Disney has brought many of its stories from screen to stage: The Lion King, Aladdin, Frozen.

Yet The Hunchback of Notre Dame, with its extraordinary score by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, has never received a full Broadway or West End run.

Unlike the animated film, the stage adaptation draws more deeply from Victor Hugo's novel, marrying Disney's soaring music and hopefulness with the novel's moral complexity and darker themes. The result is neither simply a retelling of the film nor a direct adaptation of the book, but something distinct, drawing strengths from both. The stage adaptation specifically allows these ideas to flourish. With its richer score, it embraces the darker shades of Hugo's tale while preserving the hope at its centre.

What has always remained with me about Hunchback is not only its music or spectacle, though the state of my playlists may suggest otherwise, but the question at its heart:

"What makes a monster, and what makes a man?"

It is a question that lingers long after the curtain falls. It asks us to examine how swift we are to judge, the undue weight we place upon appearances, and how rarely we grant others the grace we hope to receive ourselves.

The story does not flinch from cruelty, fear, or injustice. Yet neither does it surrender to them. Running through it is a quieter conviction: that compassion is a choice, and that even in an unkind world, there are people who choose kindness still.

This is why I love the musical: at its heart is a deeply human longing: to belong, to be understood, and to be known for who one is rather than how one appears.  In a world that can be quick to judge, I believe there is great value in stories that encourage us to meet one another with greater empathy and understanding.

This is one of the Disney's most thoughtful and affecting works, and one that deserves to be seen by a wider audience. I hope Disney Theatrical Productions will finally give The Hunchback of Notre Dame the stage it deserves whether on Broadway, the West End, or through a professionally filmed release, so that more people may encounter a story whose message remains as relevant as ever.

If The Hunchback of Notre Dame has stayed with you too, I hope you will add your name. Whatever becomes of this petition, there is something heartening in knowing that others have been moved by the same story, the same music, and the same questions it asks. More than anything, I would love to know how many of us are out there, still cherishing this musical and still hoping to see it reach a wider audience some day. At the very least, it would be nice to know I'm not the only one with The Bells of Notre Dame permanently lodged in my head.