Vox Lumiere

When Phillyist heard about Vox Lumiere The Hunchback of Notre Dame, we thought it sounded way cool. The 1923 silent film, projected above a stage, with live musicians and singers and dancers performing along with it. How friggin’ cool is that? Old and new, sound and silence - we loved the idea. We couldn’t wait to go.

And we have to admit, it was really cool!

The Creator/Composer/Conductor Kevin Saunders Hayes is a wildly accomplished composer who is clearly at home in a wide range of musical styles, and his expansion of The Hunchback of Notre Dame did make us see the film anew! - Phillylist.com

When Phillyist heard about Vox Lumiere The Hunchback of Notre Dame, we thought it sounded way cool. The 1923 silent film, projected above a stage, with live musicians and singers and dancers performing along with it. How friggin’ cool is that? Old and new, sound and silence - we loved the idea. We couldn’t wait to go.

And we have to admit, it was really cool!

The Creator/Composer/Conductor Kevin Saunders Hayes is a wildly accomplished composer who is clearly at home in a wide range of musical styles, and his expansion of The Hunchback of Notre Dame did make us see the film anew! - Phillylist.com

"Vox Lumiere will join Cirque du Soliel, Stomp! as other one-of-a-kind
theatrical experiences that audiences crave!"

Lon Chaney was the original “Man of 1,000 Faces.” With a few jars of makeup, some putty, false teeth and a wig, the movie star could become anyone.

Given his love for transformation and originality, it’s likely Chaney would enjoy the Vox Lumiere treatment of his most famous performance in 1923’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” assuming the extreme flood of technology into his early 20th century brain didn’t give him a stroke.

Vox Lumiere (the Latin words for “voices” and “light”) is the brainchild of film, stage and TV composer Kevin Saunders Hayes, who after watching a series of silent films, got an idea of how to combine all of his talents to re-present old, black and white works into a lush, colorful, musical experience.

“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” is Hayes’ second Vox Lumiere work (the first was “Metropolis”), and while Hayes still seems to be developing his style, this 90-minute performance (directed by Gabriel Previtera) succeeds as a concert and as an interactive movie.

Without any existing equivalent, the best way to compare Vox Lumiere is to say it’s the musical “Rent” meets a weekend midnight showing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” where performers act out parts of the film.

Vox Lumiere begins the movie’s opening credits projected over the stage on three screens (a big one in the middle and two smaller ones to either side) as conductor Hayes, clad all in leather, enters with a rock band of two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer.

Hayes’ score begins and eight singers arrive, also dressed in costumes that resemble ‘The Matrix,” each wearing headset microphones.

As an annual 24-hour festival takes place on screen, the live cast sings the rock song, “Just One Day.”
Those first few minutes set the tone for the entire show, as Hayes moves from his score to songs that represent a major character in the film.

For example, Greg Whipple, a hulking man with a shaved head, appears as Chaney’s counterpart, Quasimodo, and sings a hard rock tune, the catchiest of the evening, that repeats the phrase, “King of darkness. King of pain.” Occasionally, he turns to the screen with anguish as the film characters laugh and taunt Quasimodo.

Esmeralda is played live by Victoria Levy, whose melodic ballad expresses her wishes to be loved by the debonair Phoebus.

The remaining few songs are a bit simplistic in their rhyme schemes, though the music is always interesting.

The choreography, created by Lala Ghahreman is not much more than elegant walking or a bit of hip swaying, and it is less interesting than what’s happening on the screens.
Vox Lumiere works best when Hayes comments on the film through the stage action. The most imaginative stroke is when the film shows a brief image of a spider being caught in a web, signifying Phoebus’ attempts to capture Esmeralda’s heart. On stage, behind scrims bathed in red light with shadows of a spider web projected on them, four women move seductively to a piece of sultry music.
Hayes has purposely kept the live action minimal when he feels the audience needs to focus on the screen. But there is room to create even more clever moments.

All of the performers are solid and the music, some of which is pre-recorded, is intriguing and crosses several genres, from gothic, to punk to pop.

The other major force during the evening, besides Hayes, is Chaney. His portrayal of Quasimodo is visually and emotionally exciting and overshadows a lot of action on stage.
Hayes clearly has the composing skills to make an audibly exciting performance. And if he and his production collaborators continue to expand the visual aspects for future projects, it’s possible that Vox Lumiere will join Cirque du Soleil, Stomp! and other one-of-a-kind theatrical experiences that audiences crave.
- The Daily Breeze

"Vox Lumiere will join Cirque du Soliel, Stomp! as other one-of-a-kind
theatrical experiences that audiences crave!"

Lon Chaney was the original “Man of 1,000 Faces.” With a few jars of makeup, some putty, false teeth and a wig, the movie star could become anyone.

Given his love for transformation and originality, it’s likely Chaney would enjoy the Vox Lumiere treatment of his most famous performance in 1923’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” assuming the extreme flood of technology into his early 20th century brain didn’t give him a stroke.

Vox Lumiere (the Latin words for “voices” and “light”) is the brainchild of film, stage and TV composer Kevin Saunders Hayes, who after watching a series of silent films, got an idea of how to combine all of his talents to re-present old, black and white works into a lush, colorful, musical experience.

“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” is Hayes’ second Vox Lumiere work (the first was “Metropolis”), and while Hayes still seems to be developing his style, this 90-minute performance (directed by Gabriel Previtera) succeeds as a concert and as an interactive movie.

Without any existing equivalent, the best way to compare Vox Lumiere is to say it’s the musical “Rent” meets a weekend midnight showing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” where performers act out parts of the film.

Vox Lumiere begins the movie’s opening credits projected over the stage on three screens (a big one in the middle and two smaller ones to either side) as conductor Hayes, clad all in leather, enters with a rock band of two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer.

