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JULY 17-23, 2022 WHAT'S UP! 3 FAQ 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' WHEN — 7 p.m. July 21-23; 3 p.m. July 24; again July 28-31 WHERE — Pat Ellison Perform- ing Arts Center at Don Tyson School of Innovation, 2667 Hylton Road in Springdale COST — $20-$35 INFO — artsonepresents.org APRIL WALLACE NWA Democrat-Gazette I f you grew up singing along to the Disney animated film "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," then Arts One Presents has a treat for you! This year's summer musical is based on Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, but filled with songs from the 1996 Disney film. Both explore the life of Quasimodo, the young man raised in the bell towers of Notre Dame who begins to make his way into the world and falls in love. Arts One Presents will open the show, directed by Julie Gabel, on July 21 at the Pat Ellison Performing Arts Center on the Don Tyson School of Innovation campus in Springdale. "If people come expecting the animated movie on stage, that's not what they're going to get," says Aaron Young, the actor/singer portraying Quasimodo. "Musically, that's a lot of what's on stage, but this show fuses what the animated movie accomplished and goes back to its book roots." It's more accurate to Hugo's original version with gory moments, for instance. To set the scene in the big, dark cathedral, Taylor Dolan, performing arts program manager for AOP, says a couple of the theatrical curtains will be replaced with enormous tarps painted to look like stone walls. The sets are entirely charcoal gray, as are many of the costumes designed by Sarah Nickerson. "It gives off the austerity of Gothic, cathedral walls and life (in it) with pops of color and costumes," Dolan says. The centerpiece of the stage is a jungle gym with stairs, ladders and railings that echo the Gothic look to give Quasimodo an avenue for swinging on parts of the cathedral, much like the visuals of the animated film. Young says climbing is a pivotal part of his character's life growing up in the cathedral, and he was delighted to realize he could climb throughout See Hunchback Page 4 Out Of The Darkness AOP actor Aaron Young puts heart in 'Hunchback' Aaron Young has sung his whole life. He's been in a lot of choirs, did musical theater in college and performed at various theaters in Northwest Arkansas. You may recognize him as Davey from "Newsies" at Arkansas Public Theatre in Rogers or Gabe from last summer's "Next to Normal" in Springdale. (Courtesy Photo/Arts One Presents) The most vocally and physically demanding song of the production "Made of Stone" is right at the very end. Taylor Dolan, performing arts program manager for AOP, says it takes every fiber of Young's being. Young is pictured here with Director Julie Gabel. (Courtesy Photo/Arts One Presents) Alex Ahuja, a freshman at University of Arkansas, is one of the many younger cast members in this production. The choir has four high school students, the cast has eight high school students, and others are volunteers who helped build sets and run the tech components of the show. (Courtesy Photo/Arts One Presents) SPRINGDALE