Australia and made them aware that Der Glöckner existed. Michael Edgley, who was one of the producers behind Beauty and the Beast when it opened in Melbourne (the first city outside of America) told me that I "make a strong recommendation," but his company was not in a position to produce a musical at the current time. He recommended that I try contacting Kevin Jacobsen, his partner in the Beauty and the Beast production. So I did. And I received a very exciting letter in response. It read as follows:

Dear Peter,
Thank you for taking the time to bring to our attention the musical "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" currently playing in Berlin.
We already have people looking into the possibility of bringing this musical to Australia. Thanks again for considering Jacobsen Entertainment

I was VERY excited about this letter, and even more excited when I read this small article in a Melbourne newspaper:

Promoter / Producer Kevin Jacobsen is flying to Germany today for meetings on Pan The Musical. The production has had a relatively short season in Sydney, but Jacobsen says he wants to see Pan developed. Though coy about who he will meet, Jacobsen says the reason for his trip is 'to see about the possibility of a new show being presented in Melbourne.'

I don't know what all this stuff about "Pan" is. It looked like an interesting show, but didn't perform especially well in Sydney. It's the last sentence in this article that got me the most excited. How many musicals are there in Germany that aren't playing everywhere else already? (I don't think I need to answer that for you)

Apart from this I have heard nothing. I wrote another letter to Mr. Jacobsen in February 2001, but never received a reply. Early in 2002 Disney set up their own "Disney Theatrical" office in Sydney, and (finally) brought The Lion King to Australia. Beyond these two, there's nothing planned. The possibility of seeing Hunchback in Australia sometime is a little higher though, although Mary Poppins is apparently the next Aussie-bound Disney show, opening in Sydney in 2009, if rumours are to be believed. So at the moment I'm in stalemate. I don't know what else I can do. If anyone has any suggestions (or knows any producers) please let me know. Until then I can only sit and wait in anticipation of any news, and of the day when I will actually see The Hunchback of Notre Dame in English.

THE WORLD IS CRUEL, THE WORLD IS WICKED
Even though this magnificent production has practically been abandoned by its own creators, the Walt Disney Company haven't forgotten the Hunchback of Notre Dame franchise. There was an absolutely awful animated sequel (I beg you to follow my lead and simply ignore it) and the rumour of a television-based movie has been bouncing around for years. It even had a director and script-writer attached to it for a while, but has so far failed to actually move into production.

An interesting thought. This telemovie would supposedly be Disney's compensation for not bringing the stage show Stateside. Created as a "Wonderful World of Disney" special, it was tipped to have a maturity level somewhere between the movie and the show, and that's about all that is known. In my opinion, this could go either way. If it's done well, it could really encourage Disney to open the show in other cities. However, if it's not done well, it could sour peoples' opinions of the musical in general and we can forget about seeing it on stage in English. Personally, if they are going to go down this path, I think it would make more sense to give it a big budget, and make it a full-blown live-action cinema release. I doubt that will ever happen, but hey - we can all dream.

When I asked Stephen Schwartz directly about this, his reply was not to worry, as the script for it hadn't even been written yet, and he would be surprised if this project ever saw the light of day. Stalemate again. Any more info on the telemovie, let me know.

May 2008: This is interesting! According to this source, Stephen Schwartz was at the Opening Night of The Little Mermaid, and while chatting to the press, was quoted as saying,
"I think we're starting up Hunchback of Notre Dame, hopefully, next year. Rumor has reached my ear that it's happening."
There's nothing concrete here, but it's something at least! (Thanks to Michael for that tip-off!)

September 2008: Another hint that the ball may be rolling. According to The Columbus Dispatch, wheels are in motion to bring the show to Broadway. Let's hope so! (Thanks to Ryan for that one!)