The reopening of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral this past December was cause for a global celebration, one that inspired artistic director and Grand American Ballet founder, Hugo Carreón, to pay tribute.
“All my friends are ballet dancers and I thought, why not put on a show?” Carreón said. “And what could be a better production than ‘‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame?’”
Based on the 1831 French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” is a dark, emotionally wrenching tale set in Paris.
The key characters are Quasimodo, a deformed, cathedral bell ringer, Esmeralda, the sympathetic Gypsy girl he adores, Esmeralda’s lover, Captain Phoebus and the evil Archdeacon Frollo, who lusts after Esmeralda and rules over Quasimodo.
There have been numerous interpretations of the novel, including dramatic films, an animated Disney feature, dance productions and musicals.
Carreón, who launched Grand American Ballet as a nonprofit and started staging shows two years ago, had his own ideas for “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” his most ambitious production to date.
A former California Ballet dancer who also choreographed for the company, Carreón wanted skilled professionals for the principal roles, ballet students in minor roles and a happy ending to “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
He intended to stage the show to coincide with the cathedral’s restoration triumph last year after a devastating fire in 2019, but there were no local venues available to rent during “The Nutcracker” season.
The soonest venue availability was February 22, this coming Saturday, at the Jacobs Music Center.
Carreón booked it, even though it was far more expensive than other options and there are roughly 1,700 seats to fill.
“The renovations at the Jacobs Music Center have transformed it into a magical place,” Carreón explained.
“California Ballet performed there back in the day. We had to move from the Civic Theatre because the ‘Lion King’ came into town. Now, the acoustics are better and the lighting for the entire theater is great.”
After retiring from his dance career at California Ballet, Carreón went on to become a professional masseuse with a notable reputation for healing dance injuries. Many professional dance artists have been his clients for years.
But during the pandemic, he dreamed of staging ballet productions and he reached out to dancers, donors and other potential collaborators.
He said that California Ballet founder, the late Maxine Mahon, was instrumental in preparing him to establish a ballet company.
“The business of ballet and San Diego is really rough,” Carreón revealed.
“People in the dance community can see you as a threat. What I loved about Maxine is that she put her energy into what she needed to put her energy into and concentrated on the positives. Most importantly, I learned how many people I have around me that are interested in hearing what I have to say.”
Ballerina, choreographer and dance instructor Reka Gyulai Garcia, found Carreón’s plans intriguing and in 2023, she performed in Carreón’s production of “I Love To Love You, Valentine!” at the Balboa Theatre.
“He had a definite idea of what he wanted to do and which dancers he wanted to use,” Garcia said.
“It went very well, and then last year, he told me his idea for the ‘Hunchback.’ I thought it would be a beautiful celebration and it’s an honor to be a part of it.”
Garcia, a former principal dancer for California Ballet, plays Esmeralda, a juicy part that calls for a movement language that expresses passion, empathy and repulsion.
“For me, the most interesting part of playing Esmeralda is exploring the different relationships I have with these main characters,” she added.
Garcia’s partners include three professional male dancers, Marshall Whiteley (San Diego Ballet) as Captain Phoebus, Cesar Ramirez Castellano (Los Angeles Ballet) as Quasimodo and Lester Gonzalez (Ballet Collective San Diego) in the role of Archdeacon Claude Frollo.
“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” also features students from North County Academy of Dance, Georgia’s School of Dance and Scripps Performing Arts Academy.
Many of the youngsters are Garcia’s students and they will perform in roles, choreographed by Garcia, that include gypsies, townspeople, guards and merchants.
In the conclusion of Hugo’s novel, the main characters die.
Carreón’s happy ending, without giving too much away, involves the poignant part of Quasimodo’s mother, played by San Diego dance icon, Betzi Roe.
“I have lots of stories to tell,” Carreón said.
“I am not a writer, so I will tell them to you through the beautiful language of ballet with the hope that you, too, will fall in love with this magical art. We are celebrating something good, the reopening of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, and a feel-good ending it will be.”
Grand American Ballet’s ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Jacobs Music Center, 750 B Street, downtown
Tickets: $47-$99
Phone: 619-235-0804
Online: sanddiegosymphony.org
