Frollo, Quasimodo and Ensemble performing Esmeralda King’s Academy Hunchback of Notre Dame
The King’s Academy version of the Hunchback exist as step between Der Glockner von Notre Dame and the official American musical version of La Jolla and Papermills. The King’s version has some core differences of Glockner and even the Disney movie. Also Please note, I’m working off of memory, I had hope to re-watch it and make a list but I couldn’t do that so I probably will miss things.
So the big difference and something that I find a unforgivable is Phoebus or rather not Phoebus. This version calls him Edgrick, I’m not sure why they changed his name. The did change the gargoyle names back to there original Disney name of Victor, Hugo and Laverne instead of the Glockner names Charles, Loni and Antoine. Also in this production Phoebus does not sing. This Phoebus’ signature song of Ein bißchen Freude or Rest and Recreation does not occur. Also Out of Love is cut which is also cut from the La Jolla version. He also doesn’t sing in Esmeralda instead Frollo sings Phoebus’s part which doesn’t make that much sense as the Frollo asks why he hears her words inside his head I have no idea what he would be referring to, though the lyrics have been changed somewhat.
King’s version
Frollo:
Why do I long for Esmeralda?
Why do I hear her words inside my head?
Why do I think of Esmeralda?
With all the Gypsies Beggars left for Dead
Yes my Duty calls for
Paris is Burning
Lit to expose that furtive pair
Sneaking about
Out There
Glockner
Phoebus:
What have I done for Esmeralda?
Why do I hear her voice inside my head?
Why do I think of Esmeralda?
With my career and prospects left for dead?
Frollo:
Once more my Duty calls
Paris is Burning
Lit to expose that furtive pair
Sneaking about
Out There
http://www.shipperland.de/miracles/
I wish Phoebus or Edgrick had sung in Esmeralda be it harkens to the basis of the book three guys and how they hearts are made different with regard to one woman. Plus it adds rich to the big act ending song.
Another cut song from the Glockner version is Tanz auf dem Seil or Dance on the Rope which served as Esmeralda’s introduction. Instead she appears dancing before a crowd like in the movie. The La Jolla version also cut Dance of the Rope and opted for keeping the dance angle but added the song Rhythm of the Tambourine.
The King’s Academy also cut Tanz der Zigeuner, Dance of the Gypsies and reintroduced The Court of Miracle from the original. Minor change really.
Clopin doesn’t narrate the tale as a beggar which he does in Glockner. In the King’s versions he is in his jester costume at the start. Minor change.
However the big change is at the end, no one dies and I mean no one, well except Quasimodo’s mother. But Frollo lies, he is about to attack Quasimodo and Esmeralda but he just walks off. This could be because he said care for the child.
A curious addition and not really a change but it needs to be mention is Djali isn’t in this version but one of Hugo’s lines mention Djali not by name but he does say “the one in the dress ain’t bad either” referencing to the nonexistent Djali.
Again I’m probably missing other difference between the shows but those are the one I remember and can find
Next Time -Direction and Staging
Esmeralda, Quasimodo and Ensemble performing God help the Outcast King’s Academy Hunchback of Notre Dame
A couple of corrections to my previous list of differences: First, I mentioned before that the songs “City Under Siege” and “A Guy Like You” from Der Glockner are not in the King’s Academy production. This is incorrect. It turned out that both songs are, in fact, in the King’s Academy production, it is just that both were in the one segment that I hadn’t noticed when downloading the youtube videos of this production and only recently came across it. City Under Siege starts with soldiers walking around with torches while Clopin sings and we first see Esmeralda next to a badly injured Phoebus who is lying on the ground (on the stage, that is) before Esmeralda manages to get him to stand up and walk. In the King’s Academy, the scene begins with ballet girls wearing red and black (previously scene in the Hellfire scene) who, I believe, represent the fires throuhout Paris. The chorus is standing on either side of the stage. The soldiers walk on stage without torches and they stand and sing as part of the chorus. Clopin also walks onstage to sing his part. The soldiers and Clopin leave the stage when Esmeralda and Phoebus arrive (these two emerge as they walk down the aisle of the theatre and climb onstage). Phoebus seems to be coping relatively well with his injuries as he does not need too much support and has a better grasp of the difficult situation they are in whereas in Der Glockner, all Phoebus seems to care about is finding an excuse to lean on Esmeralda’s shoulder, which almost makes gentle Esmeralda lose her patience (you can hear the exasparation in her voice when she is basically telling him to get a grip and pull himself together as they are running for their lives). Other than that, the dialogue is about the same in both productions but somewhat abridged in the King’s Academy