Vox Lumiere: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Silent cinema meets rock opera and MTV choreography in this unusual multi-media experience. The DVD presents a record of a live performance of musician Kevin Saunders Hayes’ Hunchback musical, performed in front of a movie screen showing the classic 1923 Lon Chaney film. The crucifixes prominently displayed on the characters’ costumes and the inclusion of rock-inflected devotional music make the program seem like a Christian contemporary concert at times. Hayes’ methods obviously have a lot to do with introducing young viewers to silent film, though, so his mission would indeed qualify as sacred to cinephiles.

Shelf Talk: Younger viewers who enjoy the Broadway-style theatrical experience, from Wicked to the High School Musical series, will be the target demo for the Vox Lumiere project. Hunchback will air on PBS in early 2009, so public-TV viewers will be familiar with this energetic and imaginative brand of performance.