Readers have until Sunday, Dec. 14 to hear and see the extended U.S. premiere of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” produced by La Jolla Playhouse in association with Disney Theatricals Group and the Paper Mill Playhouse. Composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, who were responsible for the music and lyrics in the 1996 Disney animation, the show is orchestrated for the stage by Michael Starobin (he also orchestrated the film). The musical sounds magnificent with the addition of the local choral group Sacra/Profana, plus a 12-member ensemble and a 14-piece orchestra. Peter Parnell provides a new book. Scott Schwartz directs the piece, which takes place in and around Notre-Dame Cathedral in 1482 Paris. Even if you’ve not read the novel by Victor Hugo, you know the characters: Quasimodo (Michael Arden), the misshapen bell ringer; Frollo (Patrick Page), his two-faced caretaker and uncle; Esmeralda (Ciara Renée), the beautiful gypsy girl; and Phoebus (Andrew Samonsky), Esmeralda’s ardent admirer, cardboard captain of the cathedral guard. Everyone loves Esmeralda. The outcome is tragic. A kiddie show it’s not, and that’s OK.
Menken’s songs include “The Bells of Notre Dame,” “Out There,” “Sanctuary,” “Hellfire,” “The Court of Miracles,” “Someday” and “Made of Stone.” The new Latin entr’acte written for the choir is much admired. Mandell Weiss Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse
2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla
Tuesdays-Sundays through Dec. 14
Tickets ca. $15-$117
www.lajollaplayhouse.org or (858) 550-1010 UCSD Department of Theatre UCSD Department of Theatre & Dance warmed up the Mandell Weiss Forum Nov. 12 to 22 with a production of “The Burial at Thebes,” a version of Sophocles’ “Antigone” written by the late, great Irish poet Seamus Heaney and directed by Sarah Wansley. It utilized a 22-member company comprising MFA actors, undergraduate theater majors and others. Wansley, a third-year MFA directing candidate, staged the work (an intermission-less 90 minutes) a la John Hirsch’s 1988 Old Globe Theatre “Coriolanus,” with television cameras, media types and visuals making the scene more immediate on an immense set by third-year MFA designer Lily Bartenstein. The scene represents Ancient Thebes and the countryside, replete with an effective water feature and a guitar-strumming, strolling musician (New York-based Tommy Crawford, who also provided original songs and had the longest program bio).
Antigone (statuesque Zakiya Iman Markland) wants to bury her dead brother Polyneices (Jordan Ferguson), but this is forbidden by Thebes’ King Creon (Toby Onwumere, remembered from his appearance last season in “In the Red and Brown Water”). Of course, she disobeys Creon’s edict, and tragedy ensues. Others in the huge company are N’Jameh Camara as Ismene, MacGregor Arney as Haemon, Emily Shain as Eurydice and Tesiana Elie as Tiresias. It’s always edifying to reconnect with the Greeks, whose plays provide the foundation of all theater as we know it. UCSD Department of Theatre and Dance also produced Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Nov. 19 to 23. You can still catch both Clifford Odets’ “Golden Boy” and the dance contingent’s “Really Fall” Dec. 3 to 13. http://www.theatre.ucsd.edu.
Gerard Joseph, a recent graduate of UCSD’s MFA program (he, too, was seen in “In the Red and Brown Water”), plays a leading role in San Diego Repertory Theatre’s production of Greg Kalleres’ rip-roaring satire, “Honky.” Directed by Rep artistic director Sam Woodhouse, the must-see piece also features Francis Gercke, James Newcomb and Jacque Wilke. See through Dec. 7. (619) 544-1000.
It was a weekend of satire, with MOXIE Theatre opening a splendidly done production of “Enron,” which sends up the end of the inglorious corporation with three blind mice, raptors and a marvelous company directed by Jennifer Eve Thorn. See this one through Dec. 7, too. After that, it’s mostly holiday shows. To that ho-ho end, La Jolla Playhouse presents “The Second City’s Nutcracking Holiday Revue” Nov. 28 to Dec. 21. It promises “all the magic, mystery and mayhem of the season,” making certain you won’t pout because there’s nothing new to see and do. http://www.lajollaplayhouse.org/holiday-revue.
If the kids are “Grinch”ed out, you might take them to San Diego Symphony’s Holiday Pops Dec. 19 to 21. The family matinee, with the San Diego Master Chorale and San Diego Children’s Choir, is 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 21. Sandiegosymphony.org or (619) 235-0804.
