Spring Musical to take Center Stage

The cast of the spring musical has been in rehearsal for months and ready to showcase its hard work for audiences. Performances are March 2, 3, 9, and 10 at 7:30 p.m. Matinee performances will be on March 4 at 3 p.m. and March 10 at 2 p.m.

Featuring music and lyrics by Academy Award-winners Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, book by Peter Parnell, and based on the Victor Hugo novel and songs from the Disney film, this local production is directed by Humanities teacher Franciso Padura, with music direction by Priscilla Blanco and choreography by Julie Pappas-Smith.  Padura, a veteran actor and teacher is marking his 11^th production at the Ignatian Center as director.

In 1831 when Victor Hugo penned The Hunchback of Notre Dame, he sought to bring light to the neglected Gothic architecture, and in turn sparked a revival, but he also created a novel in where the paupers became protagonists. Set in Paris in 1482, a band of traveling players arrives to bring the story of The Hunchback of Notre Dame to another audience. The deformed bell-ringer Quasimodo longs for just one day outside the walls of the legendary cathedral, but his master, the righteous Claude Frollo, is determined to shield him from the outside world. When Quasimodo unexpectedly crosses paths with Esmeralda, a gypsy and an outcast herself, he begins to realize there is more to the world and to the people in it. When fear and judgment threaten the city and the friends he has come to love, Quasimodo must choose whom to trust - and what he is willing to risk for freedom.

There is no better time than now to hear the message of acceptance, forgiveness, and of finding what is truly right, a message that will ring true - like the bells of Notre Dame themselves. As a creative team, the cast and crew have a motto: to run toward the fun and share the importance and true meaning of this story. “Brace yourselves for a ride,” those are the words that Padura used to describe the incredible work that his amazing cast and crew have put into this production. 

Tickets are General Admission, $15 at presale and $20 at the door. Tickets can be purchased online, http://www.belenjesuit.org/rocatheater.