What makes a monster and what makes a man?

That’s the question at the core of Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” The faith-based nonprofit theater company Village Arts of Colorado Springs will mount the musical version, based on Hugo’s novel and the 1996 Disney film, with a score by Alan Menken and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. It runs Thursday through Sunday at Ent Center for the Arts.

“It’s a tale that mirrors our issues of today,” said director Carmen Renee Brown. “We’re looking for hope and in the beautiful music we find hope. This story ends sadly, but we are shown that hope and love and seeing people for who they are can bring a beautiful thing.”

Set in 15th-century Paris, the show begins as Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bell-ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, who’s held captive by his master, the archdeacon Dom Claude Frollo, escapes out into the world. He meets the kind and compassionate Esmeralda, who winds up protecting him from an angry mob. After both Frollo and the captain of the guard, Phoebus de Martin, fall in love with Esmeralda, Quasimodo must try to save Esmeralda from his master in a series of devastating twists.

“It’s OK sometimes to sit in the theater and not just always see comedy,” Brown said. “It’s beautiful to be moved by the plight of other groups and remember we’re all a part of the human race and deal with the human condition and that love and compassion can rule the day.”

Dan Hinkin, the assistant principal at Challenger Middle School, calls his role of Quasimodo a tough one.

“He goes through so many dynamic changes,” he said. “He’s this puppy dog at the beginning, then he’s experiencing many things in the outside world. He goes through joy to heartbreak to betrayal to figuring out the realities of the larger world because he’s been sheltered his whole life. He’s not somebody who you want to judge a book by its cover. There’s a lot of those themes. You want to find out about people and not judge by the cover.”

The 30-person cast ranges in age from 16 to 60s and is joined by a 20-person choir and 12-person orchestra, made up of musicians from around the community, including members of Little London Winds and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic.

“It’s the beauty of community theater — we have teachers, we have therapists,” Brown said. “It allows people with day jobs who are talented get to show what they can do. And that theater creates community.”

Village Arts, which originated at Village Seven Presbyterian Church, became its own entity a decade ago.

“We hope, as a faith-based company, we draw people to the heart of Jesus in our stories and the way we treat each other,” Brown said. “Our mission is it’s theater for everyone.”

Contact the writer: 636-0270