Mr and Mrs Hugo

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Victor Hugo picture image

Victor Hugo

Portrait of Adele Hugo by Gemaelde von Louis Boulanger image

Portrait of Adele Hugo by Gemaelde von Louis Boulanger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victor Hugo married the girl next door, Adèle Foucher. Hugo’s mother, Sophie, was against the match but after her death he married Adèle  on October 14 1822. They had five children together. In 1830,  after their youngest daughter (named Adèle ) was born  the elder Adèle told Hugo that  she didn’t want anymore children which was code for no more sex. Both Hugo and the Adèle took lovers.  However it was the expulsion from Adèle bed’s that was the inspiration for Phoebus‘ tragic fate of getting married Notre Dame de Paris.

 

Further Reading

– Victor Hugo: A Biography
– Love Letters of Great Men: The Collection of Love Letters Drawn from by Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex in the City”
– Hugo: The Strange Life and Visions of Victor Hugo

Hunchback Music Video with Bella

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A Fan Music Video using Disney’s Hunchback with the Italian version of Belle (Bella) from Notre Dame de Paris. Singers (in order) Giò Di Tonno (Quasimodo), Vittorio Matteucci (Frollo), Grazino Galatone (Febo/Phoebus)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3AiK1vLJ3o

More Asian Tour Pictures

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Fan-Art Friday Pokemon Edition

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This weekend is Otakon, which is the largest Anime Convention on the East Coast of the USA (and I’m attending), I though this Fan-art Friday I would use Pokemon in the Belle staging (with some liberties) from Notre Dame de Paris.

Pokemon performing Belle Notre dame de Paris picture image

Pokemon performing Belle Notre dame de Paris made by me

Esmeralda – Bellossom
Quasimodo – Snubbull
Frollo – Gengar
Phoebus – Rapidash

Notre Dame de Paris Silliness and Mistakes

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Helene Segara & Patrick Fiori with Dancers being silly in an Elevator Notre Dame de Paris picture image

Helene Segara, Patrick Fiori & some of the dancers being silly in an Elevator

Here are some Funny add-in to Notre Dame de Paris and some Mistake. Though I’m sure there are a lot more of these incidences that occurred in all the many different casts.

During Tentative d’enlèvement Phoebus sings “Je suis le capitaine chargé de la sécurité” (“I am the captain in charge of security” ), in the last performance the word “SECURITY” was written on Patrick Fiori chain mail. source

During a performance of  La volupté the bed was covered with condoms. source

During Tentative d’enlèvement in a performance, Fiori replaced Esmeralda’s knife with a comb . source

During the song Je reviens vers toi Fiori instead of singing “au fond de moi c’est toi que j’aime encore” (From the depths of me, it’s you I still love) he sang “au fond de toi c’est moi que j’aime encore” (From the depths of you it’s me I still love). source

In the London production during The Bird they put in Cages Garou instead of ” do they birds they put in cages” he accidently starts to sing “do the children they put in cages” source

More Asian Tour Cast Pictures

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Enjoy

Do you think that the Asian Tour cast will turn in to World Tour Cast? I think they might.

Asian Tour 2012 pictures

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More Pictures of the 2012 Asian Tour Cast of Notre Dame de Paris  

Artist, Poet, Sidekick?; A Review of the 1923 version of Gringoire

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Gringoire (Raymond Hatton) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Gringoire (Raymond Hatton) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

Gringoire wears many hats in the realm of Hunchback adaptations. Sometimes he the hero, sometimes the narrator, sometimes he is the comic relief and sometimes he is not even there. In the 1923 version in addition to being comic relief, Gringoire is Phoebus’s side kick. That’s right in order to justify Gringoire  being in the movie they made him more or less Phoebus’ sidekick. As Gringoire spends more screen time with Phoebus and doesn’t even speak to Esmeralda.