Hayes’ score begins and eight singers arrive, also dressed in costumes that resemble ‘The Matrix,” each wearing headset microphones.

As an annual 24-hour festival takes place on screen, the live cast sings the rock song, “Just One Day.”
Those first few minutes set the tone for the entire show, as Hayes moves from his score to songs that represent a major character in the film.

For example, Greg Whipple, a hulking man with a shaved head, appears as Chaney’s counterpart, Quasimodo, and sings a hard rock tune, the catchiest of the evening, that repeats the phrase, “King of darkness. King of pain.” Occasionally, he turns to the screen with anguish as the film characters laugh and taunt Quasimodo.

Esmeralda is played live by Victoria Levy, whose melodic ballad expresses her wishes to be loved by the debonair Phoebus.

The remaining few songs are a bit simplistic in their rhyme schemes, though the music is always interesting.

The choreography, created by Lala Ghahreman is not much more than elegant walking or a bit of hip swaying, and it is less interesting than what’s happening on the screens.
Vox Lumiere works best when Hayes comments on the film through the stage action. The most imaginative stroke is when the film shows a brief image of a spider being caught in a web, signifying Phoebus’ attempts to capture Esmeralda’s heart. On stage, behind scrims bathed in red light with shadows of a spider web projected on them, four women move seductively to a piece of sultry music.
Hayes has purposely kept the live action minimal when he feels the audience needs to focus on the screen. But there is room to create even more clever moments.

All of the performers are solid and the music, some of which is pre-recorded, is intriguing and crosses several genres, from gothic, to punk to pop.

The other major force during the evening, besides Hayes, is Chaney. His portrayal of Quasimodo is visually and emotionally exciting and overshadows a lot of action on stage.
Hayes clearly has the composing skills to make an audibly exciting performance. And if he and his production collaborators continue to expand the visual aspects for future projects, it’s possible that Vox Lumiere will join Cirque du Soleil, Stomp! and other one-of-a-kind theatrical experiences that audiences crave.
- The Daily Breeze

"... absolutely riveting..."

New sounds of silents

The brainchild of creator-composer Kevin Saunders Hayes, Vox Lumiere (Latin and French for voice and light) is an ambitious production company that fuses original music and live performance with famous silent films -- in this case, the 1923 classic starring Lon Chaney.

"Hunchback" is only one work in the revolving repertory of fully staged silent-film concerts that Hayes envisions. Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" started out on the festival circuit and made quite a splash in France. Other silent films in the works include "Phantom of the Opera" and "Nosferatu." Hayes even intends to present the 1924 version of "Peter Pan."

It's all hugely ambitious and entrepreneurial. Hayes' eclectic score blends musical styles from opera to head-banging rock, and impressive for the fact that it is so perfectly syncopated to the film's action.

Hayes himself conducts the live onstage band, and his sound is full-bodied and lush and the enthusiastic young cast, clad in revealing black leather outfits, is most notable for its impressive vocal skills.

The film is projected on a huge upstage screen flanked by two smaller screens, and the production is absolutely riveting, especially Chaney's virtuosic performance.

By F. Kathleen Foley , Special to The Times - The Los Angeles Times

"... absolutely riveting..."

New sounds of silents

The brainchild of creator-composer Kevin Saunders Hayes, Vox Lumiere (Latin and French for voice and light) is an ambitious production company that fuses original music and live performance with famous silent films -- in this case, the 1923 classic starring Lon Chaney.

"Hunchback" is only one work in the revolving repertory of fully staged silent-film concerts that Hayes envisions. Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" started out on the festival circuit and made quite a splash in France. Other silent films in the works include "Phantom of the Opera" and "Nosferatu." Hayes even intends to present the 1924 version of "Peter Pan."

It's all hugely ambitious and entrepreneurial. Hayes' eclectic score blends musical styles from opera to head-banging rock, and impressive for the fact that it is so perfectly syncopated to the film's action.

Hayes himself conducts the live onstage band, and his sound is full-bodied and lush and the enthusiastic young cast, clad in revealing black leather outfits, is most notable for its impressive vocal skills.

The film is projected on a huge upstage screen flanked by two smaller screens, and the production is absolutely riveting, especially Chaney's virtuosic performance.

By F. Kathleen Foley , Special to The Times - The Los Angeles Times

"…the dynamic group rocked the sold-out house…"

ScienceFiction.com recently co-sponsored (along with Cult Movie Magazine) The Silent Movie Theatre’s Sci-Fi week. The Silent Movie Theatre is the only theater in America showing silent movies on a regular basis.
The Sci-Fi week films which screened from July 18 through 23 included
“Things to Come”, "Aileta, Queen of Mars”, “The Lost World”, “Metropolis”
and “King Kong”.

On Saturday, July 22, the ScienceFiction.com staffers and family gathered in Hollywood, California at The Silent Movie Theatre. We arrived early for the 8:00 p.m. showing of Fritz Lang’s silent science fiction classic
“Metropolis”. We were looking forward to the movie and curious about the
planned musical performance by Kevin Saunders Hayes' rock orchestra VOX
LUMINA.

The Silent Movie Theatre which has been screening movies since the 40s has recently been beautifully restored. As we waited for the show to begin, the crowd murmured. There was a sense in the air that we were all about to experience something special.

With the show due to begin shortly, I read my program. VOX LUMIERE:
“Metropolis” was composed (music & lyrics) by Kevin Saunders Hayes who wouldbe conducting tonight. It had its World Premiere in New York on April 22 at
the 6th Avignon/New York Film Festival. It’s European Premiere was last month at the 17th Avignon Film Festival in France.

