PA Shakespeare Festival premieres a new Sherlock Holmes’ adventure and Northampton Community College finishes out its Bill Mutimer Summer Theatre Series with a big Disney musical.

PA Shakespeare Festival presents the Lehigh Valley premiere of “Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty,” July 16 to Aug. 1, Main Stage in Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, Upper Saucon Township.

NCC’s Bill Mutimer Summer Theatre Series stages “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” July 15 to July 26, Lipkin Theater, Kopecek Hall, Northampton Community College, Bethlehem Township.

Playwright Ken Ludwig says he never planned to become a playwright of Sherlock Holmes’ plays. In 2015, Ludwig adapted Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous Sherlock Holmes’ adventure, “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” into “Baskerville,” a comedy-mystery. Five actors to played more than 35 characters, giving the play “an antic theatricality that I liked,” Ludwig says.

“Baskerville” was such a hit that Ludwig, decided to return to Holmes and see if there was another play there.

Ludwig found himself intrigued by Doyle’s “The Final Problem,” the only Sherlock Holmes’ story in which Professor Moriarty, Holmes’ arch-nemesis, appears.

Ludwig was attracted to other iconic characters from Doyle’s books, including Irene Adler from “A Scandal in Bohemia,” and Sherlock’s brother Mycroft from “The Bruce-Partington Plans.”

Ludwig created a back story in which Moriarty is Holmes’ professor from his days as a student at Cambridge University.

Ludwig says in his vision Moriarty is “a beloved mentor who betrayed the trust of his young acolyte and escaped into the underworld to wreak havoc on London.

“Holmes, blaming himself for failing to see the evil in Moriarty, dedicates his life to bringing criminals to justice in an attempt to atone.”

In the PSF production of “Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty,” Sherlock Holmes (Maboud Ebrahimzadeh) and Dr. Watson (Doug Hara) take on “The Case of the Bohemian King’s Stolen Letters,” which quickly spirals into an international web of spies, blackmail and deception.

To take down criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty (Ian Merrill Peakes) and his ruthless network, Holmes and Watson join forces with American actress Irene Adler (Cassia Thompson), whose razor-sharp wit and magnetic charm add a delicious twist to the chaos. The five-person cast, which includes Karen Peakes, bring more than 30 characters to life.

Adding to the madcap mystery are a cast of puppets created by Angel D’Andria, who created puppets for PSF’s children’s show “Sheila the Magical,” as well.

“Moriarty’ is my attempt to give us all yet another opportunity to experience the comic joy and melodramatic pyrotechnics of the Sherlock Holmes’ legend,” Ludwig says.

The show has original music by Alex Bechtel that is performed by musicians Tyler Borneo, Arrianna Daniels, Darin F. Earl II and Eli Lynn.

Understudies are Mariana Marcel, Teddy Novak, Ryan Plunkett, India Proffit and Shawn Taylor.

The creative team includes Matt Pfeiffer, director; Brian Sidney Bembridge, scenic designer; Alison Roberts, costume designer; David M. Greenberg, sound designer; Thom Weaver, lighting designer, and Daniel Espie, music director.

“Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty” is in repertory with William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

Meet the actors for an informal talk-back after the July 23 performance.

There is an audio-described and open-captioned performance for the blind or visually-impaired and deaf or hard-of-hearing, 2 p.m. Aug. 1.

“Epilogues,” a free discussion and behind-the-scenes look at the show, 10 a.m. July 25, will allow audience members to gain deeper insight and ask questions.

“Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty,” 7:30 p.m. July 16, 17, 18, 23, 25, 29, 31; 6:30 p.m. July 21, 28; 2 p.m. July 22, 26, Aug. 1, PA Shakespeare Festival, Main Stage Theatre, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, 2755 Station Avenue, Center Valley. 610-282-9455, https://pashakespeare.org/

“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” is a musical with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. It is adapted from Disney’s 1996 film, which was based on the 1831 novel by Victor Hugo. The musical premiered in 1999 in Berlin and became one of Berlin’s longest-running musicals.

The English-language version had its United States’ debut in 2014 at La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego, Calif.

The musical is darker and thematically closer to Hugo’s original novel than the animated film, with composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz repurposing and rewriting several songs to match the original tone of the novel.

The musical follows Archdeacon of Notre Dame Claude Frollo (a role shared by Dan Swank and Giovani Marini), who has raised his brother’s hunchback child Quasimodo (Jordan Joseph), whom he keeps hidden in the cathedral.

When Captain Phoebus (Dami Shote), arrives to be the new head of Notre Dame’s Cathedral Guard, Frollo tells him they must rid the city of gypsies. When Quasimodo sneaks out, he meets the gypsy dancer Esmeralda (Juliana Braga), and is entranced by her, as are Phoebus and Frollo.

The cast includes Kaleb Bell, Madisyn Bonilla, Harrison Fox, Mike Gueriere, Declan Messics, Giovanni Failla, Daxton Chapell, Mackenzie Hall, Spencer Williams, Abigail Murphy, Adrian Colon-Burgos, Audrey Wood, Auqinay Jones, Ava Boyd, Azelea Dos-Santos, Eileen Lee, Jacob Piccini, Maricel Wheatley, Melody Chen, Mia Quesada, Riley Lusk and Willa Maurette.

The choir includes Anja Bisignani, Brendan Hamadyk, Chase Rossanese, Chris Temple, Cindy Ernst, Clair Freeman, Denise Long, Ella St. Pierre, Ezekiel Valenzuela, Jameelah Gonzalez, Karen Castillo, Makayla Morales, Mia Ferreira, Ryleigh Rios, Tyler Alonge and Za’Yaughna O’Cain.

Directing the NCC production is Darah Donaher.

“The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” 7:30 p.m. July 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25; 2 p.m. July 19, 26, Bill Mutimer Summer Theatre Series, Lipkin Theater, Kopecek Hall, Northampton Community College, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem Township. 484-484-3412, https://www.ncctix.org/

“Curtain Rises” is a column about the theater, stage shows, the actors in them and the directors and artists who make them happen. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com.