version where the soldiers walk back onstage shorlty before Esmeralda and Phoebus leave and the song carries on. Towards the end of the song, Frollo walks onstage too (which does not happen in Der Glockner). Then, in both productions, the next thing we see is the belltower. The dialogue between the gargoyles and Quasimodo before the “A Guy Like You” song is somewhat different in Der Glockner than in the movie and the King’s Academy version follows the Der Glockner dialogue quite closely. The lyrics for “A Guy Like You” in the King’s Academy version are also closer to Der Glockner than to the movie. But the staging for “A Guy Like You” is different as in the King’s Academy version, they have added some dancing pairs of lovers wearing anachronistic clothes and doing some anachronistic dancing in order to accompany the singing (I actually like the dancing couples). Also, some of Hugo’s singing lines have been given to Laverne in the King’s Academy production and some of the Gargoyle’s dancing in Der Glockner has been replaced with the gargoyles flying about (technically hanging and swinging) in the King’s Academy production. Plus, in the King’s Academy, Laverne gets to stand next to Quasimodo whereas Victor and Hugo barely interact with him, unlike in Der Glockner
Second, I wrote in my other post above that, in the scene where Phoebus arrives in Paris and sees a guard bothering Esmeralda, “when Esmeralda tells the guard that he would know a lot about stealing, Esmeralda throws him to the ground”. That line was meant to be “when Esmeralda tells the guard that he would know a lot about stealing, THE GUARD throws ESMERALDA to the ground and the guard is about to strike her or kill her when Phoebus intervenes and stops him and Esmeralda and Phoebus get to look at each before Phoebus leaves”.
I like both Der Glockner and the King’s Academy version about as much as I like the Disney movie itself. However, if I could choose just one thing that I liked better in the King’s Academy than in Der Glockner is the ending. Certainly, I know that lots of people liked Der Glockner because Esmeralda dies in the end and that’s closer to the book but people should also keep in mind that circumstances were completely different than in Der Glockner. In the novel, Quasimodo saved her the first time she was about to hanged; then, weeks later, she got out of the Cathedral and she was captured again and hanged because Quasimodo was too far away at that time and he had no time to intervene. The way it happened in Der Glockner, with Quasimodo saving Esmeralda from the stake and Esmeralda being still alive but dying in the bell tower minutes later (more likely from breathing in too much poisonous gas) never quite worked from me. I appreciate the tragedy of course and it certainly is a touching scene but this is also the kind of outcome that kids would refer to as “epic fail”. This would fall under the “all for nothing” trope as it is the only fail attempt I can currently recall where the hero rescues the heroine and she still dies from whatever he rescued her from because he didn’t make it soon enough (which makes the rescue attempt a bit of a waste of time). It makes you feel that if Quasimodo had actually pulled himself together sooner and had come to her rescue a few minutes earlier, she would have been alive. In Luc Plamodon’s Notre Dame de Paris musical stage version and in the 1956 film version, the reason why the unhappy ending works is because the story-writers had in mind exactly what happened in the novel and they worked along these lines i.e. in both these versions, Esmeralda was properly rescued the first time by Quasimodo and had sanctuary in the Cathedral but she was killed some time later when she stepped out. Plus, in both these versions, Quasimodo follows her to the grave which makes it a lot more tragic and it shows how passionately devoted he was to her whereas in Der Glockner, he laments for her briefly and then he seems to pursue his main goal which was to be accepted by the people of Paris and he gets it. It just feels bizarre that Esmeralda is dead while Quasimodo is alive and, to the best of my knowledge, Der Glockner and La Jolla (which are both based on the Disney movie) are the only versions where this happens (and probably not without good reason). Another thing I have never been particularly fond of in Der Glockner is Quasimodo killing Frollo. Again, I know that this happened in the novel too but circumstances were different there too. In the novel, Quasimodo lost control in a moment of grief while watching Esmeralda hanging and that’s why he pushed Frollo off the roof (it didn’t help that he saw Frollo laughing like a maniac about her death). He could have saved him but he was too busy watching Esmeralda hanging but he still regretted what he did afterwards. In Der Glockner, Frollo’s death was not a spontaneous act as Quasimodo may have indeed been overcome with grief but he still had a choice between throwing Frollo off the roof or not after having over-powering him and he still chose to kill him, which makes the whole thing a bit more calculated. What’s worse, it was made clear that Quasimodo acted