Soon the lights dimmed, the gold curtain parted, and “Metropolis” began. VOX LUMIERE offered strong, confident and polished vocals and musical
instrumentation to “Metropolis'” vivid and prophetic on-screen action.
Attractive and dressed in black and leather, the dynamic group rocked the
old house of science fiction movie fans under composer Hayes' energetic
conducting.

After the show, we all spilled out onto the sidewalk outside the theater and
milled around, savoring the movie-going magic of the unique science fiction tribal experience we had just shared together. 150 people were already lined up to take in the hastily scheduled 10:15 screening and musical performance to accommodate those who had been turned away from the 8:00 p.m. showing. See you at the movies!

ScienceFiction.com Goes To The Movies - July 23, 2000 By Joe Posner

###

"…an intense experience not soon forgotten…"

Vox Lumiere's
The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Also see Sharon's recent reviews of Leap and Bicoastal Woman

Have you ever seen an arena show in an intimate theatre? It puts you on sensory overload - the music is too loud, the lights are blindingly bright, and there is certainly no subtlety in the performances. At the same time, the sort of raw emotional power that would be playing to the back row of the second balcony (if there were one) is hitting you full-force for an intense experience not soon forgotten.

Currently dishing out that experience in the under-300 seat Coronet Theatre is Vox Lumiere's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The brainchild of composer Kevin Saunders Hayes, Vox Lumiere is a company which accompanies classic silent movies with original rock songs and scores, performed live. The idea of playing music to accompany a silent film is a natural one; making it modern rock music to appeal to a new generation of theatregoers is also logical. But what Vox Lumiere really brings to the party is a company of eight singers, who reflect the onscreen action and explode into song, bringing the characters past the silencing limitations of eighty-year-old filmmaking technology.

When it works, it is powerful stuff. In the 1923 silent movie projected on a central screen, Lon Chaney's Quasimodo stares down from the heights of the cathedral to the masses below. A nearby smaller movie screen projects simply a picture of the cathedral. Actor Greg Whipple crouches on a scaffold in front of this screen, momentarily mirroring Chaney. But while Chaney can only tell us what Quasimodo is thinking via his considerable physical talents (and title cards), Whipple breaks into "King of Darkness," a hard-driving power rock number expressing Quasimodo's feelings of alienation. The juxtaposition is perfect, with Whipple's gravelly tenor shouting out the emotions that Chaney's Quasimodo keeps bottled inside.

Also brilliantly matching and magnifying the film is the song for Esmeralda's mother. During a flashback, the movie shows her caring for her infant right before the child is kidnapped by gypsies. The sequence is paired with a woman standing downstage, hooded in a red cloak - one of the few times the black-clad cast allows color into the proceedings - and the vocal is a ballad of uncompromising pain and loss. When one thinks of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the character of Esmeralda's mother does not usually leap to mind as one of the most memorable, but in Vox Lumiere's production, the image of the mourning woman driven insane by the loss of her baby is one of the most stirring moments.

The show's "arena" mentality ke - ScienceFiction.com & Talkin' Broadway

"…the dynamic group rocked the sold-out house…"

ScienceFiction.com recently co-sponsored (along with Cult Movie Magazine) The Silent Movie Theatre’s Sci-Fi week. The Silent Movie Theatre is the only theater in America showing silent movies on a regular basis.
The Sci-Fi week films which screened from July 18 through 23 included
“Things to Come”, "Aileta, Queen of Mars”, “The Lost World”, “Metropolis”
and “King Kong”.

On Saturday, July 22, the ScienceFiction.com staffers and family gathered in Hollywood, California at The Silent Movie Theatre. We arrived early for the 8:00 p.m. showing of Fritz Lang’s silent science fiction classic
“Metropolis”. We were looking forward to the movie and curious about the
planned musical performance by Kevin Saunders Hayes' rock orchestra VOX
LUMINA.

The Silent Movie Theatre which has been screening movies since the 40s has recently been beautifully restored. As we waited for the show to begin, the crowd murmured. There was a sense in the air that we were all about to experience something special.

With the show due to begin shortly, I read my program. VOX LUMIERE:
“Metropolis” was composed (music & lyrics) by Kevin Saunders Hayes who wouldbe conducting tonight. It had its World Premiere in New York on April 22 at
the 6th Avignon/New York Film Festival. It’s European Premiere was last month at the 17th Avignon Film Festival in France.

Soon the lights dimmed, the gold curtain parted, and “Metropolis” began. VOX LUMIERE offered strong, confident and polished vocals and musical
instrumentation to “Metropolis'” vivid and prophetic on-screen action.
Attractive and dressed in black and leather, the dynamic group rocked the
old house of science fiction movie fans under composer Hayes' energetic
conducting.

After the show, we all spilled out onto the sidewalk outside the theater and
milled around, savoring the movie-going magic of the unique science fiction tribal experience we had just shared together. 150 people were already lined up to take in the hastily scheduled 10:15 screening and musical performance to accommodate those who had been turned away from the 8:00 p.m. showing. See you at the movies!

ScienceFiction.com Goes To The Movies - July 23, 2000 By Joe Posner

###

"…an intense experience not soon forgotten…"

Vox Lumiere's
The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Also see Sharon's recent reviews of Leap and Bicoastal Woman

Have you ever seen an arena show in an intimate theatre? It puts you on sensory overload - the music is too loud, the lights are blindingly bright, and there is certainly no subtlety in the performances. At the same time, the sort of raw emotional power that would be playing to the back row of the second balcony (if there were one) is hitting you full-force for an intense experience not soon forgotten.

