While looking through cast options I happened upon Aidan Turner as pick for Gringoire. At the time I was in watching Poldark, which is a great show, and thought why now look into this casting idea a little bit more.
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Recently I saw the touring cast of Hadestown. I went into the show blind which I wouldn’t recommend for myself again. I didn’t love the show as I was watching but after ruminating on it and listening to the songs again I’ve come around and I do very much enjoy the show and would defiantly see it again. Also the touring cast was amazing.
Now just because I like it doesn’t mean that Hadestown and Hunchback musicals (The Disney version/Notre Dame de Paris mainly) have much do with each other outside of being musicals and that I like them. However they’re a few similarities and parallels, more than I thought, and some are quite shallow while others are deeper.
Also both shows revolve around religious iconography.
Spoilers for the shows.
An Actor
The biggest connection between the Hadestown and a Hunchback musical is Patrick Page. Page originated both Frollo in the American version of the Disney musical at La Jolla and PaperMills Playhouse and Hades in Hadestown in both the workshops and in the original Broadway cast.
First he feared the Hellfire and then he become lord of it.
A Song
This is more is similarity. The second act of Hadestown opens with a song called “Our Lady of the Underground” which in truth is just a reminder because “Our Lady’ and “Notre Dame” have the same meaning and to have lyrics using “Our Lady” in a musical is a direct route in my mind for a connection.
HOWEVER there is an actual “Our Lady of the Underground” Notre Dame de Sous-Terre, it is a statue at Chartres. So it might be less of Notre Dame thing and more of the connection to that but on that pesky other hand, Anaïs Mitchell was inspired by Les Misérables and wouldn’t you know it, Victor Hugo wrote both Les Misérables and Hunchback of Notre Dame. So maybe it’s not a shallow connection after all.
Both shows also more or less exist because of Les Misérables. One exists in its shadow in North America and the other reveals in its shade, guess which one is which.
A Costume
Not that Esmeralda has monopoly on green costumes that use velvet and lace but if I see a green musical costume that uses those fabric I’m going to think of the original version of Esmeralda’s green dress & the Italian version of the green dress.
This is more of a reminder though an actual connection. Also in BOTH cases both green costumes are the act one costume and the Act 2 costume is more subdue and reflects the characters’ circumstances. For Esmeralda it is her being a prisoner and for Persephone it’s being in the Underworld/Hadestown as well as a strain of her marriage which is also messing everything up. Both characters are “trapped” so to speak.
Again this isn’t not a strong connection either, characters get costumes changes that reflect their mood/plot all the time but it’s at a “hmm that’s sort of interesting” similarity.
Swinging Set Pieces
Impressive set pieces in musicals is nothing new, it’s part of medium which adds spectacle and draws the audience into the experience.
Hadestown and Notre Dame de Paris both have swinging elements. Both are conical swinging metal pieces however I do think Hadestown does this better. In Notre Dame de Paris during “Les Cloches” there are three swinging bells over the stage that goes from side to side over the stage and are raised and lowered with a performer hanging from each them. This all done over the stage. It’s interesting and impressive but since it just exists over the stage space it doesn’t allow for the audience to participate, it’s spectacle.
In Hadestown during “Wait for Me,” as Orpheus goes into the underworld there are swinging lights that extend out across the stage over the audience, stage size and positing willing. There is some about shining lights into the audience from the stage that is intriguing. The swinging lights are very evocative especially since “Wait for Me” is one of the stand out songs of the show.
A Tragic Heroine
One to one, Esmeralda and Eurydice are very different in personality and temperament. However both ladies are worldly in that they have traveled widely without being able to lay down roots. For Eurydice she is lonely, hungry and homeless and goes from place to place to eke some kind of existence till she meets and marries Orpheus. Esmeralda is a traveler and she goes around Europe with her group led by Clopin until they reach Paris, hoping for that asylum.
In either case both ladies meet a tragic end. In Esmeralda’s case her death is more concrete and Eurydice’s is more debated. Did she die in the storm or the snake like the myth? What was the deal she made with Hades? All in all it doesn’t matter as the optics are both ladies meet a tragic end and the one who loves them the most follows them into the afterlife.
Also both ladies are likened to birds, Eurydice to a songbird and Esmeralda, in Notre Dame de Paris, to a swallow.
Also as a side tangent, in the original myth Eurydice dances through a meadow and Esmeralda is a dancer.
