Victor Hugo’s classic tale of a deformed orphan and the tempestuous gypsy who wins his love while inflaming the lustful heart of the Catholic priest who raised him comes to musical life in PCPA Solvang’s mostly quite effective under-the-stars staging of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame marred only by a weak link in the romantic quadrangle that propels it.

Parents of Disney-age kiddies should make no mistake. With none of the 1996 Disney flick’s five screenwriters involved, nearly two-thirds of the Menken-Stephen Schwartz songs new to the stage musical, and only a few of the film’s central conceits making the cut (say adieu to gargoyles Victor, Hugo, and LaVerne), this “new musical based on the Victor Hugo novel and songs from the Disney film” is no child-friendly Beauty And The Beast-style adaptation of a Disney classic.

 Narrated by George Walker’s Clopin, a back-story quite distinct from the Disney flick introduces us to Quasimodo (Nick Tubbs) as the orphaned son of chief villain Claude Frollo’s (Erik Stein) younger brother Jehan (Sam Bravo) and his gypsy lover Florika (Méami Maszewski).

 Hunchback The Musical does follow the movie as regards the sultry Esmeralda (Amani Dorn), introducing us to the seductive gypsy during Quasimodo’s excursion to the annual Festival Of Fools, where our deaf hero also makes the acquaintance of Captain Phoebus (Jeff Salsbury) and soon finds himself competing with the handsome soldier for Esmeralda’s affection.

Meanwhile, Frolo’s lust for the gypsy temptress not only smolders, it ranks tops among reasons for parents of preteens to hire a babysitter before heading off for a night at the theater.

Menken/Schwartz fans can rejoice that almost all of the film’s original songs remain including “Out There,” “Somewhere,” and “God Help The Outcasts,” and at least some of the musical’s new songs prove memorable as well.

As for Peter Parnell’s book, it’s hard not to be gripped by this centuries-old underdog tale, whether witnessing Quasimodo’s public humiliation at the hands of an intolerant populace or seeing Esmeralda and her fellow gypsies demonized as sub-human. In other words, this is one musical likely to resonate with anyone who’s ever felt victimized by fear-induced prejudice.

 Director Brad Carroll stages imaginatively, taking full advantage of Jason Bolen’s cathedral-like thrust-stage set whose movable staircases keep things visually varied as does Jennifer ‘Z’ Zornow’s lighting design, bursting with vibrant colors whenever the gypsies take center stage, then dark and dank when inside Quaismodo’s cathedral world.

(A nifty touch is having staff-held gargoyle masks raised to reveal human faces whenever Quasimodo is around to chat, then lowered to become voiceless figures of stone when Frolo enters Quasi’s private world.)

Costume designer Eddy L. Barrows merits high marks for monastic robes removed to dramatic effect to reveal gypsy or church wear beneath, and sound designer Elisabeth Weidner and sound engineer Andrew Mark Wilhelm ensure an expert mix of amped voices and prerecorded tracks that sound almost as good as a live orchestra.

 There’s not a whole lot of dance in Hunchback, but Katie Fuchs-Wackowski scores choreographic points for the showstopping “Topsy Turvy,” a full-cast production number that has Paris’s entire gypsy population celebrating the Feast Of Fools.

 Casting the very young Nick Tubbs as Quasimodo proves an inspired choice, one that emphasizes the character’s vulnerability and naivete, and Tubbs delivers the dramatic, vocal goods in a performance that wins and breaks hearts.

 Salsbury’s boyishly heroic Phoebus, Stein’s shades-of-gray twisted Frolo, and Walker’s full-of-panache Clopin are terrific as well, and the Hunchback ensemble—Mollee Barse (Gypsy, Reveler, Citizen), Jesse Baxter (Reveler, Citizen), Brian Bohlender (Soldier, Reveler, Citizen), Bravo (Jehan, Soldier, Statue), Leo Cortez (Louis XI, Statue, Gypsy), Molly Dobbs (Reveler, Citizen), Jonathan Fierros (Gypsy, Reveler, Citizen), Tim Fullerton (Gentleman, Gargoyle, Official), Natalie Graham (Statue, Gypsy), Kyle Green (Reveler, Citizen), Katie Gucik (Gargoyle, Gypsy), Parker Harris (Soldier, Reveler, Citizen), Carley Herlihy (Gypsy, Reveler), Sam Lariviere (Statue, Gypsy, Soldier), Antwon D. Mason Jr. (Fredric, Statue), Maszewsk (Florika, Gargoyle, Gypsy), A.J. Morales (Gargoyle, Gypsy, Soldier), Zach Padlo (Gypsy, Reveler, Citizen), Andrew Philpot (Gentleman, Statue, St. Aphrodisius), and Allison Rich (Madame, Gargoyle, Gypsy)—not only execute multiple tracks and costume changes but do so with gorgeous harmonies (kudos shared with musical director Paul Marszalkowski) and gusto.

Which brings me to Dorn, whose voice is neither up to Esmeralda’s Broadway-caliber soprano demands nor are her moves those that would (in Frolo’s words) scorch souls, turn men into sin, and sear flesh and bone, and because so much of Hunchback depends on Frolo’s lust, Phoebus’s smittenness, and Quasimodo seeing her as a romantic ideal and not as the mother he has lost, key songs and scenes don’t work as they should.

Ellen Beltramo is production stage manager.

 There is much to recommend in PCPA Solvang’s The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, not the least of which are some of the most gorgeous Alan Menken melodies ever. Though not quite the production I was hoping for, there is still much to recommend a trip up Solvang way. Just be sure to leave kids twelve and under at home. Disney’s Hunchback this is not.

Solvang Festival Theater, 420 2nd Street, Solvang.
www.pcpa.org

–Steven Stanley
June 19, 2018
Photos: Luis Escobar Reflections Photography Studio

Tags: Alan Menken, PCPA Theaterfest, Santa Barbara County Theater Review, Stephen Schwartz, Victor Hugo