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9 gozotoday | FRIDAY • 25 OCTOBER 2024 CULTURE 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' live musical on stage in Gozo WHAT makes a monster and what makes a man? This is the central theme of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a grand-scale musical from Disney Theatrical. Based on the 1996 Disney film and Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame tells the story of Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bell-ringer of No- tre Dame, and his desire to one day be part of the outside world. When he summons the courage to attend the Feast of Fools, he meets Esmeralda, a compassion- ate gypsy who protects him from an angry mob. But at the same time, Quasi- modo's master, the archdeacon Dom Claude Frollo, and the new captain of the guard, Phoebus de Martin, fall in love with the beau- tiful girl. Adding to Quasimodo's struggle is his punishment and derision from Frollo, following years of psychological abuse, and the danger posed by the gypsies, who are willing to kill any outsid- ers who venture into their secret hideout. But before Paris is burned to the ground, will Quasimodo be able to save Esmeralda from Frollo's lust and anger? Will she return Quasimodo's affection? Who is the true monster of Notre Dame? This November the Don Bosco Oratory Theatre of Victoria will be staging for the first time in Malta the musical 'The Hunch- back Of Notre Dame'. This musi- cal, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and book by James Lapine, is based on the 1996 Disney film of the same name. The stage production of the musical, originally named as "Der Glöckner von Notre Dame", (literally translated in English: 'The Bellringer of Notre Dame') opened on June 5, 1999, at the Musicaltheater Berlin (now Theater am Potsdamer Platz). After a successful run, it closed in June 2002. This was Disney's first musical to premiere outside the US, and it became one of Berlin's longest-running musicals to date. As with Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, Der Glöckner Von Notre Dame opened three years after the release of the mov- ie it is based on. In April 2013, an English adaptation of Der Glöck- ner von Notre Dame by The King's Academy Fine Arts De- partment was staged in Florida, and later had a largely successful run in the US up till 2015. Now thanks to the license and the relevant permits from Music Theatre International of London, as well as with the financial sup- port of the Directorate of Cul- tural Heritage of the Ministry for Gozo and the French Embassy in Malta, this same musical is being staged live in English at the ful- ly-airconditioned theatre of the Don Bosco Oratory in Gozo, on the occasion of the 75th Anniver- sary of this same theatre. 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' musical is a two hour and 30 minutes show of enchanting music, songs and dancing, which together recount the emotional story of the Hunchback of No- tre Dame as depicted by Victor Hugo. This show is coinciding as well with the completion of the restoration works of the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Amongst the most popular songs of the musical we will hear "The Bells of Notre Dame", "Top- sy Turvy", "Out There", "Rhythm of the Tambourine", "God Help The Outcasts" and "Top of the World", as well as "Hellfire" and "Esmeralda", together with many other beautiful melodies so much loved by musical theatre patrons. The best local artists will be tak- ing part, together with some spe- cial guest artists from Malta. Ludwig Galea will be interpret- ing the main part of Quasimodo, whist the young promising artist Krista Mercieca would be por- traying the other main role of Esmeralda. Other characters are being interpreted by Andrew Bu- hagiar, Karl J. Buhagiar, George Camilleri, Louis Andrew Cassar, Fabian Galea, David Grech, Mat- thias Mercieca and Casey Sac- co, together with a cast of about eighty other persons, including musicians, singers, choristers and dancers. The Musical Director Mark Gauci will be conducting the or- chestra, whilst the choir director is Antonella Rapa. Artistic direc- tion of the show is in the hands of Jamie Camilleri, whilst Mario Grech and Frances Zammit are in charge of the choreographic numbers. Scenography has been left in the hands of the young Paul M. Cassar together with a group of volunteers from the Don Bosco Oratory Theatre. The opening night of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' will be on Saturday 9 November at 7.30pm, with a repeat perfor- mance on Sunday 10 November at 2.30pm (matinee show). There will be two other performanc- es: on Saturday 16 November at 7.30pm, and on Sunday 17 No- vember at 5.30pm. Booking is now open. Tickets for 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' can be obtained from the Don Bosco Oratory of Gozo every day between 5pm and 6pm, or else by phoning on 21556616 or 99487751. Online booking is also available through the website theatre.donboscogozo.org or don- boscogozo.org. Before Paris is burned to the ground, will Quasimodo be able to save Esmeralda from Frollo's lust and anger? Will she return Quasimodo's affection? Who is the true monster of Notre Dame?