A Bard
Both Gringoire and Orpheus are poets. Orpheus is more of singer-songwriter but Hades does refers to him as a poet in “Hey, Little Songbird.” They are both poor and both marry the tragic heroine though Esmeralda does not love him.
Social Messages
As the story has evolved from the original book, Hunchback narratives tends to lean heavily toward social commentary. Many themes can be employed but the big one is social inequality for marginalized peoples. Notre Dame de Paris leaned into issues of its day with asylum seekers seeking “sanctuary” which is a part of the original story.
Hadestown also takes into account social issues into the narrative as well. The show also goes for the blight marginalized poor peoples who are very much exploited by the powerful, in this case literal Gods, as well as Global warming. One thing that is addressed a lot is that seasons are all wrong because of the Gods. Orpheus could be seen as tiring to fix the climate by fixing Hades and Persephone’s marriage as well as saving Eurydice who was taken to Hadestown because she was caught in a storm.
Thirteen Years
It took Anaïs Mitchell thirteen years to develop Hadestown from initial conception to the show opening on Broadway in 2019. Richard Cocciante had Belle as a melody thirteen years prior to the Notre Dame de Paris’ premier in Paris. I think I misunderstood the special that stated this information and wrongly thought the show was in development for thirteen years but from the subtitles it was more like five with just melody of existing thirteen years prior the show’s premier.
The Cruel Hand of the Fates
In Greek Mythology The Fates are three sisters: Clotho (the Spinner), Lachesis (the Allotter), and Atropos (the Inevitable). They are also called Moirai, personification of destiny.
In Hadestown the Fates are a greek chorus who are symbolize conscience, doubt and anxiety. They also hyper-fixate on Eurydice. They are antagonize her and defiantly seem to delight in her suffering. They also plague Orpheus at the climax with the song “Doubt Comes In” as the lovers walk out the underworld. These three ladies are very much personified intrusive thoughts.
The Fates in Hadestown act more like concept of Ananke which is a conceptual force in The Hunchback of Notre Dame however the connection is deeper. Ananke, in Orphic tradition,* is a Goddess and the mother of the Fates. She is the personification of inevitability, compulsion and necessity. Her Roman named is Necessitas.
So it does seem that the Fates in Hadestown act more like Ananke but “The Fates” are more accessible to a general audience plus the all harmonies they sings are sublime.
Then there is Notre Dame de Paris. As previously stated Ananke is a big aspect in the novel. It is the word that inspired Frollo and why Esmeralda didn’t fight back when Frollo dragged to the gibbet at the end of the novel for his final crazed ultimatum.
Notre Dame de Paris has two songs that apply to Ananke and Fate. One is called “Anarkia,” which is a short song that fills in some plot points. Basically “Anarkia” which is just written on a wall, like in the novel, Gringoire asks what the word means and Frollo exclaims it means “Fatality.” Which comes from the latin “fatalis” which means “decreed by fate,” so technically correct. Weird fact: the English version changes the word to “Anarchy” and Frollo says it means “Destiny” which is just wrong.
The second song involving the subject fate closes Act I and is aptly named “Fatalité.” It’s a very dramatic yet simple song that boils down to the point that fate/destiny doesn’t care if you’re a noble or a peasant; all life is her hands. Fate is said to be the “Mistress of our destinies” so it does harkens back to greek mythology.
Despite Ananke being an omnipotent atmospheric force in novel it’s relegated to only two songs and that is more than it gets in most other versions.
I do think that it would interesting to have a Notre Dame stage musical that leans into the concept of Ananke as a character, as in a combination of The Fates and Death from the Roméo + Juliet musical.
A River
And finally Dennis DeYoung, a founding member of Styx, wrote a Hunchback musical. Styx is the river of the underworld which is a in Hadestown. (perhaps this should be the next version for review)
I suppose there could be more connections and similarities between the musicals but that’s all for now.
*or Orphism, named for Orpheus
Christopher Gable as Gringoire
In many ways this version of Gringoire is on point with the book. He does pretty all the action in does in the book with the same attitude. He has a high opinion of himself with regards to his work, he does want Esmeralda but backs off when he rebukes with awkward attempt at seduction, he cowardice about dying for Esmeralda, he doesn’t want to die in her place. Although he didn’t steal Djali, would have been easy for him to do but he doesn’t. In fact he pretty damn callous in that scene since Esmeralda is begging not to leave and he like “laters.”