Currently dishing out that experience in the under-300 seat Coronet Theatre is Vox Lumiere's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The brainchild of composer Kevin Saunders Hayes, Vox Lumiere is a company which accompanies classic silent movies with original rock songs and scores, performed live. The idea of playing music to accompany a silent film is a natural one; making it modern rock music to appeal to a new generation of theatregoers is also logical. But what Vox Lumiere really brings to the party is a company of eight singers, who reflect the onscreen action and explode into song, bringing the characters past the silencing limitations of eighty-year-old filmmaking technology.

When it works, it is powerful stuff. In the 1923 silent movie projected on a central screen, Lon Chaney's Quasimodo stares down from the heights of the cathedral to the masses below. A nearby smaller movie screen projects simply a picture of the cathedral. Actor Greg Whipple crouches on a scaffold in front of this screen, momentarily mirroring Chaney. But while Chaney can only tell us what Quasimodo is thinking via his considerable physical talents (and title cards), Whipple breaks into "King of Darkness," a hard-driving power rock number expressing Quasimodo's feelings of alienation. The juxtaposition is perfect, with Whipple's gravelly tenor shouting out the emotions that Chaney's Quasimodo keeps bottled inside.

Also brilliantly matching and magnifying the film is the song for Esmeralda's mother. During a flashback, the movie shows her caring for her infant right before the child is kidnapped by gypsies. The sequence is paired with a woman standing downstage, hooded in a red cloak - one of the few times the black-clad cast allows color into the proceedings - and the vocal is a ballad of uncompromising pain and loss. When one thinks of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the character of Esmeralda's mother does not usually leap to mind as one of the most memorable, but in Vox Lumiere's production, the image of the mourning woman driven insane by the loss of her baby is one of the most stirring moments.

The show's "arena" mentality ke - ScienceFiction.com & Talkin' Broadway

The Opera Theatre of Avignon welcomed the advance European premiere of the Fritz Lang film “Metropolis” - rejuvenated by Kevin Saunders Hayes’ musical and vocal accompaniment. A masterpiece! The presentation raised 45,000 francs in support of the association, “The Voice of the Child”.

Fritz Lang’s film is monument, and raises questions that are still topical, despite its age (1926). Metropolis is considered to be one of the great works of cinema and science fiction. Progress as the enemy of man in a city of the future, where men work themselves to death at an infernal pace, without breathing a word, at the risk of their lives. The film gives hope for a better life, for a world of peace, yet 74 years later, on the threshold of the 21st century, things have not really changed as men still die needlessly for the sake of power.

Kevin Saunders Hayes has achieved the sacred task of composing an original and compelling work. It has been two long years in the making, with magnificent results. Orchestra and choir in a contemporary rhythm embrace the film and elevate the performance.

The vocals and musical instrumentation convey the drama - caressing the most tender moments - and bring into being the full spectrum of emotions. That the film is silent does not matter. Kevin Hayes gives it a new voice. - LA DAUPHINE LIBERE

The Opera Theatre of Avignon welcomed the advance European premiere of the Fritz Lang film “Metropolis” - rejuvenated by Kevin Saunders Hayes’ musical and vocal accompaniment. A masterpiece! The presentation raised 45,000 francs in support of the association, “The Voice of the Child”.

Fritz Lang’s film is monument, and raises questions that are still topical, despite its age (1926). Metropolis is considered to be one of the great works of cinema and science fiction. Progress as the enemy of man in a city of the future, where men work themselves to death at an infernal pace, without breathing a word, at the risk of their lives. The film gives hope for a better life, for a world of peace, yet 74 years later, on the threshold of the 21st century, things have not really changed as men still die needlessly for the sake of power.

Kevin Saunders Hayes has achieved the sacred task of composing an original and compelling work. It has been two long years in the making, with magnificent results. Orchestra and choir in a contemporary rhythm embrace the film and elevate the performance.

The vocals and musical instrumentation convey the drama - caressing the most tender moments - and bring into being the full spectrum of emotions. That the film is silent does not matter. Kevin Hayes gives it a new voice. - LA DAUPHINE LIBERE

"The synchronization and harmony of the images, voices, and music reach a rare perfection. "

Avignon. With his musical creation for “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” Kevin Saunders Hayes energetically delivers the generous ideas of the writer.

After the performance in June 2000 at the opera house of Kevin Saunders Hayes’ version of “Metropolis” by Fritz Lang, the experience was successfully repeated for this edition of the Avignon Film Festival. The premiere of Kevin Saunders Hayes’ original composition for orchestra and chorus for the film “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” was given a standing ovation Monday night.

The masterpiece of silent cinema, directed in 1923 in the US by William Worsely, with Lon Chaney and Patsy Ruth Miller, is wonderfully accompanied by this musical work. The synchronization and harmony of the images, voices, and music reach a rare perfection. Every violent scene is represented musically, and the sweeter moments are also illustrated by many varied themes. The modern rock score gives the film and the well-known story of Victor Hugo’s a new strength. The power and violence of the music accentuate the ideas of the writer who defends the oppressed and denounces the misery of the poor and the injustices of society. The rock score echoes the themes of suffering and revolution. The brilliant orchestration and the songs correspond to these themes. The voices of John Hendricks for Quasimodo and Victoria Levy for Esmeralda bring their lyrical quality to the main characters of the film. This rock-opera, composed and conducted in a masterly manner by Kevin Saunders Hayes, received a very warm welcome by the public. The evening was also the occasion of a generous gesture. Part of the money made, specifically from tickets sold by the Lions Club City of the Popes, was given to a charity for autistic children. The president of the Lions Club gave the association “La Bourguette” a check for 45,000 francs. The director of the Avignon Film Festival, Jerry Rudes, and the special guest of this 18th annual event, Jacqueline Bisset, were also present.