upon following Frollo’s sadistic, twisted teachings and this means that, not only was Quasimodo weak as a character beause he could not resist temptation to act upon impulse, but he had also become as corrupt as his master. In both accounts he has become more like Frollo than what a hero is supposed to be. Heroes, especially Disney ones, are often expected to be pure and have morals and rule number one is never to get their hands or paws dirty with the blood of their foes, except in extreme cases when they may have no chance of surviving if they don’t. This why, eg Simba is does not kill Scar, Tarzan does not kill Clayton, the Beast does not kill Gaston and Quasimodo in the movie does not kill Frollo (in fact he even tried to save him) even though it would have been in their best interests to do so as they were bing attacked (Prince Philip does kill Maleficent and Eric does kill Ursulla but that is because they had little alternative as they were dealing with powerful witches). Quasimodo in Der Glockner didn’t really have to kill Frollo as Frollo wasn’t even planning to kill him as in the movie so it was not self defence (to be fair, Frollo did fight him off with a dagger but that was because Quasimodo attacked him first). I am not saying that Frollo’s death wasn’t poetic justice but it was still wrong for Quasimodo to kill another human regardless of how much of a monster that person was. I do make several excuses for Quasimodo on the basis that when his master was brainwashing him, he never taught him anything about mercy and forgiveness so his conscience never fully developed as it should. Of course he did the right thing and saved Esmeralda but he probably never fully realised that mercy should extend to the wicked too. Nevertheless, this act somehow mars Quasimodo’s character and when it comes to this aspect of Der Glockner alone, I prefer the ending of King’s Academy, which somehow manages to be bittersweet even though nobody dies, as Quasimodo laments while watching the two lovers embracing, as I also prefer the Disney movie’s ending with Esmeralda and Phoebus walking out with the crowds cheering them and he priceless moment of Quasimodo coming out of the shade and stepping into the light with the little girl stepping forward and treating him with kindness and then the town cheering for him.
Besides changing Phoebus’s name and the gargoyles’ names and not showing Clopin as an old man during the narration, I would say that the King’s Academy is a cross-up between the original movie and the Der Glockner stage version. The dialogue is mostly like the movie but the songs are mostly as in Der Glockner. As a result, there are lots of differences (the dialogue is based on the subtitles that some good Samaritans kindly provided):
In the King’s Academy production, Quasimodo is always fully articulate as in the movie unlike Der Glockner where he is only fully articulate when he interacts with the gargoyles. Plus, in the King’s Academy production he still has that wooden model of the city of Paris that he had made in the movie whereas in Der Glockner it is never seen or mentioned. What’s more, in the King’s Academy production, all of Phoebus’s singing from Der Glockner are either not included or they have been given to Quasimodo or Frollo, making Phoebus a non-singing character as in the movie.
In the King’s Academy production, with the exception of not appearing as an old man during the Bells of Notre Dame narration, the speaking and singing lines for Clopin, Frollo and the Archdeacon are the same as in Der Glockner, except for the fact that in the King’s Academy Production, the choir sings along some of Clopin’s singing lines which he sings solo in the movie (eg the dark was the night…. part).
In Der Glockner, during the scene in the belltower where adult Quasimodo is introduced, his dialogue with the gargoyles and later with Frollo is not the same as in the book eg no little bird mentioned, the gargoyles remark that fun is not a sin unless you are Frollo and when Frollo comes in, he compliments Quasimodo on the bellringing and even brings him some strawberries (though it is uncertain whether Quasimodo got to eat any). Furthermore, the alphabet lesson from the movie has been replaced with a Latin lesson. In the King’s Academy production, the dialogue is the same as in the movie but they did include the extended version of Out There with Frollo’s backstory about how he used to be a priest who became a judge.
In Der Glockner, when we first see Esmeralda, she and her tribe have just arrived in Paris and Esmeralda is first introduced to us when Clopin bids them welcome to the city and singles Esmeralda out for her beauty. It is also revealed that she and her tribe were kicked out of another city because Esmeralda hit a soldier. Clopin tells her to mind her own business in Paris and that’s when she gives her the woven band that will help her find her way if she gets lost. This is also the scene when Clopin takes off his old man outfit and reveals his younger self. The Balancing Act from Der Glockner is not there in the King’s Academy production and Esmeralda is not a newcomer to Paris when we first see her.
