Rob Halliday talks to the eclectic and talented technical team behind Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the latest stage musical from Disney Theatrical. Actually, that statement isn't entirely true. To start with, the show opened in Berlin and therefore has a German title, 'Der Glockner von Notre Dame' which, literally translated, means "The Bellringer of Notre Dame"; the German language apparently doesn't have an equivalent to 'hunchback'.
Secondly, although the show has been created by Disney and is an adaptation of their animated film (itself adapted from the Victor Hugo book), they are not producing it in Germany. Instead, the producers are Stella, who until now have specialised in taking established hits (Cats, Starlight, Phantom, Les Misérables - another Hugo musical adaptation which has done quite well for itselfl - and Disney's Beauty and the Beast) and opening German productions, often building new theatres to house them. Now faced with a new, empty theatre (the Musical Theater Berlin, built on what was a strip of no-man's land around the Wall which they are running for its owners, Mercedes Benz) and no established hits to transfer, Stella have decided to create a new production.
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