Oh, the thrills of live theater… expectation in the air, anticipation humming, and—oh, what’s that?—a microphone left on backstage, inadvertently picking up the riveting sound of someone’s pre-show snack break. Alas, such was my experience with MUSKET’s winter production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame at the Power Center for Performing Arts. As the house lights dimmed, I was prepared for an epic adventure through the cobblestone streets of 15th-century Paris, guided by the sweeping melodies of a beloved Stephen Schwartz score. What I received instead was a journey paved with glaring sound issues and directorial missteps.
The sound design/mixing was, let’s just say, a unique interpretation of cacophony at its finest. The voices of leading roles were swallowed by the ensemble during featured moments; it was more like they were competing in a vocal tug-of-war where only one side had their microphones turned on. When the sound design is good, you notice nothing; when it’s bad, it’s like nails on a chalkboard. Mics left on at inopportune moments, and mics off when they were supposed to be on was just the beginning of the rest of this epic-length musical.
Then we have the set—a gorgeous, rented fantasy courtesy of Disney itself. Revel in its arches, its gothic allure, the golden bells, and its underwhelming presence because it was scarcely utilized! If I saw one more chorus arc singing center stage and standing still, there’d be hellfire to pay. Not to mention, that every powerful ballad lacked movement, standing on the same bored center stage mark.
The direction, I’m afraid, felt more like a directionless meandering. Lacking dynamism, each scene seemed to wash into the next with a repetitive lull that did no favors for the audience’s attention span or for characters who already struggle to stand out against their major movie counterparts. It’s hard for me to grasp onto characters whose only defining trait is their ability to make me wish the scene transition would happen already.
Despite these misadventures in sound and space, the cast carried the show on their capable shoulders with Esmeralda, played by Abby Lyons, and Quasimodo, played by Max Peluso, shining even through the most challenging acoustic trenches.
In the end, not even the beautiful set could gloss over the production’s glaring flaws, echoing Shakespeare’s timeless observation that “All that glitters is not gold.” Alas, it’s a poignant reminder that the right team can turn straw into gold, but all the gold-rented sets in the world can’t salvage a lackluster vision and poor sound mixing.
For a student theatre organization that is so popular and well-revered, it’s a shame this production can’t stand next to some of their other hits. Here’s hoping future productions can rise above, allowing both story and song to truly soar.
