More Hunchback

[sadie65]

I apologize for the delude of articles/interviews...but some of his comments I think pertain to things spoken of here ad nauseum.

http://www.theatermania.com:80/content/ ... tory/13826

and this one:

Musical reborn: Dennis DeYoung brings back '70s sound, 'Hunchback'
05/09/2008, 9:20 am



By Andy Argyrakis
The Daily Journal correspondent



Photo: Andy Argyrakis
Dennis DeYoung in his Chicago studio with the head of "Mr. Robot" from the 1983 Styx album "Kilroy Was Here."

More than a decade after first being staged, Dennis DeYoung's musical "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" has returned to the theater.

When it was first performed in 1997, it was just a few months after a Disney movie musical of the same story was nominated for a best original score Academy Award. Variety magazine said DeYoung's version was a "noble first production."

DeYoung, former singer and songwriter for the band Styx, is simultaneously preparing for the Chicago relaunch of his show and release of solo CD, "One Hundred Years From Now." DeYoung sat down with The Daily Journal at his award-filled Chicago studio to talk about the return of the Styx sound and his take on Quasimodo.

"ONE HUNDRED YEARS": All of my other solo projects made a conscious effort to not sound like the band ... but now that I'm no longer in the band, I thought, "well, all bets are off!" So this record does, more than anything I've ever done solo, have my influence on what I did in Styx.

"HI, CLEVELAND": The Broadway stage is disciplined where the rock stage is undisciplined. When playing Pontius Pilate (which he did in 1991), you can't go on stage and say "Hi, Cleveland, how you doing?"

THEATRICAL ROCK: People think I've always had this long, burning desire to be a Broadway actor, but that was not the case and never was the case! I wanted to bring theatrical elements to rock music, which wasn't anything groundbreaking, but something fun and interesting that could separate us from other bands of our ilk.

"HUNCHBACK": The major difference (from the Victor Hugo novel) is the journey of the priest Frollo. In the beginning, he adopts the deformed child Quasimodo, who is left abandoned by his mother and said to be a demon. ... 20 years later ... he sees a gypsy girl in the square, and as Hugo says in the book, ultimately becomes obsessed with her. ... To me, the interesting question is, "What allows a man to do a good deed and, in that journey, ends up making choices that are destructive to himself and everything he has worked for?"

POP SOUND: I hope I'm creating a hybrid where the music has a familiarity about it (that takes) the best elements of popular music of my generation with a classicism to it.

HANDS-ON: I'm as hands-on as any author can be. (Director) David Zak and I are partners in every possible way, and he's a wonderful director who's shown me a great respect and latitude to be involved in this process. ... I'd love to sneak into this performance as a character.

BROADWAY-BOUND: My aspirations initially were always Broadway. Anybody who says otherwise is probably a fool or a liar.

DeYoung's stages

1975 -- DeYoung's "Lady" first hit with Styx from Chicago

1977 -- The Styx album "The Grand Illusion" featuring
DeYoung's "Come Sail Away," sold over three million copies

1981 -- The conceptual "Paradise Theatre" was Styx's best-selling album

1984 -- DeYoung released his first solo CD "Desert Moon"

1990 -- Styx's reunion CD "Edge of the Century" spawned DeYoung's smash single "Show Me the Way"

1991 -- DeYoung joined the Broadway tour of "Jesus Christ Superstar," and made "10 On Broadway" CD.

1997 -- Recorded a soundtrack CD of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

2000 -- Launched symphonic tour playing songs from Styx, his solo years and "Hunchback."

2004 -- Released "The Music of Styx: Live With Symphony Orchestra" CD, which sold platinum and appeared on PBS's "Soundstage" and made a DVD.

2008 -- Revives "Hunchback" in Chicago and readies American version of latest CD, "One Hundred Years From Now."

WHAT: Dennis DeYoung’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”


WHERE: Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago.

WHEN: Through July 6.

TICKETS: $20-$45; call (773) 883-1090 for details




http://www.daily-journal.com/archives/d ... ?id=420290

[Abitaman]

Sounds good all the way around, and still going ahead with the cd!!!-ERIC