11 Professional Productions of Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame Set for 2016-17
(© Matthew Murphy)
Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame is now available for professional licensing exclusively through Music Theatre International, with 11 productions confirmed for 2016-17. Productions of Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz's musical theater collaboration will take place from Denmark (Fredericia Theater) to Maine (Ogunquit Playhouse).
In addition, the show's previously announced studio cast recording will be released by Ghostlight Records on January 22, and an instant download of "The Bells of Notre Dame" is available with iTunes pre-orders. There will also be three more tracks that will become available ahead of the entire album’s release. The CD will come packaged with a 32-page booklet of lyrics, photos, and a note from composer Alan Menken.
Hunchback features a book by Peter Parnell and a score that blends new material and songs from the 1996 animated film by composer Menken and lyricist Schwartz. Michael Starobin serves as orchestrator, alongside Michael Kosarin as music supervisor, and Brent-Alan Huffman as associate music supervisor and conductor. The production premiered as a La Jolla Playhouse/Paper Mill Playhouse coproduction last year.
Based on the classic book by Victor Hugo, and the subsequent 1996 animated film, the show focuses on Quasimodo, the deformed hunchback of Notre Dame. His life as the bell-ringer of the cathedral is changed forever when he meets the beautiful gypsy Esmerelda. The musical presents the tragic story of Quasimodo's love for her and the many intrigues he encounters in his attempt to protect and help her.
