Quasi-Movie

The Hunchback gets a makeover

By Michelle Mathews

published: October 25, 2007

Disney, apparently, can turn anything into a G-rated movie. No word yet on whether they're working on animated versions of The Story of O or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but we're sure Disney could whitewash those down to "general audiences" standards. They've already done it with The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a novel filled with lust, betrayal, murder, execution, attempted rape and thievery. (Plus, kiddos love discussions of the Catholic church, medieval French society and Parisian architecture, right?) The 1923 silent version of Hunchback doesn't really hew that much closer to Victor Hugo's book, but at least it has the memorable Lon Chaney in a highly grotesque portrayal of the bell-ringing Quasimodo. But touring multimedia company Vox Lumiere knows that almost no one in our "telephonernetting" society would sit down to watch a silent movie, so they've made The Hunchback of Notre Dame into a "new entertainment experience" incorporating film, music and live theater. Is this another entry—along with The Buffy Musical and Sing-Along Sound of Music—into the Rocky Horror Picture Show category? See for yourself at the Eisemann Center, 2351 Performance Drive in Richardson, 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets cost $25 to $55. Visit eisemanncenter.com.
Sat., Oct. 27, 8 p.m., 2007