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Frollo Onstage
[The information below is mostly
from Karen Lewis. Some of it is old and out-of-date.]
MUSICALS
Der Gloeckner von Notre Dame -Disney's latest theatrical
adaptation, which premiered in Berlin on 5 May 1999.
FrolloZone's English-language information
page on the musical
Disneyland and Walt Disney World: From 1996 through
to 1998 Disney had TWO different stage shows going on in California
and Florida - our roving Frolloite Christine D. (FSM #2) visited
both versions and here are her reviews!. The WDW "Hunchback of Notre-Dame"
Stage Show has been faithfully chronicled by Irene Levy - click
to go to Frollo Photos
or Clopin at MGM
Studios. The Disneyland Festival of Fools has had two chroniclers,
MsFrollo and Gypsy Clopin! Go to MsF's
Page for Frollo photos; otherwise, head to Gypsy Clopin's
Festival
The lyricist Luc Plamondon and the composer Richard Cocciante
have written a musical version of Hugo's "Notre-Dame de Paris".
I've heard it and I approve - it has some catchy music and intelligent
lyrics, and has already spawned a host of Francophone fansites!
Here's a selection of the best:
Notre-Dame de Paris,
le site officiel - currently the biggest source of online
information for the French and English versions, including contact
email-addresses for the stars
Notre
Dame de Paris Cast Recording
Notre Dame Online - information
on the forthcoming London production
Notre Dame USA - the cast
list for the Las Vegas version
http://listen.to/notredame -
yummy video clips!
Multimania: Notre Dame
de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris: The
English site - a good base for US/UK fans
Entr'acte:
Notre-Dame de Paris - useful English information page
Check out the original production by Charles
Seymour Jr here! It includes photos of the cast (although
CS Jr's version of Frollo isn't nearly ugly enough to be the
real thing) and RealAudio sound files. (Recommended is the duet
by Phoebus and Jehan, "Women and Drink".)
Dennis De Young of "Styx" has also composed a version of "Hunchback"
available on CD! Visit:
Dennis
De Young's Hunchback (an exhaustive fansite with lyrics
and sound files)
The Official
DDY Hunchback Page (with an order form for the CD).
And here's "Quasimodo, Prince of Fools", a version by Michael
Rapp!
Michael
Rapp on MP3.COM - sound clips of his work, including "Quasimodo"
Highly recommended is Kathy Herder's Michael Rapp
site containing details of all his projects (in particular his
latest musical "Rasputin")
Contact Kathy for purchase details.
And here's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" by Elmer Hawkes: of
all the musical adaptations I've heard so far his strikes me
as being the most faithful to Hugo's original.
Official site, information
and .wav files
Hunchback
of Notre Dame (1997 Studio Cast) Cast Recording
-Particularly recommended on this page is Frollo's song "Alchemy".
And here's "Hunchback" a rock musical adaptation
by C. Rainey Lewis which premiered in Seattle. Here are the
lyrics for the Frollo songs:
"Shame"
"It's a Dirty Job"
[note: swearing inclusive]
"The Many Faces
Of Love"
There were a couple of copies left of the CD Hunchback
Cast Recording
the last time I checked.
Here's a review of Christopher Selbie's musical adaptation
of Hugo's story - be prepared, though, it contains the obligatory
attack on the Disney version....
In 1997 Minevera the FSM entered a drama contest using
Frollo's "cell" monologue to Esmeralda from "Notre-Dame de Paris":
click here for the text to her monologue.
OPERAS
La Esmeralda: Did you know Victor Hugo wrote a libretto
for an operatic adaptation of his own novel? It's true - the
composer was Louise Bertin, a niece of Hector Berlioz's, and
it was premiered in 1836. Click here
for a compilation of great Frollo moments, translated by your
humble servant, and a story so mangled it makes Disney look
reverent by comparison!
The composer Franz Schmidt did an operatic version, "Notre
Dame", in 1914. (Here's a
picture from a recent stage production.) One music lover who's
heard the score writes that "My main criticism would be that
it is a resolutely untheatrical piece - the plot is very simplified,
much of the picturesque detail and the large-scale set pieces
that make the novel such a joy are either passed over totally
or inadequately handled, the characterisation is cardboard and
the music for the most part fairly unmemorable. The comment
(in the 'Viking Book of Opera') that "too often the vocal lines
are merely tacked on to the expansive 'symphonic' music" seems
a fair one, indeed, rather over-generous." (My thanks to Christina West for
this info!)
The Israeli composer Dov Seltzer talks about his projected
opera "Esmeralda"
in this article from the Jerusalem Post Online
And Hunchback Fever hits Latvia in Zigmars Liepins's Notre-Dame de Paris,
complete with RealAudio and photos!
"Quasimodos Hochzeit", a German opera by Rainer
B�hm premiering in the Staatstheater in Cottbus. See also
a German interview with the composer here.
BALLETS
Northern Ballet Theatre in Britain began their 1998 season
with an adaptation of "The Hunchback
of Notre Dame" with music by Philip Feeney - visit the offical
site, or you could just click here
for my own review of the ballet ;-)
The CD came out in 2000 - Feeney:
Northern Ballet music from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
In September and October of 1999 the The
Atlanta Ballet revived this production: visit this site
for photos and RealAudio music clips!
Roland Petit choreographed "Notre-Dame de Paris" to music by
Maurice Jarre - for more information click here!
Cesare Pugni (1802-1870) also composed a ballet version entitled
"Esmeralda".
(Page in German)
Mohawk Valley Performing Arts company also produced a version
of "The
Hunchback of Notre Dame" in May 1998. Link no longer
operational.
DRAMAS
Yet *more* opportunities for you to practise your German
reading ;-)
Bayerische Schauspiel (based in Munich) produced Ulrich Zaum's
version of "Der
Gloeckner von Notre-Dame" - Frollo, a woman???
The Austrian company "TheatreAchse"'s version of "Der Gloeckner
von Notre-Dame" (I'm working on an English translation of
the producer's notes...)
The Rheinische Landestheater Neuss produced a version of "Der Gloeckner
von Notre-Dame", adapted from the original by Pierre Badan
"Ringaren
i Notre Dame", a Swedish school production. Worth a look
for the pictures alone
The Debut Theatre Players's Hunchback
of Notre-Dame, by Marci Ott, which was on briefly at the
Lincoln Center Mini Theatre
Markus
Keller's adaptation as performed by the Berner Freilicht
Theater
"Der
Gl�ckner von Notre-Dame" by Omega Theatre W�rzburg in
1995 and 1997
And a picture of Frollo (I think) from Landesbuehnen Hannover's Summer
1999 production!
In 1834, Edward Fitzball wrote "Esmeralda,
or the Deformed of Notre Dame," and thankfully, members
of the 21st century have entirely forgotten about it. The cast
list survives to this day.
A parody of "Esmeralda" appeared in 1861, proving
the popularity of the original. H. J. Byron named his creation
"Esmeralda, or the sensation goat!"
An English commedia dell'arte troupe, Ophaboom
Theatre, are touring Britain and France with their version
of "Hunchback". Guess who plans to go see it? :-) This French
page at Tour
Demain Productions contains a decent picture of the cast
in their Hunchback/commedia costumes.
Finally, here's information on "The
Grand Belfry", a 1999 Beijing Opera adaptation of Hugo's
work. (Frollo, a Eunuch?????)
(c) The Frollo Zone © 2007.
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