Dear Guests!
On behalf of the cast and crew of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", I want to say thank you for coming! The journey with this show has been a roller coaster, to say the least. When I selected it last year, I knew there would be hurdles to overcome, but I might have underestimated them just a bit! For example, I really had to dig into my mental choral archive to teach students latin pronunciations and more advanced choral technique. That being said, the cast and choir of this show have been absolutely astounding!
Victor Hugo's story surrounding the famous cathedral has caputred the attention of readers for years. There have been numerous movies, plays, and homages to this classic work of literature. The most famous probably being Disney's 1996 cartoon adaptation which, I'm sorry to say, has a happier ending than ours does. Have no fear though; there are plenty of comedic moments to balance out the seriousness!
The story of this musical's journey began in 1999 when it premiered in Berlin as Disney's first musical to be produced outside the United States. It ran for three years, becoming Berlin's longest running musical at the time. The English-language version, had its debut at La Jolla Playhouse in California in October of 2014, and ran until December 2014. Later, the show went on to open on March 4, 2015, at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. The show closed on April 5, 2015, after it was announced that it would not move to Broadway. Fun fact, the show that overrode Hunchback's move to Broadway was Disney' "Frozen" the musical.
Our technical theatre classes, as you can see, knocked this set and costumes out of the park! Many of the gypsy outfits and embellishments that you see were put together by our costuming students, while our painters, builders, and even a few extra volunteers constructed this incredible set the show lives in! It was conceived by Ms. Ayla Albright, and put together by her, our parent volunteers, and our cast and crew!
Our choregorapher, Jantzen Dauphine, a Lemon Bay High School alumnus, has put together some incredible choreography that will make you want to dance right along with us! We love having Jantzen as a part of the theatre family!
Our aim at Lemon Bay is to always present top notch performances that include everything from our show presentation to our smallest technical elements. Thank you to our families for supporting these students in their rehearsals here and at home! We know it can be grating to listen to them try to achieve the right note or perfect tone (especially if your students has to hit those astronomical high notes), but in the end you will find that it was all worth it. What you get to see and hear at home is literally the tip of the ice berg. What you will see tonight, is what lies beneath it!
We seem to say each year that this show was more challenging than the one that came before it, and so far, it has been true, but in different ways. Instead of inanimate objects coming to life (like last year) we have a half a dozen songs in Latin, high notes that will bust the ceiling open, and a dash of French and Romani langauge that had to be learned! Let's not forget the quick changes from gypsy to congregant to gargoyle to statue, and back again!
This cast and crew has been incredible to work with, and I could not be more proud of them! I hope that you will be too as we now present to you, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame".
