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<p>NUANGOLA &#8212;When Tyler Saar heard Theatre at the Grove was going to put on &#8220;Hunchback of Notre Dame: The Musical,&#8221; he knew he wanted the title role of Quasimodo, the cathedral bell-ringer born with a twisted spine.</p><p>&#8220;Quasimodo is badly mistreated because of how he looks,&#8221; said Saar, 20, of Scranton, who did get the part he wanted.</p><p>&#8220;As an actor, playing the role, being called &#8216;a monster,&#8217; it hurts,&#8221; Saar said. &#8220;I portray him as a kind-hearted human who wants to be treated like everybody else.&#8221;</p><p>The rank-and-file townsfolk in the musical, which is based on a novel by Victor Hugo, don&#8217;t care much if they hurt Quasimodo&#8217;s feelings. They crown him &#8220;king of fools&#8221; during a festival, which might seem like an honor at first, but they&#8217;re really making fun of him. His job as bell-ringer has made him somewhat deaf, and he can&#8217;t speak very clearly either, which only compounds his problems.</p><p>The only person who sees past Quasimodo&#8217;s communication challenges and less-than-conventionally-handsome exterior is a young woman named Esmeralda. She happens to be a gypsy, which puts her on the margins of society. She&#8217;s also clever, which, sadly, could lead to accusations of witchcraft in 15th-century Paris. And she&#8217;s beautiful, which seems to attract attention, both wanted and unwanted, no matter what year it is.</p><p>&#8220;There are three kinds of love in the play,&#8221; director Mike Marone said. &#8220;The soldier Phoebus loves Esmeralda in a man-loves-a-woman kind of love. With Quasimodo, he&#8217;s finally found a friend, so he loves her with a friendship kind of love. And Frollo (Quasimodo&#8217;s villainous uncle) feels pure lust.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;The show is an emotional draw from beginning to end,&#8221; the director said.</p><p>Audiences of all ages, including children as young as 6 or 7, have been enjoying the play, which opened last weekend, Marone said. Still, he added, &#8220;This is not &#8216;The Little Mermaid&#8217; or &#8216;Shrek.&#8217; It&#8217;s darker.&#8221;</p><p>But the music throughout the show is beautiful, he said, especially at the end when a poignant number suggests that perhaps each of us has a disability of some sort. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been calling it the &#8216;ballet of paint,&#8217;&#8221; Marone said. &#8220;Maybe from now on I&#8217;ll call it the &#8216;ballet of pain.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>The show carries as important message about acceptance, Saar said, and anyone who has ever been bullied will appreciate it.</p><p>&#8220;I was always a big singer and musical-theater nerd,&#8221; said Saar, who now attends Lackawanna College. &#8220;I wanted to be on stage and sing in front of people, and when I was in middle school and high school, football was what everyone was doing. I was pushed around.&#8221;</p><p>Life is better post high school, he reports.</p><p><ins>For other Life Section stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/features" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Tyer Saar portrays the title role in &#8216;Hunchback of Notre Dame&#8217; and Alexa Martino portrays his only friend, Esmeralda, in the musical production at Theatre at the Grove in Nuangola. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_hunchbackphoto-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Tyer Saar portrays the title role in &#8216;Hunchback of Notre Dame&#8217; and Alexa Martino portrays his only friend, Esmeralda, in the musical production at Theatre at the Grove in Nuangola. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo | Lauren Popple </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_hunchbacksword.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Esmeralda (Alexa Martino) is in love with a heroic soldier (Adam Ercolani) named Phoebus De Martin. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_hunchbacksword.jpg</photo1><caption1>Esmeralda (Alexa Martino) is in love with a heroic soldier (Adam Ercolani) named Phoebus De Martin. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo | Lauren Popple </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_hunchback.frollo.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Michael Wawrznynek portrays the play&#8217;s villain, Archdeacon Claude Frollo, who is an uncle to Quasimodo. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_hunchback.frollo.jpg</photo2><caption2>Michael Wawrznynek portrays the play&#8217;s villain, Archdeacon Claude Frollo, who is an uncle to Quasimodo. </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photo | Lauren Popple </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_hunchback.couple.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Esmeralda (Alexa Martino) and Phoebus (Adam Ercolani) face difficult times in 15th-century Paris. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_hunchback.couple.jpg</photo3><caption3>Esmeralda (Alexa Martino) and Phoebus (Adam Ercolani) face difficult times in 15th-century Paris. </caption3><photoCredit3>Submitted photo | Lauren Popple </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_hunchback.notredame.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Other people may describe Quasimodo as a &#8216;monster,&#8217; said Tyler Saar, the actor who portrays him, but Quasimodo is really &#8216;a kind-hearted human.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_hunchback.notredame.jpg</photo4><caption4>Other people may describe Quasimodo as a &#8216;monster,&#8217; said Tyler Saar, the actor who portrays him, but Quasimodo is really &#8216;a kind-hearted human.&#8217; </caption4><photoCredit4>Submitted photo | Lauren Popple </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta></subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;Hunchback of Notre Dame: The Musical&#8217;</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Theater at the Grove, 5177 Nuangola Rd., Nuangola.</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 8 p.m. July 22, 28 and 29; 3 p.m. July 23 and 30.</p><p><strong>Reservations:</strong>	570-868-8212</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Theatre at the Grove’s ‘Hunchback’ musical has message of acceptance