Christopher Gable as Gringoire
In fact this Gringoire is very callous at the end of the movie. After Gringoire makes off with Djali we don’t hear from him again but we hear that he went on to write tragedies, so happy ending for him. This version seeks to give the viewer closure on Gringoire, so after Frollo and Esmeralda die, Gringoire looks around at their bodies in the square and he says “And only I spared to tell the tale” then he smiles. At first before he says that line he does seem a little sad but the smiles after the line is said. It gives some credence to the story but it makes Gringoire look unlikable in this version. It does beg the question, was Gringoire unlikable in the book?
Christopher Gable as Gringoire
I’d say no. He was fairly relatable. He didn’t want Esmeralda to die but he didn’t want to die either plus he had no idea what Frollo’s motivation were regarding Esmeralda. But it’s amazing how that one line that the movie adds in to give Gringoire an ending made him look like such a jerk. It’s not even the line itself it that smile and the fact that right after said smile he says “there is a god in heaven.” Such a massive jerk-face.
Is there anything good about this version? And don’t say adherence to the book, many Hunchback versions adhere to the plot so they don’t have to add anything else to make it good for a visual medium.
I put a lot of thought into the pronouns for the subject line however there isn’t much to say on the characters’ characterizations, so we’re combining them into one post.
Ye Gringoire
Esmeralda & Gringoire, La Esmeralda, Kremlin Ballet Company, Moscow
As Phoebus is Esmeralda’s primary romances focus there isn’t that much for Gringoire to do especially in the second act. Gringoire does marry Esmeralda, tries REALLY hard to seduce her and helps out with her act. Basically he is her friend. He does seem to be a writer as evident but him holding paper in his first number.
One thing that confuses me and I’m sorry if I didn’t mention it before, Esmeralda marries Gringoire BEFORE meeting Phoebus. This means her rejecting him is less about being a naive girl who thinks she was in love with handsome soldier and is more about that she just isn’t into him. I don’t know but it seems less dramatic if you ask me, which no one did.
Back to Gringoire. His character seems to air on the side of comic relief. His numbers are light and almost fun. Esmeralda rebuffing him and indicating he would be hanged if he didn’t do as he was told were cute. Though he does try to something to Esmeralda when she was sleeping which is creepy, though he did do creepy things in the book, like spy on her through a keyhole so it’s not out of character but why would you have that but mess-up the order of the story. There are some weird decisions in this ballet.
He does seem like a good friend to Esmeralda. He tries and comforts her when she learns about Fleur de Lys and he gives her two hugs in the second act. Once right before the first execution attempt and a second right before she actually executed. Since there is no attack on Notre Dame to save her hugs are all he really does and maybe that is enough to show he cares.
Il Clopin
Clopin, La Esmeralda, Kremlin Ballet Company, Moscow
Clopin is definitely there. Since he looks like a pirate I would say that he is a leader of Court of Miracle- Leader of the Thieves and not the Duke of Egypt- Leader of the Romani. So many version combine the two characters and yet I’m pretty sure there was a third guy in that leader mix. Yet the text is confusing because it makes it seem like Clopin has all these titles, like Daenerys Targaryen, so reading the book I got confused and felt like an idiot that I would even think that Clopin wasn’t the Duke of Egypt but yes Clopin and the Duke are separate characters and there is a third guy, the Emperor of Galilee. Duke’s given name is Mathias Hungadi Spicali and the Emperor’s name is Gulillaume Rousseau. I do recall the duke being in the 1950’s version and the Jetlag version but no version has had a the Emperor of Galilee for good reason he is fat drunk who doesn’t do anything that I can recall.
Anyway back to this Ballet’s version of Clopin, I assume that is what they call him but I can’t read cyrillic so I don’t really know. While he doesn’t lead the attack on Notre Dame he does care for Esmeralda as evident by a hug he gives her in the second act.
He does try to hang Gringoire, which a one of Clopin’s tasks and oddly like the Disney movie he hosts the Pope of Fools crowning. Not much to him but he seems like a jovial guy in an eyepatch.
De Fleur de Lys
Fleur de Lys & Phoebus, La Esmeralda, Kremlin Ballet Company, Moscow
Fleur de Lys is a justifiable bitch, like in the 1956 version, I’m starting to see a little bit of a pattern. She loves Phoebus but her gives his love away to another girl. This metaphor is made clear by the scarf Fleur gives Phoebus which he gives to Esmeralda.
Unlike some other versions of Fleur, this version of her doesn’t help bring Esmeralda down or revel in her death. She is just sad and angry about Phoebus loving someone else but she does take him back without question and marries him. She is boring in this version and that is about it.
