Domino Theatre: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Musical

The legendary musical The Hunchback of Notre-Dame returns to Lithuania’s major stages this year. “It is the most beautiful love story ever written. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame has broken every musical record imaginable in Lithuania and Europe. Every time I sing in this musical, it feels like the first time—I relive this wonderful story again and again,” says Deividas Norvilas, who performs the roles of Quasimodo and Gringoire. “When I first heard The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, I thought how lucky those who get to perform such beautiful music are. At the time, the musical genre was not popular in Lithuania, so taking part in a project like this was more a dream than a reality for me. Today that dream has come true beyond my expectations—I have been singing in this musical for 16 years. I am delighted to have this opportunity, and that the music can move not only my heart, but also the hearts of fans of the genre!” says Raimondas Baranauskas, one of the stars of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

The musical The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is based on the novel by Victor Hugo, a classic first published in 1831. It tells the story of the young Romani woman Esmeralda, torn apart by love and passion; the struggle between good and evil; care and devotion; and the clash between pride and virtue. Esmeralda’s fate is tragic, but eternal love and pure feelings for her continue to glow in the heart of Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bell-ringer, until the end of his life.

A few interesting facts about the musical:
– It was first performed in 1998 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.
– It is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the best-selling musical: around 7 million recordings were sold in French-speaking countries alone.
– The musical’s lead single, “Belle” (“Beautiful”), reached number one in the French music Top 10, stayed there for 33 weeks, and was named the most beautiful song written in 50 years.
– The music was composed by one of France’s best-known composers and performers, Richard Cocciante.
– It is one of the most successful musicals, having been performed in more than 20 countries, with over 5,000 performances and an audience of more than 15 million people.
– The musical has been translated into 8 languages.

Director: Ramūnas Marcinkus
Cast:
Quasimodo – Raimondas Baranauskas, Deividas Norvilas
Gringoire – Rokas Laureckis, Eimantas Bešėnas
Phoebus – Mindaugas Zimkus, Rokas Laureckis, Aleksandras Dirmantas
Fleur-de-Lys – Ingrida Kažemėkaitė
Clopin – Vladas Kovaliovas, Domas Saulevičius
Frollo – Žanas Voronovas
Esmeralda – Akvilė Garbenčiūtė, Austėja Lukaitė, Ieva Barbora Juozapaitytė