The evening ended with the preceding creation of Kevin Saunders Hayes for “Metropolis” Today the festival continues with film projections and meetings at the Vox and with the award ceremony at 5:00 pm at the Hotel de Ville of Avignon.
- La Provence

"The synchronization and harmony of the images, voices, and music reach a rare perfection. "

Avignon. With his musical creation for “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” Kevin Saunders Hayes energetically delivers the generous ideas of the writer.

After the performance in June 2000 at the opera house of Kevin Saunders Hayes’ version of “Metropolis” by Fritz Lang, the experience was successfully repeated for this edition of the Avignon Film Festival. The premiere of Kevin Saunders Hayes’ original composition for orchestra and chorus for the film “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” was given a standing ovation Monday night.

The masterpiece of silent cinema, directed in 1923 in the US by William Worsely, with Lon Chaney and Patsy Ruth Miller, is wonderfully accompanied by this musical work. The synchronization and harmony of the images, voices, and music reach a rare perfection. Every violent scene is represented musically, and the sweeter moments are also illustrated by many varied themes. The modern rock score gives the film and the well-known story of Victor Hugo’s a new strength. The power and violence of the music accentuate the ideas of the writer who defends the oppressed and denounces the misery of the poor and the injustices of society. The rock score echoes the themes of suffering and revolution. The brilliant orchestration and the songs correspond to these themes. The voices of John Hendricks for Quasimodo and Victoria Levy for Esmeralda bring their lyrical quality to the main characters of the film. This rock-opera, composed and conducted in a masterly manner by Kevin Saunders Hayes, received a very warm welcome by the public. The evening was also the occasion of a generous gesture. Part of the money made, specifically from tickets sold by the Lions Club City of the Popes, was given to a charity for autistic children. The president of the Lions Club gave the association “La Bourguette” a check for 45,000 francs. The director of the Avignon Film Festival, Jerry Rudes, and the special guest of this 18th annual event, Jacqueline Bisset, were also present.

The evening ended with the preceding creation of Kevin Saunders Hayes for “Metropolis” Today the festival continues with film projections and meetings at the Vox and with the award ceremony at 5:00 pm at the Hotel de Ville of Avignon.
- La Provence

"... magnificent! Throughout the ninety-three minutes, everyone’s eyes are riveted to the spectacle, lead beat by beat without the slightest moment of dead time."

(PHOTO) Monday evening, the American composer Kevin Hayes gave his orchestrated version of “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” the 1923 film. Hard rock and sweet at the same time, a modern day opera.

(PHOTO) Lon Chaney is Quasimodo. 2001: Kevin Hayes and his brilliant musicians and singers gave life to the music score that reawakens the film. Phenomenal…

Of course we know the myth of Quasimodo and the diverse interpretations conceived by so many different artists. However, the film-opera created by American composer Kevin Saunders Hayes went beyond expectations. There were chills in the hall of the opera house of Avignon at 6:30 pm Monday evening. There, hundreds of happy movie enthusiasts and music lovers or simply those curious came to see the spectacle. The 2001 Avignon Film Festival presented the show’s European premiere. After “Metropolis” last year, it’s time for another masterpiece of the seventh art: “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” filmed in 1923, produced by Universal Studios and directed by Wallace Worsley, to be shaken up by this new, daring American composer.

The curtain rises on Notre Dame Cathedral I Paris. Only a second before, music begins… flamboyant, explosive, RUTILANTE Kevin Saunders Hayes, an orchestra in himself, directs a group of thirteen live performers: eight wonderful singers, two guitarists, a bass player, and drummer on top of an excellent soundtrack. Throughout the ninety-three minutes, everyone’s eyes are riveted to the spectacle, lead beat by beat without the slightest moment of dead time.

Electric rock or soft melodious chants in Latin(!), spitting guitars or voices of velvet, sweet music of the heart that evokes the amorous torments of the Hunchback, and then of Esmerelda, all come together to form a monumental score where, from the Court of Miracles to the high nobility, not one note is placed haphazardly.

An opera for our modern times where, contrary to all expectation, music from the 21st century marries, in perfect harmony and delight, with the images filmed in the early 20th century. To serve this universal myth, this eternal tale…

Hats off! - La Provence

"... magnificent! Throughout the ninety-three minutes, everyone’s eyes are riveted to the spectacle, lead beat by beat without the slightest moment of dead time."

(PHOTO) Monday evening, the American composer Kevin Hayes gave his orchestrated version of “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” the 1923 film. Hard rock and sweet at the same time, a modern day opera.

(PHOTO) Lon Chaney is Quasimodo. 2001: Kevin Hayes and his brilliant musicians and singers gave life to the music score that reawakens the film. Phenomenal…

Of course we know the myth of Quasimodo and the diverse interpretations conceived by so many different artists. However, the film-opera created by American composer Kevin Saunders Hayes went beyond expectations. There were chills in the hall of the opera house of Avignon at 6:30 pm Monday evening. There, hundreds of happy movie enthusiasts and music lovers or simply those curious came to see the spectacle. The 2001 Avignon Film Festival presented the show’s European premiere. After “Metropolis” last year, it’s time for another masterpiece of the seventh art: “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” filmed in 1923, produced by Universal Studios and directed by Wallace Worsley, to be shaken up by this new, daring American composer.

The curtain rises on Notre Dame Cathedral I Paris. Only a second before, music begins… flamboyant, explosive, RUTILANTE Kevin Saunders Hayes, an orchestra in himself, directs a group of thirteen live performers: eight wonderful singers, two guitarists, a bass player, and drummer on top of an excellent soundtrack. Throughout the ninety-three minutes, everyone’s eyes are riveted to the spectacle, lead beat by beat without the slightest moment of dead time.

