THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME Begins Tonight at La Jolla Playhouse

La Jolla Playhouse presents the U.S. premiere production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, featuring a score by the multiple Academy, Grammy and Tony Award-winning team of composer Alan Menken (Newsies, Little Shop of Horrors) and lyricist Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin), book by Peter Parnell (The West Wing, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever) and direction by Scott Schwartz (Playhouse's Jane Eyre, Broadway's Golda's Balcony). Produced in association with Paper Mill Playhouse, by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions, The Hunchback of Notre Dame begins tonight, October 26, and runs through December 14, 2014 in the Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Theatre.

Based on the Victor Hugo novel and featuring the Oscar-nominated score from the 1996 Disney classic film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the only stage collaboration from two masters of the American musical theatre, composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz. Celebrated for such beloved and award-winning works as Menken's Newsies, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin and Schwartz's Godspell, Pippin and Wicked, their artistry reaches its zenith in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Featuring a lush, emotionally rich score, performed by a top-notch cast led by Michael Arden, Patrick Page, Ciara Renee, Andrew Samonsky and Erik Liberman - and featuring local choir Sacra/Profana as the on-stage chorus - this new production from acclaimed director Scott Schwartz highlights the music's orchestral power and choral beauty in an intimate retelling of the famous love story. Librettist Peter Parnell crafts a bold, highly-theatrical take on the moving tale of the scorned bell-ringer Quasimodo, the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda and the dashing Captain Phoebus in 15th century Paris.

The nationally-acclaimed, Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse is known for its tradition of creating some of the most exciting and adventurous new work in regional theatre. The Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck,Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, and is considered one of the most well-respected not-for-profit theatres in the country. Numerous Playhouse productions have moved to Broadway, including the currently running hit Jersey Boys, as well as Memphis, Big River, The Who's Tommy, Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, Thoroughly Modern Millie, 33 Variations, Bonnie & Clyde, Chaplin, Peter and the Starcatcher and Hands on a Hardbody.

Located on the UC San Diego campus, La Jolla Playhouse is made up of three primary performance spaces: the Mandell Weiss Theatre, the Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre and the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for La Jolla Playhouse, a state-of-the-art theatre complex which features the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. La Jolla Playhouse is led by Artistic Director Christopher Ashley and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg.

For tickets and more information, call (858) 550-1010 or go online at LaJollaPlayhouse.org.