1999 Musical: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Hunchback of Notre Dame Musical

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a musical with music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, adapted from the 1996 Walt Disney Animation Studios film and the 1831 novel by Victor Hugo.

Premiere and Run

• The musical premiered in Berlin in 1999 as Der Glöckner von Notre Dame, running for three years and becoming one of Berlin's longest-running musicals.
• The English-language version debuted at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California in 2014, and later opened at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey in 2015.

Background and Development

• Walt Disney Animation Studios created an animated film adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel in 1996, which received positive reviews and did reasonably well at the box office.
• Disney on Broadway, the stage play arm of the Disney Corporation, had staged successful versions of Beauty and the Beast in 1994 and The Lion King in 1997.
• Disney wanted to move The Lion King to Berlin but ended up offering The Hunchback of Notre Dame instead after negotiations fell through.

German Production (1999-2002)

• The musical opened on June 5, 1999 at Berlin Theatre (now Theater am Potsdamer Platz) with a German translation by Michael Kunze and direction by James Lapine.
• The production featured forty-two actors from six different nations and cost 45 million marks to produce, subsidized by state funds.
• Nine new songs were written for this version, which became one of Berlin's longest-running musicals to date.

Intermediate Period and Revival

• Der Glöckner von Notre Dame was not staged again in the same format for many years, but adaptations of the 1996 film could be seen in various productions around Disney theme parks and cruises.
• In 2013, it was announced that the musical would be produced for a Broadway performance with a new book by Peter Parnell and new songs by Menken and Schwartz.