In Der Glockner, when Phoebus arrives in Paris he is not on his way to the Palace of Justice but he just wants to go sightseeing since he has three days before reporting for duty. He interacts with citizens eg he buys bread, seeks the company of (unmarried) ladies etc. It is also revealed that he had been fighting in the “Eastern Campaign†and that has never been to Paris before as he is from Marseilles in this version. He also gets to sing his Rest and Recreation song. The ladies are at first annoyed but they become quite attracted to him when they find out that he is a Captain. At the end of the song, he also catches a thief. He then meets Frollo who rather spoils his plans for rest and recreation and who tells Phoebus about his problems with gypsies in the city etc (the lines are not exactly the same as in the movie). They sing a reprise of Phoebus’s song, this time about how there is no time for rest and recreation and they head for the Festival of Fools. Therefore, in Der Glockner, Phoebus never went to the Palace of Justice before the Feast of Fools and he never met Esmeralda before the Feast of Fools. In the King’s Academy production, things are a lot more similar to the Disney movie. Phoebus is on his way to the Palace of Justice when he comes across a group of people watching Esmeralda and two other girls dancing. He asks for directions but people are too busy watching. There is also that part from the movie where two guards accuse Esmeralda of stealing. In the movie Esmeralda manages to fight back and Phoebus employs Achilleus the horse to prevent them from running after her. In the King’s Academy production it is four guards that come in and make the spectators disperse and it is one of them who accuses Esmeralda of stealing. When Esmeralda tells the guard that he would know a lot about stealing, Esmeralda throws him to the ground. Phoebus intervenes and reveals himself to be the new Captain as in the movie. So the guard leaves Esmeralda alone and takes Phoebus to the Palace of Justice. The Palace of Justice scene and dialogue is the same as in the movie except we see a bit more of the flogging and I like how Frollo is standing at his desk indifferently and completely unmoved while the poor other guy is in pain. Also, in response to Phoebus’s question about what to do with the gypsies, instead of crushing ants as in the movie, Frollo puts out the flame of a candle and says “Extinguish themâ€.
In Der Glockner, Esmeralda interacts with Clopin and other men in the audience while she dances. She also crashes into Quasimodo while she dances and that’s when she first sees him and comments on what she thinks is his mask. In the King’s Academy production, Esmeralda first meets Quasimodo before her dance scene as she crashes into him while she is walking in the crowd. The choreography is different and again it involves Esmeralda and two other girls dancing. None of the three interacts with the audience. The choreography is also different for the people during the Topsy Turvy song.
In Der Glockner, Clopin tries to stop Esmeralda from helping Quasimodo by telling her that she will get them all into trouble but she insists as she feels it is her fault for bringing him onstage. Also, Esmeralda does not answer back to Frollo when he tells her that he forbids helping Quasimodo; she just proceeds to release Quasimodo and tells him to run. Frollo gets angry and orders her arrest, Esmeralda seems uncertain about what to do for a moment so Clopin steps in and uses his exploding powder to distract everyone while Esmeralda flees. In the King’s Academy production, it is not Clopin who tries to prevent Esmeralda from helping Quasimodo but it is another male member of the crowd instead. The dialogue between Frollo and Esmeralda is the same as in the movie except when Esmeralda cries “Run†to Quasimodo once she has released him.
In Der Glockner, Frollo is seen picking up Esmeralda’s scarf from the ground when everyone has left the stage, which he will be using later during the Hellfire scene. In the King’s Academy production this doesn’t happen and Frollo never gets that scarf.
In both Der Glockner, the dialogue between Phoebus and Esmeralda is different than in the movie. Phoebus actually aims to arrest her and even accidentally injures her arm with his sword as she tries to escape. Esmeralda sings her “In my life I’ve seen some things†solo to the tune of “Out of Love†about how she cannot help joining a fight. At the end of the song, Phoebus remarks that a soldier knows not to fight a battle he cannot win and Esmeralda replies that sometimes the victory is in the battle itself and not the outcome and then Frollo walks in. In The King’s Academy production, the dialogue is more similar to the movie but they have also kept some of the speaking lines from Der Glockner and again Esmeralda still gets to sing her short solo. The two spoken lines that follow her solo in Der Glockner before Frollo walks in are not there in the Academy production.
In the King’s Academy production, when Frollo interrupts the chat between Phoebus and Esmeralda as in the movie, the dialogue is the same as in the movie, that is, the Archdeacon intervenes and, after her goes, Frollo reprimands Esmeralda and walks out and she meets again the Archdeacon before she starts singing God Help The Outcasts. The main difference, however between this and the movie is that in the Academy production Phoebus is actually present when Frollo is having that stern talk with Esmeralda (in the movie, the Archdeacon ushered him out while Frollo was hidden from view). Also, in the Academy production, Frollo does not get quite as creepy as in the movie as he only pushes her hair aside and Esmeralda looks intimidated throughout the whole scene as Frollo is walking around her. He walks out after that as in the movie and Phoebus follows. In Der Glockner this sequence had been totally re-written as, when Frollo finds Phoebus and Esmeralda in the Cathedral he is the one who tells Phoebus to go while he deals with her and Phoebus never gets to tell Esmeralda to claim sanctuary. Frollo rants about about how she compromises the safety of the city by undermining his authority; Esmeralda replies that she can see what is going on inside his head and that he mistreats Quasimodo as he mistreats her people (using the lines from her Festival of Fools speech in the movie which she never got to give in this version of the musical). The Archdeacon intervenes and tells Frollo that she has sanctuary inside the Cathedral (finally someone mentioned it to her) so Frollo leaves.
In The King’s Academy Production, for some reason, during “God Help The Outcasts†Esmeralda sings along with the chorus “They ask for wealth, they ask for fame, they ask for glory to shine on their name. I ask for love I can possess, I ask from god and his angels to bless me†and then she carries on with her usual “I ask for nothing, I can get by…†which is somewhat pointless since she had already asked for a couple of things. In Der Glockner she sings her lines as in the movie.
In Der Glockner, right after God Help the Outcasts and before Esmeralda catches up with Quasimodo in the belltower, there is a short scene where Frollo meets Phoebus out of the Cathedral and Phoebus says that he and his men will be watching out for Esmeralda. As Frollo thanks him and walks away, Phoebus notices that Frollo has got Esmeralda’s scarf (and probably realizes his intentions). This scene is not in the King’s Academy production.
In the King’s Academy production, the dialogue between Esmeralda and Quasimodo in the belltower is the same as in the movie. In Der Glockner, their lines are a bit different and the gargoyles are seen encouraging Quasimodo (and advising him to refrain from talking about them).
In Der Glockner, Quasimodo helps Esmeralda escape by boat (no, really). In the King’s Academy production they climb down (the lines are the same as in the movie though the climbing is easier than in the movie).
In Der Glockner, Frollo is seen obsessing over the scarf and there is also what is meant to be the fire demon Esmeralda from the movie. But other than that, the stage is dark and empty. In the King’s Academy production, there is no scarf and no fire demon Esmeralda but there are hooded figures in the choir and this reminds me more of the movie. Moreover, I assume that the ballet girls wearing red and black represent flames and this fits in quite well.
In Der Glockner, right after Hellfire there is a new scene where Phoebus is playing dice with another soldier when a third solder brings a covered up Esmeralda whom he has spotted getting out of the boat. Phoebus orders her to take her cover off and when he sees who she is, he sends the other guards away and lets Esmeralda go too, after telling her which way to go in order to avoid meeting any soldiers. This scene is not included in the King’s Academy Production.