Electric rock or soft melodious chants in Latin(!), spitting guitars or voices of velvet, sweet music of the heart that evokes the amorous torments of the Hunchback, and then of Esmerelda, all come together to form a monumental score where, from the Court of Miracles to the high nobility, not one note is placed haphazardly.

An opera for our modern times where, contrary to all expectation, music from the 21st century marries, in perfect harmony and delight, with the images filmed in the early 20th century. To serve this universal myth, this eternal tale…

Hats off! - La Provence

PERFORMANCE REVIEW: Show fuses rock opera, silent film

12:00 AM CDT on Monday, October 29, 2007

By MARGARET PUTNAM / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
msputnam@sbcglobal.net Margaret Putnam is a Richardson-based writer.

RICHARDSON – Great works of art call out for new interpretations. That's the case with Vox Lumiere's fascinating rock opera The Hunchback of Notre Dame, performed Saturday night at the Eisemann Center.

Victor Hugo's sprawling 1831 masterpiece – set in 1482 Paris – inspired a haunting 1923 silent film, and 84 years later, Vox Lumiere complements the silent, two-dimensional film with a rock band, opera singers and dancers. The result: one long, multidimensional, high-decimal blast of visual and auditory splendor.

Few people today have the patience to watch a two-hour silent film, so in keeping with the times, composer Kevin Saunders Hayes brings the story back to the stage, but with a twist.

Looming over a third of the stage, the grainy, more-brown-than-black film transports audience members to a somber, Gothic cathedral. In front of the screen, two iron platforms sit on opposite sides of the stage for the eight-member rock band, with the stage's middle area used for dancers and singers to make their dramatic entrances. The lighting appropriately changes from a threatening reddish glow to semidarkness with an occasional shaft of white light, giving the effect of a stage lighted by the flickering of candles.

The music captures the mood of every scene, quickly turning from bells and chants to hard-rock grating ferocity, and then back to plaintive melodies. The singers represent the voices of the main characters: the grotesque hunchback Quasimodo, the high-spirited gypsy girl Esmeralda, the dashing Capt. Phoebos and the angry Chopin – conveying their essence rather than their physical beings.

Looking slightly Goth in black T-shirts and chains or red leggings and tiny shorts, the singers may look like any rock group, but their voices have an operatic richness and purity.

Adding stage movement to accompany a film is a tricky enterprise, since the two can easily compete. There are times when the eye can't take it all in, but director/choreographers Frit and Frat Fuller wisely keep the dancing to no more than an upward thrust of the arm, a hip gyration or two, and sideways sidles.

As impressive as the singers are, the real star remains the film's Lon Chaney as Quasimodo, despised for his ugliness and yet heartbreakingly human. And there are also the visual effects – the sinister Notre Dame, the rabid ant heap of the bustling crowd, and the contrasting image of the perfumed, gorgeously attired Phoebos.

Hunchback is already an intense film; this rock-opera simply ups the ante.

Margaret Putnam is a Richardson-based writer. - The Dallas Morning News

PERFORMANCE REVIEW: Show fuses rock opera, silent film

12:00 AM CDT on Monday, October 29, 2007

By MARGARET PUTNAM / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
msputnam@sbcglobal.net Margaret Putnam is a Richardson-based writer.

RICHARDSON – Great works of art call out for new interpretations. That's the case with Vox Lumiere's fascinating rock opera The Hunchback of Notre Dame, performed Saturday night at the Eisemann Center.

Victor Hugo's sprawling 1831 masterpiece – set in 1482 Paris – inspired a haunting 1923 silent film, and 84 years later, Vox Lumiere complements the silent, two-dimensional film with a rock band, opera singers and dancers. The result: one long, multidimensional, high-decimal blast of visual and auditory splendor.

Few people today have the patience to watch a two-hour silent film, so in keeping with the times, composer Kevin Saunders Hayes brings the story back to the stage, but with a twist.

Looming over a third of the stage, the grainy, more-brown-than-black film transports audience members to a somber, Gothic cathedral. In front of the screen, two iron platforms sit on opposite sides of the stage for the eight-member rock band, with the stage's middle area used for dancers and singers to make their dramatic entrances. The lighting appropriately changes from a threatening reddish glow to semidarkness with an occasional shaft of white light, giving the effect of a stage lighted by the flickering of candles.

The music captures the mood of every scene, quickly turning from bells and chants to hard-rock grating ferocity, and then back to plaintive melodies. The singers represent the voices of the main characters: the grotesque hunchback Quasimodo, the high-spirited gypsy girl Esmeralda, the dashing Capt. Phoebos and the angry Chopin – conveying their essence rather than their physical beings.

Looking slightly Goth in black T-shirts and chains or red leggings and tiny shorts, the singers may look like any rock group, but their voices have an operatic richness and purity.

Adding stage movement to accompany a film is a tricky enterprise, since the two can easily compete. There are times when the eye can't take it all in, but director/choreographers Frit and Frat Fuller wisely keep the dancing to no more than an upward thrust of the arm, a hip gyration or two, and sideways sidles.

As impressive as the singers are, the real star remains the film's Lon Chaney as Quasimodo, despised for his ugliness and yet heartbreakingly human. And there are also the visual effects – the sinister Notre Dame, the rabid ant heap of the bustling crowd, and the contrasting image of the perfumed, gorgeously attired Phoebos.

Hunchback is already an intense film; this rock-opera simply ups the ante.

Margaret Putnam is a Richardson-based writer. - The Dallas Morning News

In the hands of composer Kevin Saunders Hayes, old films mixed with live performances become a unique art form.

By Irene Lacher , Special to The Times

Kevin Saunders Hayes stumbled onto his future in a bin at a discount surplus store. He was haunting temples to serendipitous thrift because he was moonlighting as a music writer for humble productions in 99-seat theaters in New York. Unlike composing commercials for deep-pocketed clients by day, mounting off-off-off-Broadway shows called for resourcefulness and rock-bottom prices -- such as the one-buck sign he saw on a bin of silent movies.

