CULTURE
MICHAEL UNGER Photo and illustration courtesy of Skylight Music Theatre.
QUASIMODO SINGS AS SKYLIGHT PERFORMS VICTOR HUGO’S ‘HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME’ BY DAVID LUHRSSEN
F
or classic film devotees, The Hunchback of Notre Dame means Charles Laughton, under disfiguring makeup, swooping down from the belltower to rescue his beloved Esmeralda from the gallows. Disney fans will remember Quasimodo, voiced by Tom Hulce, performing a similar feat in full color. This month, Skylight Music Theatre will put a different spin on the story with its production of Dennis DeYoung’s musical, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
radio-friendly side of progressive rock with hits such as “Lady” and “Come Sail Away.” And like his contemporaries Rick Wakeman and Alan Parsons, DeYoung harbored ambitions to turn classic literature into classic rock.
DENNIS DEYOUNG
DeYoung’s Hunchback debuted in 2008 at Chicago’s Bailiwick Repertory Theatre and will be presented by Skylight in a newly revised version. “Dennis and I have been working together on this revision for the past year or so,” Unger says. “We
Yes, that Dennis DeYoung, singer-songwriter for the platinum-selling ‘70s band Styx. The Chicago-based Styx was on the Photo courtesy of Skylight Music Theatre.
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Skylight’s Artistic Director Michael Unger grew up in Chicago as a Styx fan and became friends with DeYoung. He was among the first to hear the score for Hunchback in its early form, 28 years ago. “It was love at first hear,” Unger says. “As I was just starting on my directing career, I knew I would never get the opportunity to direct it myself.” Time has proven him wrong.
