ELIZABETH, Pa. (KDKA) — Theater students from Elizabeth Forward High School were elated when they learned their production of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" was nominated for 10 Gene Kelly Awards, including best musical. 

James Benedek, Elizabeth Forward High's musical director, told KDKA-TV, "All of the waves of emotions that we've gone through, it's so beautiful to see it all come together in such a brilliant way on stage. They did a fantastic job. I'm so, so proud."

To say these nominations were earned is an understatement. The performers had to learn three languages, eight-part harmonies and choreography all while dealing with the fallout of a destructive fire at their high school.

The fire forced them to house their musical at another school, build their stage from the ground up twice and re-create their costumes.

Senior Nathan Marx, who plays Claude Frollo, said, "It's been crazy. It was already a hard musical, to begin with, and to have to go through the fire and power outage that happened the second to last day, it was insane."

Junior Tyler Guinto-Brody, who plays Quasimodo, said, "The community pitched in to help. We raised over $30,000 within the first week."

Marx and Guinto-Brody are both best actor nominees for their roles. And as the curtain closes on this spring musical season, these two castmates are reflecting on the perseverance of themselves, their cast, and crew members.

"I remember when we were all on the stage for the last time and we were hitting that last note I just thought about all the things that have happened over the year," said Marx.

"It was challenging, but I think that's what made it the most memorable that I was able to overcome those challenges and perform a character that resonates so much with a lot of people," Guinto-Brody said.

If either of them wins best actor, they get to travel to New York to compete in the Jimmy Awards against other high school performers from across the country.

The winner will be announced at the Gene Kelly Awards ceremony at the Benedum Center on May 27.