The Hunchback of Notre Dame, presented by the Carleton Musical Theatre Society, is coming to Carleton’s Kailash Mital Theatre in the spring term.
Based on the Victor Hugo novel and the Disney animated feature, The Hunchback of Notre Dame tells a story of love, acceptance, and what it means to be a hero. It follows Quasimodo and his guardian Claude Frollo, the courageous Esmeralda, and captain Phoebus as their paths cross in 16th century Paris.
Drama student Mary Sword has been studying theatre since high school and is the artistic director of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. “[Directing] is both intuitive and also something you learn to do. The preliminary ideas get developed and turn into a show.”
She says seeing the show come to fruition is insane. “The last production I directed was The Elephant Man and I had a vision of the final tableaux. Seeing that on stage was absolutely inspiring so I’m really excited to see the final product of this show.”
“I’m excited to experience Musical Theatre at Carleton,” says first-year student Megan Pannozzo, who is considering auditioning. “I was a music major in high school, but my degree doesn’t relate to music at all so I’m looking forward to getting back into what I love,” she says.
Pannozzo was worried about time commitments at first, but she’s learned to manage it.
“So long as you’re able to write out a schedule and balance it, it is possible,” says Sword. She mentioned that everyone on the production team is a student, so there is a lot of understanding with commitments, but there are high expectations.
Last year, CMTS presented Chicago, and Alessia Spano, another a first-year Carleton student, saw the production while touring campus in the spring. “I’m just as excited to see this year’s production as I was to see Chicago! It will be cool to see people that I know from around the school on stage.”
Alessia is also considering joining a production team, as she has never been one for the stage, “I know that there is a lot that goes into a musical, in high school I worked with costumes and it’s something I’d do again.”
The production will be holding auditions on Nov. 9 and Nov. 10. The actual show is scheduled for March 13-16.
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