for fans of the musical

Awwww, thank you so much! It’s great to hear people enjoy this blog! Thanks again!

Will do! There used to be some clips of the show with her in it online somewhere. She was a great actress and brought a lot to the role. 

Great to hear! Any specific songs? 

I’m not too fond of any recordings from the British Production. The Las Vegas cast is so talented, they make up for the lyrics.

Hello! Thank you for the question!

My favorite cast recording would either have to be the Dutch or Las Vegas one. It’s a tie, pretty much. 

Dutch recording: For me, Gringoire and Quasimodo stand out. Everyone else is pretty much just alright, but these two are so brilliant, it ranks right up there.  Dennis ten Vergert makes a perfect Gringoire. He’s super energetic and has this energy that really gets you going. His “Festival of Fools” is so good! Gene Thomas is probably my favorite Quasimodo vocally of any production. You seriously have to hear his voice to know what I’m talking about. It’s so…gentle…yet…sexy at the same time. Just listening to his voice makes you melt. I think it’s an interesting combination, his voice is sensual, but looks wise he isn’t. (I’m talking in costume, in real life he’s a Greek God basically) Everyone else on the recording is just meh. But these two are excellent!

Las Vegas: I have the full recording, and boy I was blown away. Deven May IS Gringoire. Energetic, sensual, romantic, yet comedic and boyish. He really got into the role. I listen to him over and over again. Janien Masse makes a great Esmeralda. Unlike so many of the other Esmeralda’s, she seems to be actually having a blast, a truly great time playing the role. You can feel she’s having a lot of fun with it, which I think is great. David Jennings as Clopin has a great vocal tone, Mark Smith as Phoebus sounds amazing, Jessica Grove is just beautiful as Fleur-de-Lys. Can’t say much about Francis Ruivivar as Frollo, however: he seems very detached. His alternate Eric Hart, I’ve read was AMAZING as Frollo, and I wish I could get my hands on some audio of him. But the show really belongs to Doug Storm, who really reinvents the role of Quasimodo and makes it his own. Out of all the Quasimodo’s, I feel he seems the closet to book!Quasimodo: all around very gentle, but then again prone to violence if provoked. His voice is just angelic, and makes you melt. He doesn’t try to sound raspy or like Garou, which is what so many others did. No, he does his own thing and does it well. 

So yeah, the Las Vegas and Dutch recordings are my favorite. If anyone would like some audios of either show, let me know! I’ll probably post some audio of Gene Thomas so you can hear this man. His voice is just…*fans self*