 

Gringoire (Raymond Hatton) & Phoebus (Norman Kerry) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Gringoire (Raymond Hatton) & Phoebus (Norman Kerry) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

 

Gringoire’s only function in the movie is acting as a liaison between Phoebus and Esmeralda. Gringoire’s  introduction is thrown in during the feast of Fools and all he really does is make does reaction shots to Quasimodo. The next time we see him is when he gets in trouble with the Court of Miracles. In this version no marriage takes place instead Esmeralda orders the Court to let him go. After that Gringoire starts acting as the middle man for Esmeralda and Phoebus.  In one scene he delivers a message to Phoebus from Esmeralda. Phoebus then awards him with food but Phoebus’ constant joy keeps preventing Gringoire from eating. The scene is enjoyable and funny and it is unfortunately Grigoire most memorable scene. After that he tells Phoebus Esmeralda is in Notre Dame and didn’t hang and we see him at the end where is happy that everything worked out for the lovers.

 

Gringoire (Raymond Hatton) & Phoebus (Norman Kerry) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Gringoire (Raymond Hatton) & Phoebus (Norman Kerry) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

Beyond his comic/sidekick role, Gringoire doesn’t have much of personality. He is a poet, he likes food  and hates to die. So I guess in this  capacity he like the book version. Unfortunately I think this role could have been easy removed from the movie. If there is no marriage their is little point to the Court of Miracle scene. That scene and Gringoire were only in the movie because they tried very hard to maintain the book and even when the movie went in a different direction they still tried and still and more less failed.

 

Gringoire (Raymond Hatton) & Dom Claude (Nigel de Brulier) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Gringoire (Raymond Hatton) & Dom Claude (Nigel de Brulier) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

 

If Gringoire wasn’t Phoebus‘ sidekick there would be nothing for him to do and the movie tries to keep almost detrimentally close to the book. The film good have eliminated him and it really wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

 

Gringoire (Raymond Hatton) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame image picture

Gringoire (Raymond Hatton) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

 

Next Time – Dom Claude

Dom Claude (Nigel de Brulier) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Dom Claude (Nigel de Brulier) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

Romantically Dull; A Character Review of the 1923 Version of Phoebus

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Phoebus (Norman Kerry) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Phoebus (Norman Kerry) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

Phoebus in the 1923 version of  The Hunchback Notre dame is one of the few Phoebus that gets a bit of a character arc like in the book. In the book after getting stab he more or less gives up his cheating ways and dedicates himself to his Fiancée Fleur de Lys and submits to the tragedy of marriage.

 

Phoebus (Norman Kerry) revealing Esmeralda's bare shoulder (Patsy Ruth Miller) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame image picture

Phoebus (Norman Kerry) revealing Esmeralda’s bare shoulder (Patsy Ruth Miller) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

In this version, Phoebus, after saving Esmeralda from the kidnapping attempt tries to seduce her but he is moved by her sweetness and innocence that his desire turns to true love. And with that Phoebus becomes the romantic hero who tries to marry her even though she is not in he same social class as him.

 

Phoebus (Norman Kerry) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Phoebus (Norman Kerry) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

Besides being in love and getting stab by Not-Frollo (Jehan), Phoebus doesn’t do that much within the overall plot. He does reinforce that whole class system which the movie makes into a sub-plot but he himself is not bothered by it, so it’s not issue for him as a character. He does have a few amusing scenes with Gringoire and some overdramatic bits but other than he’s pretty dull.

Phoebus (Norman Kerry) and Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Phoebus (Norman Kerry) and Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

 

Really his biggest purpose in the film is getting stab and giving Esmeralda a happy ending. Much like Not-Frollo, Phoebus is pretty dull when he turns into a romantic hero, he was was more interesting when he was being smarmy.

Phoebus (Norman Kerry) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Phoebus (Norman Kerry) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame

Next Time – Clopin

Clopin (Ernest Torrence) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Clopin (Ernest Torrence) 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame