NOTRE DAME DE PARIS to Make New York City Debut at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center

After more than two decades playing worldwide and selling more than 15 million tickets in 23 countries, the international musical and dance sensation Notre Dame de Paris will make its long-awaited New York City debut this summer. The production, performed in French with English supertitles and featuring a dazzling international 30-member cast and a live orchestra, will play for seven performances only from July 13-17, 2022 at the David H. Koch Theatre at Lincoln Center. The production will open on Bastille Day, Thursday, July 14, with a special Gala performance.

Victor Hugo's 1831 classic and beloved novel, Notre Dame de Paris [The Hunchback of Notre Dame], telling the timeless story of the disfigured bell ringer Quasimodo, and his devotion to the beautiful Esmerelda, has inspired generations of readers, and his been adapted for films, operas, ballets, and television shows.

In 1998, Italian singer and composer Richard Cocciante and legendary French songwriter Luc Plamondon adapted the title for their unique musical extravaganza, combining elements of musical theatre, dance, and acrobatics. The production originally debuted at the Palais des Congrès in Paris in 1998, where in its first year, it sold more than 1 million tickets and over 3 million albums, making it the most successful musical production ever, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

The score of Notre Dame de Paris has also produced two hit singles: "Belle," which has received airplay in 17 countries, and "Vivre," recorded in English as "Live (for the One I Love)," and a major hit for Céline Dion.

Notre Dame de Paris is directed by Gilles Maheu and choreographed by Martino Müller. Casting will be announced in coming weeks.

Ahead of the New York City premiere, producer Nicolas Talar commented, "We have been fortunate to produce Notre Dame de Paris in over 23 countries in nine different languages for millions of international fans. It has long been a dream for the show to be performed in New York. Now after more than two decades and a wait made longer due to the pandemic, it is truly a thrill to know we will soon share this immortal story with New York audiences in one of the greatest arts complexes in the world. We hope Notre Dame de Paris will please our existing fans as well as make new ones."

Casting will be announced in coming weeks.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

Wednesday, July 13 at 7:30 PM
Thursday, July 14 at 7:30 PM
Friday, July 15 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, July 16 at 2:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Sunday, July 17 at 2:00 PM & 6:00 PM

TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets can be purchased in person at the David H. Koch Theater box office, via the David H. Koch Theater website at www.davidhkochtheater.com or by phone at 212-496-0600.

BIOGRAPHIES

Richard Cocciante

Long before Notre Dame de Paris became an international success, Riccardo (aka Richard) Cocciante was already established as a successful international artist-singer-composer with more than 40 albums to his name in Italian, Spanish and French. His musical education is self-taught, allowing him to explore a vast range of musical expressions and compositions: from songs to musical operas, from film soundtracks to intimate and rigorous music for the theatre or casting and directing young singers in his "People's Opera." The authentic global success, Notre Dame de Paris defies conventions, living up to Riccardo's challenges, achieving a scale and genre of its own, yet remaining faithful to Cocciante's ideas and concepts: a new form of contemporary "People's Opera" with its roots in traditional European opera and 'dramma in musica' and integrating modern staging techniques and equipment from live Rock-Pop concerts and shows. Richard began a second career as composer of People's Opera from Saint-Exupéry's Le Petit Prince to Giuletta E Romeo, after which he decided to take a break from his singing and recording career.

Luc Plamondon

If there is one name associated with French songwriting around the world, it is without doubt that of Luc Plamondon. This prolific songwriter has written over 500 songs and five musicals, the most famous of which - Starmania and Notre Dame de Paris - have been seen by millions of spectators and sold as many albums around the world. He encountered Diane Dufresne, who became his muse all through the seventies, for whom he wrote 75 songs. He was called on to work for all the biggest names of pop music in Quebec and France. His career reached a peak in 1992 with a tribute album that Céline Dion dedicated to him entitled Dion Sings Plamondon. With composer Michel Berger, he wrote the first French rock opera, Starmania, which premiered in Paris in 1979 and was an unprecedented success in several languages. His other musicals include La légende de Jimmy (1990). Awards: several Félix in Quebec, Victoires de la Musique in France, World Music Award for Notre Dame de Paris in Monaco and the MIDEM Award for his career, in Cannes, Plamondon was named a Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Québec, an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Knight of the French Legion of Honour and is the first Quebecer inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Notre Dame de Paris

The year after opening, Notre Dame de Paris was celebrated in the millennium edition of the Guinness Book of World Records for its hugely successful debut year: "Notre Dame de Paris, the show by Luc Plamondon and Richard Cocciante, has met a phenomenal success from the release of the single "Belle," which sold 2.5 million copies. Additionally, it sold 3 million albums, 900,000 live albums, 550,000 tickets sold from Sep 98 to Jan 99 at the Palais des Congrèes in Paris, 220,000 tickets sold in Canada, 500,000 albums sold in Canada." The production has since toured the world, visiting Canada, Las Vegas, England, Lebanon, Italy, Spain, China, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Belgium, Japan, Russia, Luxembourg, Turkey and Poland and sold over 15 millions tickets.

Watch the trailer below!

Photo credit: Alessandro Dobici