The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the only stage collaboration from two masters of the American musical, Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, is now available for professional licensing exclusively through Music Theatre International (212-541-4684, www.MTIshows.com).
Interest in the title has been far-reaching, spanning regional theatres, opera companies and symphonies. In 2016-2017 alone, eleven professional productions are planned around the world from Denmark (Fredericia Theater) to Hungary (Budapest Operetta), and across the country from California (Sacramento Music Circus) to Utah (Tuacahn Amphitheatre) to Maine (Ogunquit Playhouse).
The highly anticipated Studio Cast Recording will be released by Ghostlight Records on January 22, 2016. iTunes pre-orders are now available at http://geni.us/hunchback. Fans who pre-order the album will be able to download “The Bells of Notre Dame” immediately, with three more tracks becoming available ahead of the entire album’s release. To pre-order the CD, which comes packaged with a 32-page booklet with full lyrics, photos, and a note from composer Alan Menken, visit http://sh-k-boom.com/hunchback-of-notre-dame. The album is produced by Michael Kosarin, Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz, Chris Montan and Executive Producer, Kurt Deutsch.
“I am thrilled that artists around the world now have the opportunity to realize their own visions for Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz and Peter Parnell’s remarkable stage adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” said Thomas Schumacher, Producer and President of Disney Theatrical Productions. “And what a gift it is to have this glorious album to act as an ambassador for the title as it enters this new chapter.”
This first ever recording of the acclaimed American stage score based on the Academy Award-nominated 1996 film brought together a 25 piece orchestra, a choir of 28 and some of Broadway’s most formidable talent: Michael Arden (Big River) as Quasimodo, Patrick Page (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark) as Dom Claude Frollo, Ciara Renée (Pippin) as Esmeralda, Andrew Samonsky(Lincoln Center’s South Pacific) as Captain Phoebus de Martin and Erik Liberman (Lovemusik) as Clopin Trouillefou.
Featured in the ensemble are: Julian Decker, Mary Joe Duggan, Ian Patrick Gibb, Beth Kirkpatrick, Samantha Massell, Neal Mayer, Nora Menken, William Michals, Anise Ritchie, Vincent Rodriguez III, Richard Ruiz, Joseph J. Simeone, Jeremy Stolle and Dashaun Young. The principal and ensemble talent performed the show’s US Premiere productions at La Jolla Playhouse and Paper Mill Playhouse during their 2014-15 seasons.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a dramatic telling of the famous love story on a grand scale, with a lush, emotionally rich score featuring music by Alan Menken (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast) and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin). With a book by Peter Parnell, The Hunchback of Notre Dame has orchestrations by Michael Starobin; Michael Kosarin is music supervisor, Brent-Alan Huffman is conductor/associate music supervisor and Rob Berman provides dance arrangements.
The show and score were hailed by critics on both coasts during the show’s regional theatre productions, directed by Scott Schwartz and choreographed by Chase Brock: “Poignant and intensely emotional…Sparked by stellar performances, Hunchback sets its audience cheering” (Variety); “Potent and enchanting, it brings fresh depths to a saga of love and vengeance…a resounding pleasure” (San Diego Union Tribune); “One of the signal pleasures is Menken’s melodic music and Schwartz’s nimble lyrics” (The New York Times).