Darker 'Hunchback' promises richer story, same great music

With a little more than a week to go until showtime, all the pieces of the Cloquet High School production of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" are coming together - literally and figuratively.

The stairs and balconies that climb up both sides of the stage are complete, and perfectly frame a massive, hand-painted, Plexiglas stained glass window that glows high above the set. Modeled after the actual stained glass windows at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the almost-completed circular window may be the crown jewel of Iris Keller's two decades as set designer for CHS plays.

A community choir - directed by Jim Sheetz of the Scott House - has been practicing separately, but was set to join the cast for rehearsals this week. The choir is part of the set, director Landon Hall said, and is key to bringing the atmosphere of the cathedral to life.

Three giant bells will soon make their own debut, along with dozens of young actors who have been preparing for the show for months and who won't get much sleep between now and opening night on Nov. 15.

Saturday was the first time the entire cast did Act I from start to (almost) finish.

"Now is when the theater magic happens. Everything starts to click and you see it all come to life," said Hall, who is back for a second time as director of the fall musical at his alma mater.

Last year's musical and this year's selection stand in stark contrast to one another.

While "Legally Blonde" was a peppy preppy love story with a happy ending, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" takes a darker turn, although it still features the songs made popular in the animated Disney version.

"This production follows the original novel [written by Victor Hugo] much more closely," Hall said, adding "It's a very good story."

Described in the publicity materials as a story of "love, acceptance and what it means to be a hero," the musical follows Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer of Notre Dame; his devious caretaker, the archdeacon Dom Claude Frollo, the beautiful and smart Esmeralda and more.

However, like any good Pixar film, there are greater themes at play that the adults and older teens in the room will probably get, while the children in the audience remain happily oblivious to the greater implications of a priest's obsession with a beautiful Gypsy girl forced to earn a living trading on those looks. Hall rates the play as PG, with parental guidance encouraged.

"I deliberately chose something very different," Hall said. "I wanted something that would allow the actors to stretch their abilities, rather than playing the same [type of] character two years in a row."

Auditions were held before school got out in the spring, for the first time, so the lead characters could learn their lines and many of their songs over the summer. There was a plethora of talent on display, so much that Hall and his various assistants actually delayed announcing the roles for a few days while they considered their choices.

In the end, they cast two girls - juniors Patrice Eakman and Sophia Brenner - as Esmeralda. Brenner will open the show on Thursday and also perform Saturday, while Eakman will perform Friday and close out the run on Sunday.

"Honestly, they both auditioned so well, we felt like they both should experience it," he said. "We couldn't choose."

He recommends theater fans come twice so they can see both Esmeraldas, noting that each girls has developed her own character and both are "marvelous."

Jordan Allen was cast as Quasimodo. The junor not only acts, he also wrestles, runs cross-country and won a prestigious writing award last spring, making him the perfect Renaissance man for the role.

The talent doesn't stop there, said Hall, complimenting the student actors as well as all the adults who have been working hard to make the magic happen.

"This will be one show no one will want to miss," the excited director said. "There are so many pieces - the choir, the congregation (ensemble), the set, the characters - once you put it all together, it makes a marvelous piece of art."

IF YOU GO

“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” starts at 7 p.m.

Nov. 15, 16 and 17 with a 2 p.m. matinee Sunday,

Nov. 18 at Cloquet High School Auditorium. Tickets are available in advance online (isd94.org) and at the door, and cost $9 for students and $11 for adults.