The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Performed November 2022
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. Gina Braswell |
Production Photos
Al?ce's Adventures in Wonderland
Performed October 2022
Making of MainstagePosterDesign by Jay Leavell
Design by Mandorallyn Robertson
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A Note from the Director“Al?ce”- No that’s not a typo. Our adaptation of Al?ce in Wonderland is all about that question mark.
Last year, one of my Advanced Theatre classes brought up the fact that they wished they could see themselves reflected in characters on stage. This led to a conversation about the fact that most often the characters students are asked to play are represented in binary genders. Many of the students at our school and in our community identify themselves as non-binary. Having never considered this lack of representation on stage for our students, I wanted to find a way to ensure every single one of them could see themselves in the characters we create. In an effort to promote inclusion and to do justice by our non-binary students, I set out this summer to write an adaptation of Lewis Carol’s works that better represented my theatre students. Why Lewis Carol? The more you dig in to the original text of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, the more you find that Lewis Carol’s works are all about answering (Dun Dun Dun) “THE GREAT QUESTION”…Who am I? Lewis structures his classic stories around the search for better understanding not only one’s own identity, but one’s place in the world. Who am I? Why do I matter? What difference can I make? In this chaotic “dream” Alice comes to terms with becoming who she truly is. As I made my way through the text I found chapter after chapter questioning the names of things, why names matter, what happens when we remove names altogether? From the Forest of No Names to the caterpillar’s classic question- “Whoooooo Are Yooooou?”, this age-old tale is all about self-discovery and identity- two monumental themes I think our teenagers struggle with most in their high school years. Our adaptation takes these ideas of identity and self-discovery and, of course, THE GREAT QUESTION, and tells the classic story with a twist. In this version, we see Al?ce get to the root of who they are by discovering they want to “live in the in between”. We hope that Al?ce’s journey to self-discovery serves to represent those students who do not always see themselves reflected on stage and reminds all of us that it is okay to wrestle with the great question in on our way. Gina Braswell |
"We all have to travel our own path, choose our own direction…to become who we actually are!"