Miss Esmeralda premiered on 8 October 1887 at the Gaiety, starring Marion Hood in the title role, with Frank Thornton as Quasimodo and featuring comedy star E. J. Lonnen and dancer Letty Lind. Percy Anderson designed the costumes.[5] Fred Leslie and the theatre's leading actress, Nellie Farren, were away on tour. When they returned, the piece closed in December to make way for a new piece starring Leslie and Farren, Frankenstein, or The Vampire's Victim, which opened on 24 December 1887.[6]
Plot
Act I: A market in Paris
The gipsy Esmeralda is in love with the dashing young Captain Phoebus, who is, unfortunately, engaged to the fierce Fleur-de-Lis. Esmeralda has inadvertently also captivated a monk, Claude Frollo, and the hunchback Quasimodo. Frollo vengefully stabs Corporal Gringoire and tries to frame Esmeralda with the crime; she is arrested.
Act II: A prison and a court of justice in Paris
Quasimodo visits Esmeralda in prison and vows to help her, assuring her that he can establish her innocence. Frollo says that he will liberate her if she agrees to marry him. At her trial, Frollo is the prosecutor, and Phoebus is counsel for the defence. Esmeralda's innocence is proved the apparition of Gringoire, which is produced by Quasimodo.