In Pictures: Dress rehearsals for Hunchback of Notre Dame at Lincoln Cathedral

Anticipation is building for opening night of the upcoming Hunchback of Notre Dame production at Lincoln Cathedral, as rehearsals continue.

The musical will be performed at Lincoln Cathedral across almost two weeks, with opening night taking place on Monday, May 23 and the production will run until Saturday, June 4.

Based on Victor Hugo’s gothic novel and including songs from the Disney adaption, around 200 local people, including actors, a choir and live orchestras, will bring Hunchback to life inside Lincoln’s crown jewel landmark.

It is brought to you by the Starring Lincoln Theatre Company, with second year University of Lincoln student Andre Buhagiar playing the role of Quasimodo.

Director Ben Poole will portray Dom Claude Frollo, while Indrija Kustovaite plays Esmerelda and Ben Good tackles the role of Captain Phoebus De Martin.

The show is the first production put on by Starring Lincoln since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the cancellation of its production of Shrek at Lincoln Castle.

There are high hopes for the show’s production value, as director Ben Poole describes: “It’s a really difficult show. The music is complicated. You have songs in Latin, some in the invented language of the Roma, colloquial language, some beautiful operatic style music, plus lots of fun songs.

“It’s a great thing if you’re coming to see the show and you don’t know it. It’s one of those stories that’s so compelling, and the music is so beautiful, it tells the story really well. You can expect to be stirred emotionally by the piece. It’s a very powerful story.”

The Starring Lincoln Theatre Company production will be staged from Monday, May 23 until Saturday, June 4, 2022, and tickets can be purchased here.

The Lincolnite photographer Steve Smailes was invited to take pictures of the dress rehearsals at the cathedral: