Hays Post
Hays High School will perform the musical “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” Nov. 10-Nov. 12.
Based on the Victor Hugo novel and songs from the Disney animated feature, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” showcases the film’s Academy Award-nominated score, as well as new songs by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. Peter Parnell’s new book embraces story theater and features verbatim passages from Hugo’s gothic novel.
The musical begins as the bells of Notre Dame sound through the famed cathedral in 15th-century Paris. Quasimodo, the deformed bell-ringer who longs to be “Out There,” observes all of Paris reveling in the Feast of Fools.
Held captive by his devious caretaker, the archdeacon Dom Claude Frollo, he escapes for the day and joins the boisterous crowd, only to be treated cruelly by all but the beautiful gypsy, Esmeralda.
Quasimodo isn’t the only one captivated by her free spirit, though — the handsome Captain Phoebus and Frollo are equally enthralled. As the three vie for her attention, Frollo embarks on a mission to destroy the gypsies — and it’s up to Quasimodo to save them all.
The HHS cast is comprised of 70 students with a total of 100 involved with the pit orchestra and crew. This high school has moved the annual musical from the 12th Street Auditorium to Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center for the first time. The students have been practicing in the wrestling room at the high school and moved to the Beach/Schmidt stage this week.
“It is a wonderful cast and a classic show. It’s a great show based on the Victor Hugo novel,” chorale director Johnny Matlock told KAYS morning show host C.D. DeSalvo in a recent on-air interview. “It’ll be entertaining.’
Erin Muirhead plays the love interest in the show, the gypsy Esmeralda.
“My favorite part about her is that she is very sensitive,” Muirhead said, “and she just wants to help people and make the world a better place. It has been a lot of work so far, but I think it will be worth it.”
Ryan Will plays Quasimodo, the hunchback.
“Quasimodo is really cool to play because he is a complicated character. He struggles because he is physically deformed. Frollo hides him away in a bell tower, and he wants to have friends and have love and that kind of thing, but Frollo denies him that, so he has this struggle throughout the musical of finding that.”
Eric Adams plays archdeacon Dom Claude Frollo.
“He’s trying to do what he sees best except that is generally definitely not the right thing to do,” Adams said.
This is a Disney production. In the Disney movie, everyone lives happily ever after, but in the original novel, that was not the case, Matlock said. This production follows the novel more closely.
“We have enjoyed that because there is some great meaning in there,” Matlock said. “This is set in the 15th century when people would look on people like Quasimodo and he was an outcast. They wanted to keep him in the bell tower. It poses the question to us, ‘How do we treat human beings?’ We as a cast have been working through that. This was set in the 15th century in Paris by Victor Hugo, but we are still struggling with those issues today.”
Tickets are $10 and on sale now. The Hays High box office is open from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 2 to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4. It is located at Hays High School in front of the Lecture Hall. Enter through the main doors. You can also call 785-628-4628 to order tickets or book tickets online. Friday, Nov. 10 and Saturday, Nov. 11’s performances will be at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday’s performance will be at 2:30 p.m., all at the Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center on the Fort Hays State University campus.