‘Hunchback of Notre Dame’ a Masterpiece of Ballet Theater

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Here’s the story: 

In a late medieval Paris under Church rule, Archdeacon Frollo is unable to control his lust for Esmeralda, a beautiful, talented, presumably Roma street dancer. This high churchman, tortured by sinful desire, kills the military man that Esmeralda loves, Captain Phoebus, and frames her for the murder, hoping to obliterate her. Esmeralda is sentenced to hang. 

Then there’s Quasimodo, the fellow with a badly curved spine. Abandoned as a child, he’s been rescued and raised by Frollo and installed as bell ringer in Notre Dame Cathedral, where he’s kept apart from the Parisian townsfolk. Lonely Quasimodo really wants to be accepted by the town, but his attempts are unsuccessful. He’s ridiculed and persecuted. He represents the bottom of the social ladder. His adoptive father Frollo stands atop it.

Now Frollo tells him to abduct Esmeralda and bring her to him. Quasimodo tries to oblige but the town intervenes and determines to hang him. Esmeralda pities him and rescues him, and Quasimodo falls in love with her. When he realizes Frollo means to harm her, he takes her to the top of the bell tower for protection. Frollo finds her there and offers to have her acquitted if she’ll give herself to him. She chooses hanging. Quasimodo pushes Frollo off the bell tower, fails to reach Esmeralda in time, and is left to weep beside her hanging corpse.

Now imagine that this is a ballet! One that’s deeply committed to bringing that tale to full life!

Hunchback of Notre Dame is in fact a masterpiece by choreographer Michael Pink, who created it for England’s Northern Stage Company 25 years ago “almost to the day,” as he said in his welcome speech on opening night of the new staging by Milwaukee Ballet last weekend. We haven’t seen it here since 2010. It’s a grim tale, yes, a gothic tragedy, as dark and complex as can be. That may be why he’s waited 12 whole years to bring it back for, sadly, only four performances. It’s a giant of a work.

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With no spoken text, the story is a little hard to follow. For me, that only made it more engrossing. It was fun to figure out the action of the many crowd scenes. But then the gorgeous music and gripping performances would rivet me, and I’d stop caring about why and wherefore.

Only one cast member had danced in that 2010 production. The great Davit Hovhannisyan, who’s nearing the end of time as a company dancer, played Frollo. His dancing remains impeccable. His stage presence is immense. He rendered Frollo’s sick soul in sadly horrifying, seriously recognizable ways. Craig Freigang, a relative newcomer doing outstanding work, played Frollo on alternate nights. I wish I’d seen his performance, too.

Pink’s choreography for Quasimodo is extremely athletic, more physical theatre than classical ballet. Garrett Glassman is superb at that. With his spine bent beneath the costumed hump, he’d move with speed and passion, or sink into grief. I cared for him. I understood his every impulse and believed in every second of his performance.

His alternate in the role was Benjamin Simoens, another excellent dancer. I’m told that at the last minute, an injury prevented Simoens from performing. So Parker Brasser-Vos, who’d understudied Quasimodo, stepped in for him. Brasser-Vos also played the demanding role of Captain Phoebus in the first cast, so it was quite a week for him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him dance as beautifully as he did as Phoebus on opening night. His duets with Marize Fumero as Esmeralda, and with Lizzie Tripp as Fleur de Lys, were among the show’s best moments for me. 

Esmeralda is the central character and Fumero was astonishing on opening night. She’s always been a consummate technician, able to execute the greatest ballet challenges with amazing grace. But in this role, her acting reached as high a level. Fumero’s virtuosity became Esmeralda’s means of holding onto the person she is. Fumero brought profound dignity along with an enormous, unsentimental ache to this exploited, betrayed street performer. As a woman friend who’s seen so many years of Milwaukee Ballet performances with me put it, “How can all that grace, ease, and power exist in one human being?” 

Lahna Vanderbush, a superb company dancer who’s very ready for a role like this, was the alternate. I’m sorry I couldn’t see her, too. I’d gladly see the whole ballet again. I hope we won’t wait 12 more years for the chance. 

Pink’s Dracula, a dramatic ballet in a similar vein, was staged by several major companies this season. Hunchback of Notre Dame might be an even greater challenge for other companies, which tells me again that Milwaukee Ballet dancers are singularly gifted when it comes to telling stories. Peter Pan is next.