To the audience of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” the Archbishop Carroll Theater Society may have made the fall production look easy. However, the people who presented the musical say it wasn’t.
On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the most difficult, director Megan McNamara gave the fall production, which wrapped on Nov. 17, an 8.5 for the level of difficulty.
“It is musically challenging because we are singing in Latin,” Ms. McNamara said. “It’s a deep, dark concept we are working on, and it’s a little harder than the fluffy stuff.”
Choreographer Ellen Solderitsch ranked the musical a little higher than the director, at a nine, for the level of difficulty, while actors ranked it a little less difficult than that. Macie Schundler, who played Clopin, placed it at eight, as did Brian Garwood, who played the hunchback. Brandon Rivera, who played Frollo the archdeacon, ranked the level of difficulty at a seven.
Schundler said the music was the most difficult aspect for her.
“The music is very good, but [it was] the hardest music I’ve ever worked on at Carroll,” she said.
Garwood said “keeping up with all the fast-moving parts” was a challenge.
“There are a lot of lines and a lot of solo singing lines for everyone in the cast,” he added.
For Rivera, the challenge was “putting feelings into my lines and going through how something is supposed to be done.”
Ms. McNamara said perfecting choreography, blocking, and singing all were challenges.
“We had a lot of rehearsals to nail it,” Ms. McNamara said.
A lot of that time involved dance scenes, according to Ms. Solderitsch, and getting the scenes to look cohesive.
“There are so many big ensemble numbers that take a long time to bring together,” she said.
“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” featured one dance that several people involved in the production called a personal favorite.
“My favorite dance was ‘Topsy Turvy’ because it is my song, and it is very exciting and a lot is going on,” Schundler said.
Some of what was going on involved Garwood, who said he liked that number because “everyone is kind of dancing around me.”
“It’s a really fun dance,” he said.
Ms. McNamara called “Topsy Turvy” “one of my favorite numbers,” too.
