The sense of an ending in The Hunchback of Notre Dame: A conversation with Sarah Langford and Nicholas Cunha

Abstract

In this article, I discuss with Sarah Langford and Nicholas Cunha their new production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, an adaptation that brings together Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel and music from Gary Trousdale’s and Kirk Wise’s Disney classic (1996). A succession of adaptations, including hits like Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella (2015) and Bill Condon’s Beauty and the Beast (2017) and the musicals Aladdin (2011), Newsies (2011) and Frozen (2017), has brought new life to Disney features. In this climate, the Toronto-based Wavestage Theatre Co.’s production of Hunchback offers a significant departure through its incorporation of the darker elements from Hugo’s original. This musical’s concerns regarding (in)tolerance, desire and diversity make it especially resonant. In what follows, Langford, Cunha and I discuss the process of producing this musical, how it reads Quasimodo and his love for Esmeralda and the Archdeacon Dom Claude Frollo and how Hunchback speaks to today’s audiences.