Interestingly, in both Der Glockner and in the King’s Academy version the miller and his family are interrogated by Frollo outside their home. Frollo threatens to burn down their house if they don’t tell him what he wants to know rather than attempting to have the miller and his family burned inside their home, as in the movie.The singing is the same as in Der Glockner as well as the dialogue between Phoebus and Frollo except the sequence of events during Phoebus’s attempted execution differs quite a bit. In the Academy version, Frollo hits him, Phoebus falls to the ground, Frollo orders his soldiers to kill him, Esmeralda distracts them and they run off together and next time we see them, they are at Notre Dame. Which brings us to the following question: how exactly did Phoebus get injured in the King’s Academy version? Frollo appears to have hit him with his firsts only and yet Phoebus collapsed even though he was supposed to be wearing his armour. And when Phoebus and Esmeralda are running away, there is no sign of Phoebus getting hit by an arrow. Still, Phoebus does have his hand on his chest as he is running off so I guess that we are supposed to assume either that Frollo actually stubbed Phoebus with a dagger or something and the guards were just supposed to finish him off. On the other hand, in Der Glockner, Phoebus is clearly not injured when Frollo orders his guards to kill him. Phoebus even manages to fight the guards off with his sword before Esmeralda (being disguised as a young man) intervenes and they run off together. However, they clearly get separated since Phoebus is seen on his own during the “Esmeralda†song while he sings about how what he has done for Esmeralda and how he can think about her when his career is ruined. Eventually a guard spots Phoebus on a bridge and fires an arrow into the front of his chest (and NOT his back as in the Disney movie). Phoebus falls into the river, Esmeralda dives in after him and Act 1 ends.
In Der Glockner, Act 2 opens with the chorus song City Under Siege where Esmeralda is seen trying to get Phoebus to the Cathedral while Phoebus has a hard time walking because of his injuries. This is followed by “A Guy Like Youâ€. In the Academy production, both these songs are not included.
In Der Glockner, it is actually the Archdeacon who brings Phoebus to the belltower and asks Quasimodo to hide him. Phoebus has to try hard to convince Quasimodo, who eventually agrees shortly before Frollo arrives (Esmeralda apparently went home once Phoebus was inside the Cathedral as she is not there to treat his wounds as in the movie). Frollo himself does make a comment on finding the Archdeacon in the belltower. Also, the dialogue between Quasimodo and Frollo while Quasimodo is hiding Phoebus is not the same as in the movie (eg no grapes involved and in the stage musical the Gargoyles are briefly seen advising Quasimodo what to say)) and it is somewhat longer than in the movie, with Frollo making Quasimodo swear that he is not lying and Quasimodo being unable to. In addition, Frollo briefly reprises some of his singing from the “Esmeralda†song. In the King’s Academy production, the dialogue is mostly the same as in the movie except some of the dialogue between Esmeralda and Phoebus when treating his wounds and when Frollo announces about knowing where Esmeralda is, where the lines are as in Der Glockner. He too reprises his singing from the Esmeralda song but he sings a bit longer than in der Glockner.
In Der Glockner, Quasimodo gives Phoebus the woven band and has to become rather forceful in order to make Phoebus accept that it is a map (the gargoyles have to step in to get Quasimodo to put Phoebus down). Quasimodo is reluctant to go out of the Cathedral with Phoebus and so Phoebus and the Gargoyles sing “Out of Love†in order to convince him. When they get out of the Cathedral, the guards sing a City Under Siege reprise and while Phoebus and Quasimodo are hiding, they have some dialogue about why Esmeralda likes them (and they sing an Out of Love reprise). In the King’s Academy production, the dialogue between Phoebus and Quasimodo is the same as in the movie and both Out of Love and City Under Siege Reprise are not included, though Phoebus does get to keep the first few lines from Out of Love (“Look I don’t pretend to be your dearest friend….”) as additional spoken lines. Plus, Quasimodo gets to sing a reprise of Heaven’s Light as in the movie when he sees Esmeralda and Phoebus embracing.
Besides keeping the Court of Miracles song, the dialogue in the King’s Academy production is the same as in the movie. Esmeralda even refers to Phoebus as the soldier who saved the miller’s family although, in this version, the lives of the miller and his family were not in mortal danger (I am not suggesting that it is nice to have one’s home burned down but it is not half as bad as it would have been with the occupants locked inside it while it was burning down). In Der Glockner, the gypsies are just dancing and being merry (Esmeralda is onstage too and looks rather unhappy so Clopin and other gypsies unsuccessfully try to cheer her up) when Phoebus and Quasimodo walk in and Esmeralda intervenes instantly when they are spotted and surrounded, unlike the movie where she just made it. She also says that Quasimodo was the one who helped her escape from the Cathedral though I am not sure what exactly she said about Phoebus as Clopin interrupts since he is still not at all willing to trust them. Clopin also rebukes Esmeralda about giving Quasimodo instructions on how to find their hiding place. There is also some additional dialogue where Clopin tells Esmeralda that she must leave and that Frollo might leave the rest of the gypsies alone if he knows she has left. Phoebus gets mad at Clopin about this but Esmeralda steps in between them and she agrees with Clopin. Then Esmeralda and Phoebus sing a love duet (which is another “Out of Love†reprise with Quasimodo reprising “Heaven’s Light” in the background just before Frollo and his troops walk into the Court of Miracles. Frollo arrests them and tells Quasimodo that he is disappointed of him (that’s an extra line that he didn’t have in the movie) and sings a brief Hellfire reprise followed by Clopin narrating about the bonfire being set in the square in front of Notre Dame. In the King’s Academy production, the additional spoken dialogue between Clopin with Esmeralda and Phoebus is not there and the love duet that Esmeralda and Phoebus sing together has been replaced with Esmeralda singing a solo reprise of “In my life I ‘ve seen some things” and Frollo’s previously mentioned extra line to Quasimodo about being disappointed of him is not there. But they have kept Frollo’s singing lines right after the gypsies have been taken away and Clopin’s subsequent narration.
In Der Glockner, what follows is this show’s version of the Dungeon scene from the novel but unlike One Bright Morning You Danced from Notre Dame de Paris, it is NOT merged with the Porte-Rouge scene (i.e. there is no rape attempt); Frollo just tells Esmeralda about how he wants to help her and how her spell on him has worked, with Esmeralda asking him about whether he would have her even though she is a gypsy and Frollo replying that sometimes are drawn to things that repel them before singing his Sanctuary reprise about how he wants to set her free and take her away etc. But he overall controls himself and does not do anything inappropriate (at worst, he caresses her hair). For some reason, Esmeralda is blindfolded and on her knees at the beginning of the scene though Frollo does remove that thing off her eyes eventually. I also like how he says “Save yourself†which sounds pleading and almost sincere. In the King’s Academy production, both Esmeralda and Phoebus are standing on opposite sides of the stage at the beginning of the scene with Frollo in the middle starting off with his speech from the bonfire speech from the Disney movie, about Esmeralda being found guilty and the sentence being death (which is odd because a) he will be repeating the same lines later on and b) on neither occasion does he mention Phoebus who is actually sentenced too. Once he has finishes with his speech, he goes to Esmeralda and, instead of using the new lines from Der Glockner, he actually has the lines that exact same lines that Frollo had in the movie when he made his indecent proposal to Esmeralda while she was tied at the stake. Esmeralda gives the same reply as in Der Glockner about whether Frollo would have her even though she is a gypsy and from that point on the dialogue and singing are along the same lines as in Der Glockner. Frollo does sound a lot more cruel and victorious as he walks away when telling her to save herself. Also, whereas in Der Glockner, Frollo mostly manages to keep his hands off her, in the King’s Academy production Frollo just cannot keep his hands off her while he is singing the Sanctuary reprise and Esmeralda can hardly help looking disgusted. And all this time Phoebus is watching but he is unable to intervene.
In Der Glockner, right after Made of Stone and before Someday, there is some dialogue between Esmeralda and Phoebus where Esmeralda informs Phoebus about Frollo’s offer and Phoebus tells her to do it in order to save herself but not for his sake. In the king’s Academy production, this dialogue is not there and Esmeralda starts singing Someday right after Made of Stone (it probably wasn’t necessary to have that scene as Phoebus was there when Frollo made the offer).
In the King’s Academy production, just before Made of Stone, the gargoyles have some dialogue with Quasimodo which is the same as the movie’s dialogue up to the point where Laverne says “These chains aren’t what’s holding you back Quasimodoâ€. At that point, Quasimodo starts singing Made of Stone. In Der Glockner, the dialogue involing Quasimodo and the gargoyles before Made of Stone is not the same as in the movie.
In Der Glockner, Someday is sung by Esmeralda and Phoebus with the chorus joining in later on while Esmeralda is being taken to the stake. In The King’s Academy production, it is sung by Esmeralda and Quasimodo instead of Phoebus. The Archdeacon joins the chorus too. Esmeralda is not taken to the stage yet.
In the King’s Academy production, Esmeralda and Phoebus were going to be executed together and were both tied at the same stake (this is the first version I am aware of where this happens). Phoebus and Esmeralda are brought to the square in front of Notre Dame together right after the end of the Someday song but, unlike the movie and Der Glockner musical, Frollo announces their death sentence in public BEFORE they are tied to the stake. In both Der Glockner and the King’s Academy production, the Archdeacon does intervene and tells Esmeralda to apologise for whatever she is accused of. In Der Glockner, Esmeralda proceeds to give a short daring speech about how it would be like admitting that was wrong if she apologises. While the crowds are most impressed and start whispering to each other, Frollo asks Esmeralda to think again about what he previously offered and Esmeralda spits in his face. In the King’s Academy production, Esmeralda does not get to give her heroic response. Instead, once the Archdeacon has finished his request, we go straight to the part where Frollo tells her again to think about what he offered. Esmeralda does not spit in his face as in the movie and Der Glockner, but she merely cries “Never”. As a result, both Esmeralda and Phoebus are tied to the stake which is then set on fire.
In Der Glockner, Quasimodo, releases Esmeralda from the stake and carries her to the Cathedral; he even gets to lifts her and cry Sanctuary. The battle in front of the Cathedral is shown and guards are seen trying to break into the Cathedral as in the movie. Phoebus’ speech has been replaced with a Someday reprise in front of the crowd. Both Phoebus and Clopin get to do some sword-fighting against the guards and Clopin’s leg got seriously injured when a guard attacked him and this apparently led to subsequent amputation as Clopin is supposed to be missing a leg whenever he appears as an old man In the King’s Academy production, Quasimodo releases Esmeralda and Phoebus from the stake and cries “Run†just as Esmeralda did when she saved Quasimodo during the Feast of Fools. Both Phoebus and Esmeralda run inside the Cathedral (Esmeralda somehow makes it even though she is meant to be faint and weak after being exposed to the flames). Since Phoebus gets inside the Cathedral, he does not get to give his “citizen of Paris” speech at all. No actual fighting is shown in front of the Cathedral but the choir carries on singing the Sanctuary lyrics onstage in their priest and monk costumes. Since there is no fight, Clopin is not seen fighting in the crowd as in the movie and Der Glockner and he also gets to keep his leg as no guard is seen attacking him.
In Der Glockner, Frollo enters the room right after Esmeralda dies, sings a reprise of Esmeralda’s tune about how things will be back to normal now that she is gone, Quasimodo is overcome with grief and attacks him, Frollo attempts to kill him with a dagger and Quasimodo throws him off the belltower as the gargoyles encourage him to do so. In the King’s Academy production, Frollo does have a sword when he goes to the belltower but he does not attempt to kill Quasimodo. It is only after Esmeralda turns out to be alive that he raises his sword. Quasimodo disarms him and attempts to kill him but Esmeralda cries out for him not to do it (this reminds me of the 1923 film version where Esmeralda tried to intervene before Quasimodo threw Jehan off the balcony but she was too late). Frollo does pick up the sword again after Quasimodo dropped it and attacks again but it still looks to me like he is only aiming at Esmeralda (or at least only Esmeralda takes cover when he raises his sword). I guess that in the end he probably took pity on Quasimodo when he realised how much Esmeralda means to him or perhaps he somehow saw the evil in his own ways and had a change of heart. At any rate, he seems to be wiping a tear while walking away (nice touch). Phoebus walks and embraces Esmeralda after Frollo walks away. One may wonder where Phoebus was all this time but since Esmeralda was unwell, I guess that it took him some time to recover as well.
In the King’s Academy production, the Gargoyles are not seen after made of stone until the “World is Cruel” reprise (so they are not around the dying Esmeralda as in Der Glockner). Also, Laverne sings the final “World is cruel” reprise solo whereas in Der Glockner, all three Gargoyles sing. Circumstances are also different as in Der Glockner, the gargoyles sing this song while Quasimodo is lamenting Esmeralda’s death whereas in the Academy production, they sing while Quasimodo is rather gloomy while Esmeralda is in Phoebus’s arms.
In Der Glockner, the chorus sings the Someday reprise while Quasimodo carries Esmeralda’s dead body out of the cathedral, while Phoebus emerges from the crowd and kisses her hand. In the King’s Academy production, the choir sings the final Someday reprise in the monk costumes while the surviving Phoebus and Esmeralda walk out of the belltower by themselves.
In the King’s Academy production, during the “Bells of Notre Dame” reprise there is also some ballet and Clopin is briefly seen flying for some reason. Other than that he is still as he was throughout the movie whereas in Der Glockner he just reappears as an old man as in the beginning.