The Hunchback of Notre Dame - NYMT - Manchester 2021

Oooooh!

Completely forgot about this. I haven't had a trip up to Manchester for a very long time and after listening to the 2016 cast recording just now, it's prompted me to get a RV ticket for the Saturday matinee. Should be a great afternoon's entertainment and a way of supporting up and coming MT talent.

BurlyBeaR, just had a quick look at my ticket and it's just a "sit anywhere in that section" rather than a specific seat. I think it's going to be a case of get there early for a good seat.

I'd been keeping an eye on this one, wasn't sure if it would happen with everything going on but I'm glad it is. It's been on my wishlist for ages and surely this is the best version we're going to get until a fully staged version appears in London. The cathedral setting is going to be wonderful.

I've booked for the Friday matinee, one of the partial RV ones. I'll just get there early and elbow the slow folks out of the way 🤣

I suspect it’s standing given the footsteps and the fact that they’ve called it the Promenade. 

"These seats have quite a restricted view due to the columns. However customers are welcome to sit and or walk around these 2 areas as if in promenade."

Will do! Online says 10pm so it’s looking like a 50 minute wait at Victoria, then a transfer at Piccadilly for me 😆 hoping it finishes a bit earlier.

First of all thank you to Burly for giving me his seat for tonight (I went front row). And what a fantastic group of performers! The young lady playing Esmeralda was the stand out by far and has a crystal clear voice.

The entire show is very inclusive and has a designated BSL person on the stage, though other performers sign throughout.

At the beginning the stage director (I think?) came out onto the stage with both actors who play Quasimodo, one who is deaf, to sing Heavens Light, with the deaf lad signing it and the other singing. The lad who performed tonight has a gorgeous voice and can belt like crazy. He looked desperate and sometimes shouted like a child, and in other scenes seemed so sure of himself. The performers acting as the walls of stone complimented him perfectly.

Frollo was very talented and was always looking down on Quasi, who funnily enough didn’t hunch his back? You could really feel how swayed he was by Esmeralda. Phoebus was too brilliant and I loved his scenes, and the captain who played with him.

Another standout for me was the lady playing Klopin! She is so confident on that stage and she shone throughout. The ensemble and choir sounded so beautiful with the echo in the cathedral. Few mic issues here and there, but nothing too bad.

The cathedral setting was gorgeous and honestly felt scary at parts, what with the use of dark lighting and candles. Such a great atmosphere. My favourite part of the whole show was the song Esmeralda. The woman sat next to me took many photos and videos which was quite distracting, but I’m too shy to tell someone off. I think her daughter was in the show (no sure if that makes it okay).

Some of the costumes were a bit strange and almost gothy with Cheyonne looking like a punk. He also played the acoustic in one scene. In topsy turbulent one actor has two traffic cones with lights on the end acting as his breasts!

Came out of the cathedral at 22:07. No physical programmes available but there is a QR code you can scan as you enter. There are no toilets so you have to used the ones in The Mitre just outside.

Overall I enjoyed the show but I didn’t love it for some reason. I’d definitely recommend catching it if you can though, even just for the experience of seeing it in an actual cathedral.

Glad the read the positive review, really looking forward to this later today (even if I have just accidentally paid for 2 days of car parking... Great start to the day!) 🤣

Saw it last night. Wonderful production in a fantastic setting. Frollo was the best for me but the two guys playing Quasimodo were excellent. Great use of sign language throughout by many if not all of the cast. Orchestra sounded superb and the overall sound a d balance was very good. So glad we got tickets.