BWW Previews: THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME DEBUTS FOR 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF at Carrollwood Cultural Center

The musical of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME starts and closes with the same question: "What makes a monster and what makes a man?"

Directed by Paul Berg and Aaron Washington, it's a question MAS Community Theatre will answer with its production of the musical at Carrollwood Cultural Center March 16-25.

Celebrating their 10-year anniversary, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME is the largest theatrical production in theatre's history. The musical will showcase the talents of 44 cast members from MAS Community Theatre, 22 chorus and band members from the Carrollwood Community Chorus under the direction of Mary Jo Hahn, and the Carrollwood Winds concert band under the direction of Joshua Hobbs.

"We are one of the first theatre companies in Florida to produce THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. We have never attempted a production of this scale before," said Paul. "It is the first time that we are combining our Chorus, Band and Theatre program together for a production. We also have several scenic elements that we have never attempted before which include an eight foot-by eight-foot stained glass window hanging on the stage, gargoyles that will be hanging above the audience and a lot of action that takes place amongst the audience."

Based on Victor Hugo's novel with songs from the Disney animated feature, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME showcases the film's Academy Award-nominated score, as well as new songs by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. Peter Parnell's new book embraces story theatre and features verbatim passages from Hugo's novel of the same name.

The musical tells the story of a deformed bell ringer named Quasimodo (Ryan Bintz ) who has been imprisoned and abused by the archdeacon Claude Frollo (Marcus Blake) for his entire life. During Paris' Feast of Fools, Quasimodo escapes out into the real world for the first time. He is treated cruelly by everyone but the beautiful gypsy Esmerelda (Erica Garraffa). She has also captured the eye of the handsome Captain Phoebus (Seth Alderman) and the cruel archdeacon. As the three vie for her attention, Frollo embarks on a mission to destroy the gypsies - and it's up to Quasimodo to save them all. What results is a story of love, lust, kindness, cruelty and humanity.

"Last night watching the production with lights and orchestra certain scenes brought tears to my eyes and that's when I knew I really knew this is something worth seeing," said Aaron. ""What I find makes this such a special piece of theatre to create is the fact that not only have we immersed ourselves into Notre Dame 1482 but the cast has been living and breathing these characters and songs and it shows through during their performances."

Paul explained that this production sets a new standard for theatre at the Carrollwood Cultural Center. All the elements work harmoniously to create an epic experience.

He added, "Our goal with this production is to have the audience swept up in this epic story. There is a line in one of the songs that says "Who is the monster and who is the man." This story should make you think about how we, as a society, judge others by appearance instead of who they really are."

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME runs March 16-25 at Carrollwood Cultural Center. Tickets are available online here. Advanced tickets are $21 member / $25 general admission and Day of Show tickets are $23 member / $27 general admission. Group rates are available for groups of 10 or more. Email boxoffice@carrollwoodcenter.org to make arrangements.

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