The Big Voice: God or Merman? - 2006 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 11

Based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Disney Theatrical Group’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a powerful musical that explores the fate of Quasimodo and the complex human relationships surrounding him in 15th-century Paris. Set against the backdrop of Notre Dame Cathedral, the story delves into themes of love, prejudice, and acceptance. The score features music by Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast) and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked). Enriched by soaring choral arrangements and a sweeping orchestral sound, the production invites audiences to reflect on the timeless question of what it truly means to be human. It remains one of Shiki Theatre Company’s most acclaimed productions. Quasimodo lives in the bell tower of Notre Dame Cathedral, where he has been raised since childhood by the archdeacon Frollo. Looking out over the city from above, he dreams of the day he might finally experience the world beyond the cathedral walls. With only the bells and stone statues for company, Quasimodo spends his days in solitude. But an unexpected encounter sets into motion a chain of events that will change his life forever.

BWW catches up with Ratbags Theatre to chat about bringing How To Art to the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

What did our critic think of SENSORY-FRIENDLY PERFORMANCE OF WICKED at Orpheum Theatre Minneapolis?

Upper Darby Summer Stage will present a pilot production of SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK LIVE! JR. at Haverford High School, featuring more than 60 young performers from schools across the Delaware Valley.

Camerata Chicago has announced its 23rd concert season, featuring works by Mendelssohn, Mozart, Handel, Bach, Vivaldi, Poulenc and Faure across Chicago and suburban Illinois venues.

The Pittsburgh venue named its first Artistic Director while launching ForgeWorks, a new program for developing works with producers and cultural institutions, alongside a rebrand.

WQED and the New Hazlett Theater will host an exclusive screening of a new documentary tracing the Pittsburgh venue's history, including its years as the Pittsburgh Public Theater's original home.

Ocean City Theatre Company and the Ocean City POPS Orchestra will present SISTER ACT at the Bill and Nancy Hughes Performing Arts Center, featuring a live orchestra and professional cast.

Philadelphia Children's Theater will present an interactive, move-through production about a whale entangled in ocean debris, staged at Theatre Horizon as part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

Shamanic practitioner Paqo Tom will present the immersive wellness event Soul Retrieval at 1518 Walnut Street in Philadelphia as part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

Champions of Magic is entertainment in its purest form for patrons of all ages and will have everyone leaving the theater bursting with youthful energy and amazement. 

For Steven Maler, founding artistic director of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” holds special significance as the first free outdoor Shakespeare production he directed with CSC, in 1996 in Copley Square. This summer Maler is again directing the comedy – through August 9 at the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common, in partnership with the City of Boston’s Parks and Recreation Department and the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture – to mark CSC’s 30th anniversary.

This charming and quite wonderful production is perhaps the most perfect offering in the company’s splendid thirty-two year history.

The National Theatre has shared a video exploring how the life-sized horse puppet Joey was created for War Horse, now playing at the Olivier Theatre through July 2026.

Paramount+ posted a Season 2 recap of LIONESS ahead of the espionage drama's Season 3 premiere, catching viewers up on Joe, Kaitlyn, Byron, and Cruz's mission.

LIL BABY and The Jones Foundation provided school supplies and resources to thousands of students through a community back-to-school event.

New theater group, Porvenir, stages an experimental take on Tennessee Williams’ classic 'Summer and Smoke,' now titled 'El Fuego del Alma.'

Family musicals are often treated as lighter companions to a theatre's flagship productions—pleasant diversions aimed primarily at younger audiences. Every now and then, however, a production comes along that proves a family show can match its larger counterparts in ambition, craftsmanship and sheer theatrical imagination. This summer, the Freilichtspiele Tecklenburg achieve exactly that with Snow White and Me, a visually sumptuous fairy-tale adventure that combines witty storytelling, infectious music and lavish stagecraft into one of the festival's biggest surprises.

The 12th Annual LaBute New Theatre Festival features new works by playwrights who hail from Kentucky, New York, Utah, Missouri, and Pennsylvania, plus a new work from festival’s namesake Neil LaBute. This year’s crop of plays, produced by St. Louis Actors’ studio includes three comedies, two comedic dramas, and a more serious piece. Best in Show – Erin Fitzgerald’s witty and pun-filled Junk Drawer, hilariously directed by Eric Dean White, examines what life must be like for a forgotten penny, poker chip, and magic marker stuck in the back of the kitchen junk drawer. White elicits wonderful portrays from this trio of actors whose characters are desperate to escape their forgotten existence. Fitzgerald’s clever tongue-in-cheek script is reminiscent of the forgotten toys in Pixar’s Toy Story movies. The 15-minute laugher has more giggles than many full-length comedies.

“It takes so much energy to create something from start to finish. To spend the time writing it and recording it, it should feel like I needed to do this. We're all writing from a place that keeps us interested and feels current to us now. In a few years, we'll look back (at LP4) and see it as a phase … However, you never really see that when you're in it. You're just kind of following your creative impulses.”

THE LIGHTNING THIEF at The Empress Theatre is totally epic and highly entertaining. Featuring a mostly youth cast, this Percy Jackson musical is well suited to audiences of all ages.

BWW catches up with Michelle Johnson to chat about bringing Extra Dry to the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

What happens when over 60 years of cinematic espionage is celebrated through the power of a live orchestra? The San Francisco Symphony's James Bond Forever concert reminds us that some of the most iconic moments in film history begin not with dialogue, but with a song.

What did our critic think of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH at Smithtown Performing Arts Center?

“It’s the little big things you leave behind.” Few new musicals have captured audiences quite like „The Little Big Things“, and Amsterdam's new non-replica production proves exactly why. Presented as part of the Carré Theatre's tenth-anniversary „Broadway in Carré“ series, Ola Mafaalani's staging combines an outstanding cast, breathtaking visuals and remarkable emotional depth to create an evening that lingers long after the curtain calls. More than a moving story about resilience, it is a celebration of family, healing and inclusion—told from a perspective that feels both deeply personal and profoundly universal.