A full choir stands onstage alongside the cast as Conejo Players Theatre brings The Hunchback of Notre Dame to life in Thousand Oaks, with performances running through Nov. 29. DJ Hersh stars as Quasimodo, with John Gaston as Dom Claude Frollo, Meline Ortega as Esmeralda, Will Palo as Captain Phoebus de Martin, and Ben Muley as Jehan rounding out the principal cast.
The production runs at Conejo Players Theatre, 351 S. Moorpark Road, with tickets listed at $23 to $25, according to VC Reporter. The run also closes out Conejo Players Theatre’s 68th season, as reported by BroadwayWorld, which also describes the production as featuring a sweeping, choral, almost operatic score alongside that full onstage choir.
A Story Rooted in Victor Hugo, Shaped by Disney
The musical traces back to Victor Hugo’s original novel, written in 1831, and later to the 1996 Disney film that introduced the story to a new generation, according to Music Theatre International. The stage musical itself was originally produced in Germany in 1999, before an English-language version debuted in San Diego in 2014 with a book revised by Peter Parnell for that adaptation.
Per the same account, that English version went on to premiere in New Jersey in March 2015. Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz wrote most of the music, while the musical added nine additional songs and includes revisions to some of its original songs to fit its darker tone. The show’s book and music credits were also confirmed by Variety, which notes that the book is by Peter Parnell, the music by Alan Menken, and the lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, in its review of La Jolla Playhouse’s 2014 production — a staging that opened and was reviewed on Nov. 9, 2014, and ran through Dec. 14 of that year, as documented by Variety.
Prejudice and Faith Collide Onstage
The musical explores prejudice, discrimination, cruelty, and religious extremism, weaving in Latin choral harmonies and operatic passages throughout the score. Conejo Players Theatre’s own show description frames the central conflict starkly: Frollo embarks on a mission to destroy the Roma, and it is up to Quasimodo to try to save them all, according to the theater’s synopsis.
That tension between institutional power and persecuted outsiders has defined the musical since its earliest stagings, and the Thousand Oaks production leans into the show’s choral scale to underline the stakes. The full onstage choir, highlighted by BroadwayWorld’s announcement of the show, gives the production the kind of operatic weight that distinguishes it from the original animated film.
Closing Out a Milestone Season
With performances running Nov. 6 through Nov. 29, the show gives Thousand Oaks audiences a chance to catch a milestone production before Conejo Players Theatre wraps its 68th season. The original coverage of the production, from Ventura County Reporter, credits writer Tim Pompey and photographer Scott Quintard with bringing the production to local readers’ attention, with the article appearing in the Art & Culture section.
