The Hunchback of Notre Dame presented by Music Theater Works at Cahn Auditorium

Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended

"...Music Theater Works artistic director Rudy Hogenmiller has put a 23-person choir on stage alongside his two-dozen-strong ensemble and full orchestra with sensational results."

Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended

"...Most wonderful, Menken and Schwartz's 20 songs couldn't be rendered better. Dawson's full-throated Quasimodo incarnates hidden decency and thwarted love. Abbate's combustible Esmeralda shines in "Rhythm of the Tambourine," "God Help the Outcasts," "Tavern Song," and "Someday," an engrossing ballad rhapsodically shared with Dohner's charismatic Phoebus."

Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...“For the love of the arts”! Over the years, I have often heard members of many a cast of a show at Music Theater Works ( formerly Light Opera Works), say this. These performers put in many hours of labor , preparing the production that will only be done over two week-ends ( for the most part). Their current production, the largest in their history is only six performances- and it is breath- taking! It is a story of love and redemption! It is a musical version of Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”!"

Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended

"...This is certainly one of Music Theater Works' most inspiring, most beautifully jaw-dropping productions in recent memory. It's less Disney and far more Victor Hugo, which isn't all bad. The musical itself, however, isn't perfect. It could use some cutting. There's a strange second act number, "Flight into Egypt," that's performed by a decapitated St. Aphrodisius and the ensemble. It only serves to bring the momentum of the story to a screeching halt. In Act I, probably to offer some levity to an otherwise dark, depressing tale, the proceedings stop for the bawdy "Tavern Song," which also adds very little to the play. But other splendid numbers, like Quasimodo's "Heaven's Light" and "Made of Stone," and the ringing of the the colossal chorus of Cathedral bells, bring the audience back to the reason for this story. We are reminded that, despite living in a world where the physical seems valued above all else, beauty goes far deeper than a person's skin."

Chicago Theater and Arts - Highly Recommended

"...Retiring Artistic Director, Rudy Hogenmiller as stage director for this production and MTW veteran choreographer Clayton Cross, understand how to paint a picture on the Cahn stage utilizing every inch and every physical asset to their advantage."