The real monster is not who you think: “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” at Roxy’s Downtown

Most of us are more familiar with the “kid’s version” of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” — that is, the 1996 Walt Disney Animation Studios movie of the same name. But the musical, on stage at Roxy’s Downtown through September 7, hews closer to the original, considerably darker 1831 novel by Victor Hugo. You’ll notice the difference when Kyle Vespestad’s character Frollo appears on stage, apparently ready to kill his brother’s malformed and illegitimate child.

If you harbor any religious trauma, consider this your trigger warning.

On Saturday afternoon, I settled into my high-top table seat with a cold Stella and a delicious pretzel and queso appetizer from Roxy’s kitchen. I adore this venue, which is nestled in the heart of downtown Wichita.  The longtime professional dinner theater stages reliably high-quality theater year-round. As a bonus, the excellent service staff always makes you feel like a valued guest.  If you arrive minutes from showtime or late, you will be asked to enter from Douglas Avenue, which requires climbing some stairs. Otherwise, Roxy’s main entrance is behind the building, alley-side. An elevator is available, and seats on the lower level are accessible to people with physical disabilities.    

Under the direction of  Rick Bumgardner with musical direction by Simon Hill, the audience is transported to the Notre Dame cathedral high above the bustling streets of Paris, France, set to music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Steven Schwartz. A 12-person choir flanks the stage throughout the production, accompanied by an orchestra composed of “some of the city’s most talented musicians,” per a playbill note from Bungardner and Hill. 

The musical prologue explains that, decades earlier, priests at Notre Dame took in two orphaned brothers, Jehan and Claude Frollo. Claude remained pious and eventually achieved the rank of archdeacon. The risk-taking Jehan (Gavin Tanner), however, was expelled from the cathedral after he was caught with a Romani woman (in the musical, as in the novel, Romani characters are called gypsies, an offensive term).

One day, Frollo received a letter from his outcast brother requesting a secret meeting. On his deathbed, Jehan gave Frollo custody of his deformed child, “a monster.” As Frollo prepared to kill the “unholy demon,” he suddenly felt as though God was testing him. He named the child Quasimodo, or half-formed, and locked “the foul creature” in the bell tower for “no one else to see.” 

In Scene 1, Quasimodo, also played by Gavin Tanner, is now a young man whose only true friends and confidantes are a couple of stone statues, charmingly personified by Roberta Wilkes and Ted Dvorak, both of whom play multiple roles in the show. Quasimodo passionately sings about his desire to “spend one day out there” among his people during the annual Feast of Fools, emphasizing the dichotomy between Paris society and the “gypsy vermin” who walk amongst the other freaks, geeks, and criminals. 

Quasimodo humbly asks Frollo if he can attend the festivities, offering to protect him on the Paris streets, because he is “very strong.” But Frollo tells Quasimodo that he will be shunned if he goes out in public. Frollo, “his master,” explains that the only place he will ever be safe is in his sanctuary. The scene sets the tone for Quasimodo’s plight and Frollo’s villainy. Kyle Vespestad, a well-known and celebrated local comedic actor, is convincing as the straight-faced and  serious Frollo. His deep voice and dominating physical presence juxtaposed against Gavin Tanner’s youthful yet hunched posture has a strong visual impact. Tanner’s deft portrayal of  Quasimodo befits the complex character who, despite his physical deformities and severe isolation, emerges as a bright light, compassionate and trustworthy and singing his heart out. 

The plot turns when Quasimodo encounters a beautiful Romani woman played by Koko Blanton. An outcast herself, she befriends our unlikely hero. A consistently top-notch performer, Blanton’s vocal delivery and endearing characterization of Disney’s Esmeralda are two strong points of this performance. 

The role of Phoebus (Max Dutton), a handsome young soldier torn between duty and doing what he feels is right, emphasizes the musical’s theme of breaking away from the roles other people may have assigned to you. In this version, Phoebus  is a heavily romanticized  version of the original. In the novel, the self-absorbed soldier couldn’t care less if Esmeralda lives or dies after she rejects him. Dutton’s solid depiction of Phoebus is as Disney intended, dashing and ultimately unyielding to the baddies. 

In terms of production, the costuming by Chadwick Armstrong is spot-on. Arthur Reese’s lightning design gives the intimate stage at Roxy’s the feel of a larger space. He adds drama with effects such as stained-glass windows and engulfing flames, connoting holiness in contrast with suffering and rage. These are among the many reminders throughout the entertaining production that “Hunchback” is a Disney adaptation with cartoony elements. 

These feel appropriately pitched to the musical’s broad, black-and-white tropes of good vs. evil. However, more complicated themes of religious damnation and repressed sexuality underpin the narrative. We watch uncomfortable and retrograde attitudes about the “other” play out on stage in the interactions between Frollo and Esmerelda. According to his dogma, her ethnicity renders her “not capable of real love” but only “heathen treachery.” 

By the end, it’s clear who the real monster is, and he wears the face of religious authority and public esteem. In other words, the worst kind of villain. 

The Details

Roxy’s Downtown presents “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”Performances are 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with an additional 2 p.m. Saturday matinee, August 28-September 7, 2024, at Roxy’s Downtown, 412 1/2 E. Douglas Ave. in Wichita

$39.07-$60.46 including fees. Food and drink are available for purchase before and during the show. 

Learn more and buy tickets.