Terrance Zdunich
Let’s just say we live in a Fantasy world where they’re making a movie version of Notre Dame de Paris and it’s a better English translation of the musical. Who could we get to play Pierre Gringoire? One possibility I could see is Terrance Zdunich.
Terrance Zdunich
Zdunich isn’t a widely known actor but he was in a weird horror musical called Repo! The Genetic Opera which came out in 2008. I knew about it at the time since in 2008 I was a huge Sarah Brightman fan but I couldn’t bring myself to see because Paris Hilton was in the movie. Fast-Forward to 2016, I finally watched it because I was working on a list of seven horror musicals. It was really one those movies that I found to confusing to hate but is probably not a great movie I also was wrong about Paris Hilton, she was perfectly cast as a spoiled rich girl who addicted to surgery, needs drugs and isn’t a great performer, it’s a meta role. However what struck me was Zdunich as the Graverobber.
Terrance Zdunich as The Graverobber from Repo! The Genetic Opera
I mean just look at him in this movie and tell you can’t see him as Gringoire? There something about the styling of The Graverobber that is very reminiscent of Notre Dame de Paris. Zdunich’s mannerism are on par with a lot of Gringoire’s actors. Even the Zydrate Anatomy number is very similar in feeling to Val d’Amour.
But if you need more convincing just watch the Zydrate Anatomy part, which also features Paris Hilton.
Terrance Zdunich
But what do you think? Do you think Terrance Zdunich would make a good Gringoire à la Notre Dame de Paris?
Freddie Highmore
Sometimes these Hypothetical Casting posts get away from me. I have a habit of focusing more on the Esmeraldas and the Frollo options that sometimes the minor character don’t get that much attention. That’s why it’s great to be reminded, I want to thank Skylar for the suggestion of Freddie Highmore for Gringoire.
Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates
So let’s talk about Freddie Highmore. From a acting stand point, I’m more familiar with his work as a child actor like in Finding Neverland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. However he was decent in both those movies. He seemed to be a better than average child actor. Now that he is grown up so has his acting. I did watch some of The Bates Motel and his acting prowess is in no question. He can act.But that isn’t the question. The Question is, would Highmore make a good Gringoire? That is a hard question because like our old friend Phoebus, Gringoire is another character that can be a hero, a coward, a verbose poet, there in the background, or not there at all. So like Phoebus, actors with a range are more preferable, and yes Highmore does have a range.
Freddie Highmore
Of course the REAL question is does Highmore have the right look for Gringoire? As you may have guess, looking the role isn’t the end all be all, make-up and costumes can work wonders and often looks are ignored. Plus Gringoire’s looks really aren’t that important to his character. So why should it be important? Well gotta have something to go on but Highmore does have a good look for the way Gringoire looks in the book. He is describes as “all, thin, pale, fair, young still, although already wrinkled in the brow and cheeks, with two brilliant eyes and a smiling mouth…” So yeah I think Highmore fits that look really well, a little too well.
Freddie Highmore
Someone cast Freddie Highmore as Gringoire right now! But what do you think? Highmore for Gringoire?
Pierre
Pierre or as he more commonly known in Hunchback, Gringoire, has a lot of diversity in terms of the roles he can plays in Hunchback adaptations. He can be comic relief, the hero that saves Esmeralda or just the story teller. He is a bit like Phoebus whereas he can easily be a hero or a villain pending on the movie. Secret of the Hunchback use of Gringoire or Pierre isn’t that different but combines him as comic relief and hero. Also a you MIGHT have noticed, there is no Phoebus character and typically if Phoebus isn’t in the movie or has a tiny role, Gringoire is the hero.
Esmeralda and Pierre
For Gringoire to be the hero in a Hunchback movie he has to be Esmeralda’s love interest, which he is version. However his bad poetry in his first sense makes a comic relief. He also doesn’t do all that much to save the day, Quasimodo does most of the “work” i.e swings down and stops a wedding but Pierre helps and does “rescue” Esmeralda from Frollo once after the pillory scene. So he fit nicely into his two roles.
Quasimodo and Pierre
Now, that being said how is as a character and how does he stack up next to his book counterpart? As far as he is in this version, he’s a nice guy, that’s pretty much it. He’s nice to Quasimodo and is his pal. This doesn’t make him compelling or interesting but his bad poetry at least made him enjoyable, so gets a pass from him. He also isn’t that much like he is in the book. In the book Gringoire was a cowardly whiner who still wasn’t that great a writer, so they got one thing right about him. But to be fair, getting Gringoire’s characterization right isn’t the most important thing about adapting this story.
