Geoff Burns says The Hunchback of Notre Dame, although written over a century ago, is appropriate for today’s world. French society at the time wanted to get rid of “criminals, foreigners and gypsies.”
“It uses phrases like, ‘Our borders are porous, we need to stop them from getting in,’” he says. “One of our big conversations with the students is, what is the message we are sending to people about this, and what do we want to say, and how do we call for a better world.”
The musical, based on the 1831 novel by Victor Hugo, set in Paris in the 1400s, is the 30th annual Capitol Theatre Summer Youth Production. Thirty actors, singers and dancers age 12 to 20 have been rehearsing for weeks under the direction of Burns along with music director Allison Girvan and choreographer Lynette Lightfoot.
Dune Macdonald says that Quasimodo, his character in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, is misunderstood.
“I feel a bit melancholy when I am playing him,” Macdonald says, “because there is this sweetness about him, and it is weighted with his fear of people seeing him out in broad daylight. So to overcome that, he needs to rise up and not care what people think of him.”
Macdonald’s bearing on the stage is a convincing hunchback. He hunches over, drops one side of his body, and moves awkwardly.
“He is different, and people treat him differently,” he says. “They don’t treat him fairly because he is shaped differently.”
Kozmo Sammartino plays Archdeacon Claude Frollo, Quasimodo’s uncle and caretaker who keeps him locked in the bell tower of the cathedral.
“Frollo raises him as his own,” Sammartino says, “and he has this kind of abusive relationship with him, tells him he is ugly.”
Sammartino says it is a big challenge for him, playing an angry abusive xenophobe.
“I can show that this is a real person who has a lot of dark tendencies, just like how the people who create evil in the world are real people and think they are doing the right thing. But he is actually making life difficult for all of Paris.
“So I feel great pleasure to play this character because I get to play it in a certain way to make people think about why he is the way he is.”
Girvan says one of the reasons for choosing Hunchback was the music.
“The music is gorgeous,” she says, “a blend of what people might know from the Disney version and newly written stuff for this musical. It is epically big.”
The music is by Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin) and Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell).
Because the trio of Girvan, Burns and Lightfoot are retiring after eleven years of directing the summer youth production, they’ve invited 16 alumni from previous shows to come and sing in the chorus, including Malaika Horswill, who started in the production of Annie in 2001 when she was 12 and finished with The Pajama Game in 2013.
“It is very cool to be back in this space,” she says. “I have lots of memories. My formative years were spent growing up there. It’s really inspiring to see these young people, so talented, dedicated and hard working. I don’t remember ever being as focused as they are.”
She has kind words for the performance of Macdonald as Quasimodo.
“My gosh, that kid. First of all, that voice, I mean what the heck. He is really on it, always focused, always ready for what’s next. He’s crushin’ it.”
The Hunchback of Notre Dame runs July 26, 27, and 28, with tickets available at the Capitol Theatre box office and at capitoltheatre.ca.
