A cast of Capital Region high schoolers rehearsed at Schenectady Light Opera Company on Tuesday ahead of opening night for the theater's annual youth production of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” a musical built on Victor Hugo's classic novel and set in Paris in 1482. The show follows Quasimodo, the humpbacked bell ringer of Notre Dame, as he longs to escape the captivity of his uncle, Archdeacon Frollo, and attend the Feast of Fools.
SLOC Musical Theater's youth program, which launched in 2011, is presenting the show as its annual teen production, according to The Daily Gazette. SLOC's own production page describes the musical as inspired by both Hugo's novel and the Disney film, built around a score by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz that follows Quasimodo, Esmeralda and Frollo through the story. Sharon Greene directs the production, a credit also confirmed by The Daily Gazette as part of SLOC's broader season announcement.
At the center of the story is Quasimodo's meeting with Esmeralda at the Feast of Fools. Esmeralda is portrayed as a kind Romani woman who protects Quasimodo from cruelty, even as she catches the eye of both Frollo and Captain Phoebus. In this production, Claudio Montaño plays Quasimodo, Kamili Kemawor plays Esmeralda, Brayden Huneau takes on Frollo, Paul Graves plays Phoebus, and Ella Wilborn plays Clopin.
A Production Built on Local Student Talent
The show showcases talent drawn specifically from local high schools, with the principal cast backed by the Gargoyle Quartet ensemble and a choir of more than 30 students from area high schools. Andrew Burger serves as music director and Ashley Polidore as choreographer, while Ella Mboma and Taylor Ramsey produce the production. Justin Nadal and Noah Unser round out the creative team as stage managers.
Auditions for the teen roles were held months earlier, on June 7 and June 8, with invitation-only callbacks the following day, per a notice from Berkshire on Stage. That announcement specified that all roles would be cast with performers entering grades 9 through 12 in September, and it noted that SLOC Musical Theater never charges tuition or fees to artists of any age who participate in its productions.
Dates, Tickets and Where to See It
Performances run at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and Nov. 12-14, with 3 p.m. matinees on Sunday and Nov. 14-15, at Schenectady Light Opera Company, 427 Franklin Street, Schenectady. The Daily Gazette's season preview separately confirmed the run spans Nov. 6-15, while a November theater roundup from the station notes the production plays Nov. 6-8 and 12-15. Tickets range from $25 to $35 and can be purchased at sloctheater.org/project/hunchback/ or by calling 518-730-7370.
SLOC presents the musical through a special arrangement with Music Theatre International, which supplies all of the production's authorized performance materials, according to the theater's own project page. A photo gallery from the production is expected to be posted this weekend, giving families and theatergoers a first look behind the scenes of the student-driven staging.