Pierre
Also I just want to add that Pierre is a Protestant in this version. Which was for the sake of a joke.
Esmeralda and friends
Next Time The Goons Esmeralda travels with
Let us start off the character potion of the review with Quasimodo or the Hunchback in question.
Quasimodo
First off this Quasimodo, like other Quasimodos, he talks to his pals the stone gargoyles. However these Garagoyles don’t take back they sing back and cry. This begs the question Are they real or imaginary. The dream song part leads me to believe yes they are imaginary but the tears say no they are real. Or is Quasimodo is imaging they are crying for him but that seems a little too out there for this kind of movie.
Quasimodo and Pierre
Also this Quasimodo follows the other versions of being solely nice. He has one cheeky remark on Gringoire’s poetry being so bad that it could hurt someone but that is it. Which is more snarky than any other versions but it wasn’t that mean, just for a laugh at Gringoire’s expense. Still without that one minor throw away joke he would have been 100% bland nicety-nice. The line give a .3% edgy factor. Good job!
Quasimodo and Frollo
Basic plot of Hunchback plot says that meany-face Frollo raises Quasimodo when Quasimodo is a young baby. This version forgoes this and he is raised by unnamed Archdeacon and a monk dude.
Other versions where Frollo is separte from his role as the Archdeacon still gives him a relationship to Frollo for drama . Even the Enchanted Tales version gave Quasimodo and Frollo or whatever his named was in that crappy version, a connection of being brother. Oh Good God! I’m looking at the Enchanted Tales version as a positive, help me. So there is no real internal conflict for Quasimodo aside from being ugly aside from that is pretty chill and laid back.
Quasimodo
Would I say this Quasimodo is boring? Yes, I would. Aside from that joke about Gringoire’s poetry and the being an angel, he was a weak Quasimodo. No pathos, no drama just a nice angel. Also his deformity is paint by numbers. It’s all accounted for but not interesting really all I can say is that it looks like he has some major dark circles. At least he REALLY likes the bells.
Quasimodo in Angel form
Ok one more thing, in this version Quasimodo is an angel, so does that he born an angel and abandoned because of the ugliness? OR was always an angel and his being abandon part of a plan? Or was he never an angel and insane? I don’t know any option makes sense.
Next Time Esmeralda
Esmeralda
To get ready for Black Friday/Cyber Monday and Christmas the Hunchback characters are doing a secret santa.
Quasimodo picked Frollo and got him Opteka 650-2600mm High Definition Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
Esmeralda picked Clopin and got him Southpole Men’s Marled Full-Zip Hoodie Sweatshirt
Frollo picked Fleur-de-Lys and got her a Selfie Stick
Ben Sherman Novelty Socks
Phoebus picked Quasimodo and got him Ben Sherman Novelty Socks
Gringoire picked Master Florain and got him Plant Theatre Herb Garden Seed Kit 
Clopin picked Sister Gudule and got her Zalman King’s Red Shoe Diaries Movie #15: Forbidden Zone
Outdoor Gargoyle statue
Fleur-de-Lys picked Notre Dame de paris and got her Design Toscano Florentine Gargoyle Statue
Jean picked Djali and got her Caution Attack Goat Sign
Sister Gudule picked Phoebus and got him 1 X Snowman Mug w/ Shovel Spoon – Christmas Decor
Djali picked Esmeralda and got her Quiddler
Notre Dame de Paris picked Gringoire and got him Une Nuit De Noel a Notre Dame De Paris CD
Master Florain picked Jean and got him Corkcicle Chillsner Beer Chiller
Few things in Hunchback are a terrifying as bad version of Hunchback. There are actually many awful version of this story either though laziness of acting, writing production values, editing and directing but there is one version that takes it such a degree that it truly the stuff of Nightmares.
I of course mean the Dingo version. Doesn’t Djali look evil?
Esmeralda and Djali with Gringoire, Dingo Hunchback of Notre Dame
I mean just look at that, that is crap never known to the world before. One has to work to be so lazy, so bad. It someways it like a weird surreal art piece, some commentary of the human condition to wonder at the odd and sincere. To reveal in the discourse of humanity. It is true terror, or just lazy pile of shit.
We’ll get more in more into the Dingo version later, I’m too scared to review it after a month of scary stuff.
So for the next version let’s look at another infamously bad version of Hunchback.
Gargoyles sing to Quasimodo, The Secret of the Hunchback
More singing Gargoyles? This going to give me nightmare too.