Thank you for joining us for the Hartford Players’ production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

As our first time directing for the Hartford Players we wanted to pick a show that told a story we were able to connect with, a story we felt we could tell. Emily was born with a congenital birth defect that has caused her to be physically disabled and Amelia has been her best friend for 15 years. The reason we picked this show is because of the message around disability. The disabled community is the largest minority group in the country but it is the most underrepresented in theater. There is no way to fully embody Quasimodo’s humanity without addressing his physical differences and how the other characters react to his deformities. It is important to us, the production team, and the cast, to represent Quasimodo and the story of The Hunchback of Notre Dame to bring awareness and humanity to those who are underrepresented in theater. But the message of the show isn’t just about disability and we hope the audience will connect with the character of Quasimodo as everyone experiences times where they are “the outcast” but hopefully they can have the ability to overcome and be the hero of their own story.

Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid) and Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) take Victor Hugo’s classic story and create an amazing score that represents the struggle we see in all the characters in the show – who is right, who is wrong – but ultimately we are all human. This show will hopefully challenge us to think about “being right” – to judge or be judged, to love or be loved, the monster or the man. If this production can entertain you AND make you think – then hopefully we have done our job.

And we cannot successfully do our job without the power of community. The cast, crew, production team and our many community volunteers have worked tirelessly to bring this story to life for you amidst laughter, excitement and the pure joy of working together. We are honored to be a part of this production and a part of The Hartford Players, a group that truly belongs to the community.

“The world is cruel, the world is ugly, but there are times and there are people when the world is not.” Each and every one of us has experienced the world at its best and at its worst. We hope that with this production you leave wanting to make the world a better place because, “Someday life will be kinder, love will be blinder, one day, someday soon.”

Enjoy the show!

Amelia Scheit and Emily Kittell