TrailerMaking of MusicalPoster
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A Note from the Director:What makes a monster and what makes a man?
That is the question at the heart of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Which is more monstrous—the deformed, lonely hunchback or the pious, corrupt archdeacon? What does it mean to be a monster—to be truly ugly inside or out? To answer this question, we need only look to Frollo and his blind hatred of all Roma people, referred to by the term we have learned should no longer be in use- Gypsies. Frollo’s vilification of an entire group of people based on their race echoes, to a much larger scale, his condemnation of Quasimodo for his deformity. It is precisely this quality of Frollo’s—his instance to paint a group of people as villains simply because of who they are or where they come from—that makes him such a dangerous monster. A person in a position of power, with the ear of a King, Frollo is a man who uses his influence and power to condemn an entire race to unimaginable suffering. It isn’t until Esmeralda challenges his thoughts of her people that he begins to see her differently—and even then, it is only Esmeralda he intends to “save”, not her entire community. Ultimately, the question of what makes a monster and what makes a man is one that we hope to raise in all of us…our students and future generations—this idea that who we are, the way we treat others, is the part of us that matters. This musical asks us which side we would rather be on—the oppressors or the ones fighting for justice, and in the end, I hope we all know how to answer the call. Benji Braswell |