Review: HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME a Brilliant Miracle

Once in a very rare moment do you see community art shine, shine like a diamond in the rough, shine like nothing you could have hoped to find there. Rarely can one expect to find New York quality shows in a space outside of the great white way, perhaps Boston or Chicago. Not Broward, never Broward. Some blessings reach far, in the figure of Patrick Fitzwater and Slow Burn Theatre, opening their bright new season with a shock. Under a very exclusive contract, Fitzwater and his team are premiering The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a Disney produced show with only four productions ever produced. The score is one of the most challenging and daunting ever written, the characters dark as Victor Hugo's original novel, and technical nightmares never seen in south Florida. Somehow, through the magic of his performers (and a full choir), Fitzwater puts on a premiere that rivals New York, a show that most have never seen before, certainly one of the greatest productions the state has ever seen.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a musical only produced by Disney- it is billed as 'A new musical based on the Victor Hugo novel and songs from the Disney film'. While the music and lyrics are Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, as the 1990s film was, the show is immensely darker. Quasimodo, deaf from the hearty ringing of the bells, speaks with a heavy slur, cowers in pain through a majority of the show. Frollo's background is fleshed out, his reasons clearer. The ending is darker and more grim than many audiences will anticipate.

Director Fitzwater is an evil genius with his new Broward Center for the Performing Arts space. In a joint decision with music director Caryl Fantel and Sound Designer Rich Szczublewski, Fitzwater has installed a choir of twenty voices around and above audiences, giving an auditory experience of being in Quasimodo's cathedral. The experience is chilling, until it becomes haunting, even cathartic as the plot rots at your heart.

From the first ringing of the bells, the choir voices give rise to the most beautifully scored performance the space has seen to date. With an entire cast totaling thirty-three, and written parts necessitating the multitudes, the group numbers grow beyond their choir beginnings to something indescribable. As the show grips your emotions, the effect of the choir heightens every stroke of feeling with an operatic drama. It is impossible to feel a slight way in any moment of the performance- everything must be grand as the vocalists.

Swinging from the bells is Bobby Cassell's Quasimodo, an actor whose growth cannot be measured and whose genius cannot be taught. It is rare that you can claim an actor gives Michael Arden a run for his money in sign language interpretation- Arden is the director of Deaf West's Spring Awakening revival, and the original Quasimodo. Cassell, inspired by the original actor, has improved upon every aspect- his Quasimodo is a tragic light, a pure innocence on the stage who splits between his cursed slur and clear voice to the gargoyles with adept precision. Sympathies for a character so disformed and broken are the show's crux- Cassell begs, demands for audiences to weep at his very existence. When he breaks the slur into song, his tenor carries over the choirs, into the heart, deep into the mind to pull you to tears. His performances in 'Out There', 'Heaven's Light', and 'Made of Stone' are as unforgettable as this show can get. Cassell's role cannot be understated- he is everything in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, bringing it from professional theatre to inspiring theatre.

At his side is a Slow Burn staple, Matthew Korinko as the evil Frollo. Korinko's performance is dark, grittier than Patrick Page ever hoped to be. His strong baritone sends goosebumps as his moral corruption develops, a tale that leaves a deep sickness. Only Korinko could manage to stand next to Cassell's strength in 'Sanctuary' and manage to stay above. There's more fear for the unexpected cruelty in his Frollo than one could see in a production of Sweeney Todd.

The tradition love story is told through Shenise Nunez and Landon Summers, as Esmerelda and Phoebus. Nunez' performance doesn't ever stray too far into the caricature Disney expectations, but keeps realistic and beautiful with the poise of sophistication. Nunez's voice is an instrument, sharp and precise. Her duet with Cassell, 'Top of the World', is one of the show's best numbers (which is saying something vocally). Her Esmerelda is more mature, wise in her years, and matches well with Summers pomp. Summers is a typical lover-type, with the clean voice and nice hair, who does everything right to give weight to 'Someday'. Rounding out the main cast is Trev Whittaker's Clopin, who many remember as the ridiculous jester-hatted king from the film. Whittaker takes the role in strange new directions, with a well-trained voice that puts the role into a well-planned silliness that feels well at ease with the king of the gypsies. Whittaker delivers some of the only light-hearted moments the show spares audiences, making his performance in dire need of sincerity- Whittaker has it covered with a smile and a wink.

Along with the eighteen person choir, Fitzwater's cast of ten 'Congregants' is a burst of movement and auditory delight. Familiar faces from last season, Cameron Jordan, Stephanie Trull, Rick Pena, and Cristina Flores mix with newcomers like Joshua Kolb and Kyle Ashe Wilkinson to create an installed ensemble that rotates between Cassell's gargoyles, Gypsies, soldiers, a voice of reason, and a voice of destruction. Their omnipresence balances the gorgeous cast into an efficient machine, a machine of unbelievable vocal strength and performance.

Fitzwater's tech team is as flawlessly efficient as ever, with Sean McClelland's gorgeous design providing an interior to Quasimodo's cathedral that works criminally well with Becky Montero's lighting. Montero layers the mirrored glass window against the open doors, fog effects, and stage action so her design is so multi-faceted one forgets a stage is in front of them. Her effects are so excellently executed that reality is imitated.

Regular Slow Burn costumer Rick Pena (yes, also a performer) has outdone himself. Outfitting all thirty ensemble in a pious white frock, and preparing crisp and contrasting outfits for each of the groups represented. The stage is alive, with the fantastic levels Disney audiences came to see, now with a touch of grimey French truth. Pena's planning has never come out looking so clean, so bright in the visuals.

There are rarely shows in which a stage manager gets noticed, but Britni Serrano's consistently moving set pieces, props, costume changes, and opening night difficulties (shout out to Whittaker, Nunez, and the cast- what you didn't isn't possible for that ten minute stretch) pressed her to deliver, and as she always has, Serrano kept Hunchback moving at the fast and gruesome pace it needed.

Gruesome is an understatement, for those expecting Disney story to come from the author of Les Miserables. From Cassell's torture, both in stutter and actual beatings, to the sexual connotations and original ending, there is no true joy to be found in 1482 Notre Dame. The laughs can be counted on one hand. The drama never wears thin, with Fitzwater's brutal pacing and Fantel's quick conducting. The drama just grows to tragedy, on an emotional, personal level. Bring children at your own risk.

There isn't a more well-crafted show available to Florida audiences, one boasting a cast and execution that tops all that have come before. It truly is Broadway in your backyard, a production criminally under-priced for the spectacle audiences have in-store. Fitzwater has struck a show that will be whispered about for years, thanks to Cassell and his cast, and the Slow Burn technical team's efficiency. Slow Burn's Hunchback of Notre Dame is simply the best show South Florida has ever seen.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame runs at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts from Oct.22nd-Nov. 6th. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.

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