Tiny Little News Nuggets for The Hunchback Live-Action

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This post is more off the cuff than normal

Here is a news article about what is I guess known about the not-newest Hunchback version, which is the Broken Lizard version, but the Disney one

https://movieweb.com/disney-hunchback-of-notre-dame-everything-we-know/

So here are some core bits points.

According to this article fans “want’ Josh Gad to play Quasimodo. I’m not on instagram, nor am I all that plugged into what is the cultural zeitgeist of fan casting for Quasimodo is on the internet (which I don’t think is all that up there in relevance.) With respect to Gad, he would not be my first pick. I did listen to a podcast from awhile ago that tangentially mentioned him playing Clopin based on instagram stuff.

I only pegged him as Quasimodo in the past because he was making a push for this adaptation and it just seemed to a role that male actors want to play, for good reason. Also if you read a recent casting post I made, Gad is in the age range for Quasimodo actors, as he is 41. A year older than the average of 40.

However the article has no insight on casting but there is some info on the crew. Also the article says that the movie has a release date of July 19th, 2024.

Also an article from The Wrap (which I’m not linking because of laziness) put Notre Dame de Paris as 3rd (or maybe 4th I can’t recall, this why you shouldn’t be lazy like me) worst production of 2022 in New York City. It is very interesting how mixed the NYC reaction was to the show. I do get that it’s not a perfect show, I still love it but I can understand other POVs on it. The production isn’t super concern whether or not the plot makes sense but it’s more about emotions. And maybe that is an excuse but if people/theater critics didn’t like the show then so be it.

So there is some new nuggets for the end of the year.

My trip to see Notre Dame de Paris in New York City

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Notre Dame de Paris July 2022 New York City Lincoln Center picture image
Notre Dame de Paris July 2022 New York City Lincoln Center

As a Christmas present in 2020 I was given tickets to see Notre Dame de Paris in New York City July 2022. So I had a long time to get hyped. The tickets were for the Saturday afternoon show on the 16th. In theory I could have gone to Canada to see the show but New York City is closer to me despite the fact that I had only been once prior as child. So in the future if the show never returns to NYC I could go to a performance across the border but who knows maybe it will return someday. It’s so weird to me that this the only second time it’s been performed in the states. The Second and the first time in the Big Apple. Then again a lot of shows have never been performed in the States.

David Koch Theater Lobby before Notre Dame de Paris picture image
David Koch Theater Lobby before the show

So this was first my time seeing the show live. I had always thought that if I was going to see the show in the States that it would be in English and I was ok with that. So I was happy to learn back when it was first announced that it was going to be in French.

David Koch Theater Lobby before Notre Dame de Paris picture image
Photo-op in the David Koch Theater Lobby before Notre Dame de Paris

One thing that was a little weird/interesting was that in the lobby there was large photos from the show and mostly it was from the current revival cast, pretty sure, except there was one of Lola Ponce who played Esmeralda in the first Italian cast and is currently reprising her role. Not sure why they had that photo at Koch theatre unless they thought it was just a good photo op. It just stood out to me.

The stage at David Koch Theater before Notre Dame de Paris picture image
The stage at David Koch Theater before Notre Dame de Paris

So how was it? It was great. 10 out 10 I would see it live again. Was it so different seeing it live than seeing it in the pro-shot or recordings as I have for years? I’m not really sure. I did like that could look around the stage and see interactions that I would typically miss especially with the pro-shot. Like entrances and exits or what other performers are doing when the focus isn’t on them. I also just liked being in the space with a crowd watching the show.

Also I didn’t know the show used a haze effect so I learned something new. There were also changes to the show that didn’t know like that “Val de Amour” got toned down. I don’t typically rewatch that number so I didn’t know about the changes, it’s not as racy as the pro-shot or the Italian version pro-shot. There are also little things with blocking noticed but I won’t go into specifics.

This is not my recording. I’m miserable at getting pictures as I just never think to get them in the moment. But this recoding of the curtain call is from the performance I attended. Also my seat was up in the 4th ring so I was very high up so it might have been it might good have been a good shot any way but I did unobstructed view because I was in row 1 so I could see whole stage.

If I ever see show again I will try to get a picture from the curtain call. Also also at points in the show spotlights sweep over the audience and one at the end of “Vivre” went pretty much into my eyes and probably everyone else in my area too.

My Notre Dame de Paris haul picture image
My Notre Dame de Paris haul

Also of course there was merch. The merch included shirts, a mug, a tote, a poster, a keychain and a book. There could have been more but those items are what I remember.

At first I was like “Nah I don’t need stuff.” Then by intermission I decided to get the book and then like two minutes after that I impulsively got the Belle shirt. I sort of regret not getting the tote bag but I thought it was a little small for my purposes. Whatever. It’s fine.

Has seeing the show rekindled my interested in the show? A little bit yeah.