This evening, Manchester Musical Youth welcomed an eager audience to the Z-Arts theatre in Manchester to watch their rendition of 'The Hunchback Of Notre Dame'. And what a rendition it was!
If you’re unfamiliar with the story of the hunchback; we follow two brothers in fifteenth century Paris. Frollo, played by Basit Khan, and Jehan, played by James Gadd, share their remarkable bond on stage with us. We see the cathartic Frollo cave to the pressures of caring for Jehan’s child who in turn we discover is Quasimodo, our tragic hero. Throughout the play we see Follo's arrogance and greed, his disgust for the gypsies of Paris, and his lust for the beautiful Esmeralda consume him, until his fateful end. An ending that Khan executed perfectly!
Khan was able to not only take on the challenge of portraying this monstrous villain but consumed his audience throughout the entire piece! His portrayal of Frollo was nothing short of perfect and he had the audience gripped on his every word. Stylistically Khan’s depictions of the character were astonishing; the character's racially driven motivations, covert lust for power, and desire of Esmeralda shone in every move, gesture and mannerism he performed, all whilst his character was rationalising the work of God - true to Victor Hugo’s original intentions.
Spectacularly playing opposite this we have Matilda Collard as the beautiful Esmeralda. At first I took a little to warm to her character however as I sat and watched Collard perform, I naturally found myself empathising with her kind soul. I thought her portrayal of the young gypsy was elegant, bright and courageous. Two moments throughout I found myself welling up at her delivery of the character; the first during her initial meeting with Quasimodo and the second during her final moments on stage. Both moments implemented beautifully to show the kindness and compassion of the character.
Two of my favourite characters on stage were played by the wonderful Amèlie Hassouna-Smith and John Richmond. They were the perfect double-act! A Bonnie and Clyde of the fifteenth century! Their energy was infectious and their wicked cheekiness left me wanting more! I wanted them to succeed in their pick-pocketing endeavours, yet hated them when they turned on Quasimodo - a true telling of the talent these young people have to be able to turn the audience like that!
Captain Phoebus de Martin had my heart throughout! Bless, Oscar Downing! His portrayal of the character was heartwarming and charismatic! I was truly in awe of how long his character was suffering and he didn’t break once; his overwhelming love for Esmeralda was shown in his every move. He wasn’t the only one though, Billy Burrows played our loveable Quasimodo! A different love for Esmeralda, a pure and innocent untainted by lust or greed. Burrows allowed the audience to watch his tragic love story whilst also doing the character of Quasimodo justice!
'The Hunchback Of Norte Dame' would not have been as brilliantly powerful as it was without its ensemble! The elegant statues, the beautiful gargoyles, the soldiers, the gypsy dancers, the congregants, the storytellers! Each and every one of these very talented young people performed superbly last night! It was phenomenal! I could only describe listening to them sing as listening to angels sing because it felt so angelic!
Manchester Musical Youth (MMY) have put on a show that could have easily have been on the West End or Broadway! It was astonishing and left me speechless and emotional! Dave and Kimberly Holden’s vision was that of a masterpiece! A traverse staging, the immersion of the audience who were sitting so intimately close to the stage, the lighting, the band! Everything was incredible and such a pleasure to watch! they even harmonised in Latin!! It was beyond perfect!
I still think this review hasn’t done them the justice they
deserve for how magical it was!
Reviewer - Caroline Bleakley
on - 16.7.22
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