It’s hard to believe that’s it’s been a full year since the Drama Club took us to the wonderful world of business with How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, but with a new year comes a new musical. This year they have taken us to Paris with a performance of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. They put on three shows, with one cast performing on Friday and Sunday and the second performing on Saturday. The musical is based primarily on the novel by Victor Hugo, but it incorporates songs from Disney’s musical. Mrs. Mariah Malek said, “ We chose The Hunchback of Notre Dame because we knew it was a colorful and exciting show that the students would be very excited about. We also wanted to challenge the actors in a different way. How to Succeed was such a lively, more modern, show, and this year we wanted something set in the past tragic, and also stretched the students to work harder, particularly the Latin language and all of the different musical parts.

    The actors practiced for this show since the beginning of the year. The show was filled with so many talented people that they had two casts. The casts aren’t completely different; they simply exchanged some of the lead roles . For example, the character Esmeralda was portrayed by Autumn McDonough on Friday and Sunday and Isabel Myers on Saturday.

    Senior Autumn McDonough said, “It felt incredible to play Esmeralda for my senior year. Really getting to work on a character that I knew I had wanted to play for a long time was gratifying. I’m really going to miss the constant working, since it gives me a sense of purpose, and the bond that I’ve made with the cast over the last few years.”

    Drama Club doesn’t only have an impact on the members of the audience. The actors on stage have been transformed through these productions as well. Payton Renninger, a senior in Drama Club, said, “With this being only my second and last high school musical, I had the privilege of playing Lead Congregant in the Hunchback of Notre Dame. When I was a freshman, I never thought that I would ever participate in Drama Club since I would always get nervous to perform in front of people. Never would I have thought of having the part I had. It had brought me out of my shell and I was able to experience so many emotions with this club. I have the best supporters ever, whether it is my best friends, family, or even my cast mates.”

    But a show like this couldn’t be done with just actors. Even the best actors in the world couldn’t pull of the best possible show without people behind the curtains bringing out props and people in the balcony with spotlights lighting the stage. Senior Jordan Young said, “I liked it. It turned out a lot better than the school preview made it seem. Everything is really a lot better with the band and lights and everything else.” The Stage Crew worked on this show just as long as the actors have, painting and constructing the sets. This year they were able to make moving bells and two raised platforms, one of which had a collapsing railing that was used at the end to make a character fall to his death.

    You can’t have a musical without music, and the Pit Band accomplished this. Mr. Adrian Portland said, “I came on Saturday and it was phenomenal, especially the music.” The Pit Band is an orchestra of students and adults who play music in the background, during scene changes, and of course while the actors are singing. As opposed to the jazzy arrangements of last year’s show, this show featured more classical instruments like oboe and violin. In addition, there was a choir of adults to backup the people on stage. This extra set of voices really added an effect to the music that wouldn’t have been  accomplished from just the students on stage.

    The musical was considered a success by all who watched it. The actors poured their emotions out, stage crew light up the stage, and the pit band played their hearts out. Mrs. Malek said, “ I think the show went amazingly. We had generally a younger cast. We had more freshman and sophomores than we did juniors and seniors, and considering that, this was especially a very challenging show. So the success of it is truly a testament to their hard work and their commitment to pulling it all off.”