Hayes took home several box office smashes from 80 years ago, such as "Metropolis," "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." He popped "Metropolis" into the VCR and, to his surprise, his brain went pop too. "I was blown away by this movie," Hayes recalls 10 years later. "The first three songs were pounding in my head as I watched it, and I started writing."

Hayes went on to write a pop score for the 1927 Fritz Lang classic, which has been performed in New York and Paris. And now Hayes' first fully staged production of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," his second silent-movie-goes-pop musical, opens tonight at the Coronet Theatre in West Hollywood.

Hayes calls his new hybrid entertainment Vox Lumiere, a linguistic blend that means "Voice of Light" in Latin and French. The show created for the 1923 film starring Lon Chaney Sr. as the tragic hunchback features a live ensemble of eight singers (including Hayes' wife, Victoria Levy, as Esmeralda) and a four-piece rock band performing against an orchestral track punctuated with lute and electronic music. Singers in leather and bustiers move through a multilevel stage and, as they interact with the characters on three screens, they belt out the pounding score in three languages -- English, Latin and French -- and widely divergent musical styles, from rock to sacred, madrigals to opera.

Clearly, Hayes is a guy who doesn't want to be pigeonholed.

"I'm a film composer, I'm a TV composer, I'm a songwriter, and I love theater," says Hayes, 47. "It's a strange skill set. You never get to do those things at the same time. The initial idea was I wanted to do all that."

In 1995 Hayes moved to Los Angeles, where he quickly picked up film and TV work. After a year he finished the score for "Metropolis." When singer friends performed the work on a demo, a friend involved with a French-American film festival in New York insisted they perform the work live there.

"I thought, 'How am I going to do this live?' " recalls the voluble composer. "Other musical groups had improvised the film, but I wasn't interested in that. If something happened on a beat, I wanted it to happen on a beat every time."

Hayes polished the score using the computer technology he employed to write perfectly timed movie soundtracks, and the group performed "Metropolis" at the 6th Avignon/New York Film Festival in 2000. The performance was staged as a concert, with the vocalists standing under the screen as they sang with two guitars, a bass and drums. "My concern was, can we pull this off for 90 minutes ... and the answer was yes."

Vox Lumiere, which Hayes formed that year, was well enough received that the sister festival invited the group to perform "Metropolis" in Avignon, France, that summer, even though the production had nothing to do with the event's cross-cultural purpose. "We had no reason being there," Hayes observes. "They were so enthralled with this idea [of Vox Lumiere] that they had a German film in a French-American film festival. Which was what led to 'Hunchback.' "

The group sang "Metropolis" at the Avignon Opera House with its resident choir, amping up the sound with 24 additional voices. And when the festival organizers asked what Vox would be doing the following year, Hayes immediately came up with "The Hunchback," which he'd only begun to score.

"The French love the bossu de Notre Dame," Hayes says. "They love the hunchback. He's a national icon. I couldn't have said a better thing. So I thought, 'I'd better go home and finish that.' "

While Hayes finished writing "The Hunchback," Vox continued performing "Metropolis," including a brief sold-out run at the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax Avenue. When "Cousin, Cousine" director Jean Charles Tacchella heard Vox Lumiere's performance of "Hunchback" in Avignon during the summer of 2001, he invited the company to perform it at the Cinemathèque Française in Paris. La Provence newspaper called it "wild and soft at the same time, an opera for modern times."

"I thought, 'This has taken on a life of its own,' " Hayes says. "Unknowingly, I'd stumbled onto something."

Hayes decided that sticking with a concert format would limit Vox to "an artsy, film-festival kind of thing," and he wanted to broaden the appeal beyond audiences who were already sold on silent films. So Hayes recruited Vox voca - The Los Angeles Times

In the hands of composer Kevin Saunders Hayes, old films mixed with live performances become a unique art form.

By Irene Lacher , Special to The Times

Kevin Saunders Hayes stumbled onto his future in a bin at a discount surplus store. He was haunting temples to serendipitous thrift because he was moonlighting as a music writer for humble productions in 99-seat theaters in New York. Unlike composing commercials for deep-pocketed clients by day, mounting off-off-off-Broadway shows called for resourcefulness and rock-bottom prices -- such as the one-buck sign he saw on a bin of silent movies.

Hayes took home several box office smashes from 80 years ago, such as "Metropolis," "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." He popped "Metropolis" into the VCR and, to his surprise, his brain went pop too. "I was blown away by this movie," Hayes recalls 10 years later. "The first three songs were pounding in my head as I watched it, and I started writing."

Hayes went on to write a pop score for the 1927 Fritz Lang classic, which has been performed in New York and Paris. And now Hayes' first fully staged production of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," his second silent-movie-goes-pop musical, opens tonight at the Coronet Theatre in West Hollywood.

Hayes calls his new hybrid entertainment Vox Lumiere, a linguistic blend that means "Voice of Light" in Latin and French. The show created for the 1923 film starring Lon Chaney Sr. as the tragic hunchback features a live ensemble of eight singers (including Hayes' wife, Victoria Levy, as Esmeralda) and a four-piece rock band performing against an orchestral track punctuated with lute and electronic music. Singers in leather and bustiers move through a multilevel stage and, as they interact with the characters on three screens, they belt out the pounding score in three languages -- English, Latin and French -- and widely divergent musical styles, from rock to sacred, madrigals to opera.

Clearly, Hayes is a guy who doesn't want to be pigeonholed.

"I'm a film composer, I'm a TV composer, I'm a songwriter, and I love theater," says Hayes, 47. "It's a strange skill set. You never get to do those things at the same time. The initial idea was I wanted to do all that."

