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Summer isn’t the best season if you want to attend book events. Bibliophiles will need to wait until fall before book launches and literary festivals ramp up again. Until then, readers in Toronto can attend these book-inspired theatre productions happening this July.

Take in a musical based on Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame

I’m not a huge fan of musicals. But when the musical is based on a book, I’m more likely to attend. And if you’re a Disney fan, this production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame should interest you even more: All of the songs are taken from the Disney movie. This production has only four performances, so if you want to go, you’d better get on it.

Run: July 6 to July 8

Venue: Isabel Bader Theatre (near Museum station)

Experience a new take on Paradise Lost

This adaption of John Milton’s book-length poem promises to include puppetry and animation. That seems appropriate since it’s part of the Fringe Festival, which champions experimental theatre.

Run: July 6 to July 15

Venue: Theatre Passe Muraille (near Bathurst and Queen Street West)

Take a crash course in Harry Potter

Unlike a lot of readers, I have not finished any of the Harry Potter books. But maybe that is even more of a reason to see Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience – A Parody by Dan and Jeff. This show condenses all seven of the books in just over an hour. This is the fourth time the production has come to Toronto, so if you are a fan of the books, there is a good chance you’ve already seen this.

Run: on now to July 22

Venue: CAA Theatre (on Yonge, south of Bloor)

Attend an adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando

What’s even more exciting about Soulpepper adapting Orlando by Virginia Woolf is that the production has its own book club! Read the book and join in online using #SoulpepperBookClub. There are also two dates–July 8 and July 10–when you can attend a live book club discussion after the production. Seems like a pretty good reason to read Orlando, if you haven’t read it already.

Run: July 6 to July 29

Venue: Young Centre for the Performing Arts (in the Distillery District)