By Bess Markel and Sam Dupree
This fall, Pioneer Theatre Guild took audiences to 1482 Paris to tell the story of Esmeralda and Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame.
Pioneer’s 2016 fall musical was “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” based on the novel by Victor Hugo and the Disney movie of the same name. The musical is about a deformed hunchback, Quasimodo, who has spent his life living in the bell tower of Notre Dame. One day, he decides to venture outside into the world and meets a beautiful girl named Esmeralda — a Gypsy who spends her life on the run. Throughout the show, Quasimodo and a royal soldier attempt to save Esmeralda, while the archdeacon of Notre Dame, Claude Frollo, tries to hunt her down.
Over two months of work and preparation went into the production of this intense show.
This show was a pilot production of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” musical which is new to high school theater programs. Musical Theatre International chose Pioneer as one of under 10 schools to put on this show before the rights are given to other schools.
“I think they chose Pioneer because we are dedicated and passionate about what we do,” said cast member Lana Stanczak, “and that really translates to our performances.”
The simulated brick church that forms the set is complete with paper mache bells and a beautiful stained glass rose window. Each stone that makes up the church was individually hand painted. A new curtain with over 2,000 LED lights was created to give the effect of the starry night sky.
Many students say they feel inspired by working on such a big and complicated project. Senior Rachel Shearon has been helping build sets since her sophomore year, and thinks Pioneer Theater Guild has helped her discover what she wants to do with her life. “Over the summer, when I wasn’t doing theatre, I realized just how much I loved and missed it. Creating the amazing set for ‘Hunchback’ finalized that realization and let me know that [theater] was what I wanted to do with my life.”
Now over, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” was a deemed by cast and audiences alike as a success. Theatre Guild has already begun to prepare for its next show Future Stars, and its Spring show, “The Wizard of Oz.”
Pioneer’s 2016 fall musical was “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” based on the novel by Victor Hugo and the Disney movie of the same name. The musical is about a deformed hunchback, Quasimodo, who has spent his life living in the bell tower of Notre Dame. One day, he decides to venture outside into the world and meets a beautiful girl named Esmeralda — a Gypsy who spends her life on the run. Throughout the show, Quasimodo and a royal soldier attempt to save Esmeralda, while the archdeacon of Notre Dame, Claude Frollo, tries to hunt her down.
Over two months of work and preparation went into the production of this intense show.
This show was a pilot production of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” musical which is new to high school theater programs. Musical Theatre International chose Pioneer as one of under 10 schools to put on this show before the rights are given to other schools.
“I think they chose Pioneer because we are dedicated and passionate about what we do,” said cast member Lana Stanczak, “and that really translates to our performances.”
The simulated brick church that forms the set is complete with paper mache bells and a beautiful stained glass rose window. Each stone that makes up the church was individually hand painted. A new curtain with over 2,000 LED lights was created to give the effect of the starry night sky.
Many students say they feel inspired by working on such a big and complicated project. Senior Rachel Shearon has been helping build sets since her sophomore year, and thinks Pioneer Theater Guild has helped her discover what she wants to do with her life. “Over the summer, when I wasn’t doing theatre, I realized just how much I loved and missed it. Creating the amazing set for ‘Hunchback’ finalized that realization and let me know that [theater] was what I wanted to do with my life.”
Now over, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” was a deemed by cast and audiences alike as a success. Theatre Guild has already begun to prepare for its next show Future Stars, and its Spring show, “The Wizard of Oz.”
Photos Courtesy of Myra Klarman