In 1995 Hayes moved to Los Angeles, where he quickly picked up film and TV work. After a year he finished the score for "Metropolis." When singer friends performed the work on a demo, a friend involved with a French-American film festival in New York insisted they perform the work live there.

"I thought, 'How am I going to do this live?' " recalls the voluble composer. "Other musical groups had improvised the film, but I wasn't interested in that. If something happened on a beat, I wanted it to happen on a beat every time."

Hayes polished the score using the computer technology he employed to write perfectly timed movie soundtracks, and the group performed "Metropolis" at the 6th Avignon/New York Film Festival in 2000. The performance was staged as a concert, with the vocalists standing under the screen as they sang with two guitars, a bass and drums. "My concern was, can we pull this off for 90 minutes ... and the answer was yes."

Vox Lumiere, which Hayes formed that year, was well enough received that the sister festival invited the group to perform "Metropolis" in Avignon, France, that summer, even though the production had nothing to do with the event's cross-cultural purpose. "We had no reason being there," Hayes observes. "They were so enthralled with this idea [of Vox Lumiere] that they had a German film in a French-American film festival. Which was what led to 'Hunchback.' "

The group sang "Metropolis" at the Avignon Opera House with its resident choir, amping up the sound with 24 additional voices. And when the festival organizers asked what Vox would be doing the following year, Hayes immediately came up with "The Hunchback," which he'd only begun to score.

"The French love the bossu de Notre Dame," Hayes says. "They love the hunchback. He's a national icon. I couldn't have said a better thing. So I thought, 'I'd better go home and finish that.' "

While Hayes finished writing "The Hunchback," Vox continued performing "Metropolis," including a brief sold-out run at the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax Avenue. When "Cousin, Cousine" director Jean Charles Tacchella heard Vox Lumiere's performance of "Hunchback" in Avignon during the summer of 2001, he invited the company to perform it at the Cinemathèque Française in Paris. La Provence newspaper called it "wild and soft at the same time, an opera for modern times."

"I thought, 'This has taken on a life of its own,' " Hayes says. "Unknowingly, I'd stumbled onto something."

Hayes decided that sticking with a concert format would limit Vox to "an artsy, film-festival kind of thing," and he wanted to broaden the appeal beyond audiences who were already sold on silent films. So Hayes recruited Vox voca - The Los Angeles Times

American composer Kevin Hayes revives the musical score for Metropolis, Fritz Lang’s 1926 masterpiece of silent cinema.

Last night The Avignon Opera House presented the advance European premiere of Metropolis, featuring the music of Kevin Hayes, following the success of the American screening at the New York Film Festival.

Kevin Saunders Hayes worked for two years on the new musical accompaniment for Fritz Lang’s Metropolis - considered one of the great works of silent cinema.

The organizers of the Avignon Film Festival, aware of the position of the city of the Popes (Avignon, cultural capital of the year 2000, la Beauté exposition) thought it appropriate to do something noteworthy for this first Euro-American Festival 2000.

Such was the case for the screening of Metropolis Sunday night at the Opera House. From the beginning of the first act, the audience was transported by a genuine live performance of eight American singers and four musicians, backed by the pre-recorded orchestra and 16 member Opera Choir.

Chantal “was dazzled by the music, as she felt the vibrations internally - it was overwhelming”. Marie-France was “especially appreciative of the chance to have another look at this prophetic film by the man that filmed it in 1926.

Actress Carole Bouquet (For Your Eyes Only) was to have attended last night’s premiere, which was sponsored by the Avignon Lions Club in partnership with The Avignon Opera House, France Telecom and the city of Avignon. The premiere raised funds in support of “The Voice of the Child”, an association fighting for the protection of children in France as well as 70 other countries, and of which the actress has been the spokesperson for more than ten years.

Having to cancel her appearance due to a family emergency, Carol has promised to visit Avignon in the near future, to meet with the organizers of the event. At the end of the performance, a cheque for 45,000 francs was presented to Martine Brus, president of the association.
- La Provence

American composer Kevin Hayes revives the musical score for Metropolis, Fritz Lang’s 1926 masterpiece of silent cinema.

Last night The Avignon Opera House presented the advance European premiere of Metropolis, featuring the music of Kevin Hayes, following the success of the American screening at the New York Film Festival.

Kevin Saunders Hayes worked for two years on the new musical accompaniment for Fritz Lang’s Metropolis - considered one of the great works of silent cinema.

The organizers of the Avignon Film Festival, aware of the position of the city of the Popes (Avignon, cultural capital of the year 2000, la Beauté exposition) thought it appropriate to do something noteworthy for this first Euro-American Festival 2000.

Such was the case for the screening of Metropolis Sunday night at the Opera House. From the beginning of the first act, the audience was transported by a genuine live performance of eight American singers and four musicians, backed by the pre-recorded orchestra and 16 member Opera Choir.

Chantal “was dazzled by the music, as she felt the vibrations internally - it was overwhelming”. Marie-France was “especially appreciative of the chance to have another look at this prophetic film by the man that filmed it in 1926.

Actress Carole Bouquet (For Your Eyes Only) was to have attended last night’s premiere, which was sponsored by the Avignon Lions Club in partnership with The Avignon Opera House, France Telecom and the city of Avignon. The premiere raised funds in support of “The Voice of the Child”, an association fighting for the protection of children in France as well as 70 other countries, and of which the actress has been the spokesperson for more than ten years.

Having to cancel her appearance due to a family emergency, Carol has promised to visit Avignon in the near future, to meet with the organizers of the event. At the end of the performance, a cheque for 45,000 francs was presented to Martine Brus, president of the association.
- La Provence