The winning combination of Richard Cocciante's score, Luca Plamondon's libretto and Ramunas Marcinkus's stage direction made the 1998 Paris debut of the musical Notre-Dame de Paris a runaway success. The French version has since been staged in Belgium, Switzerland and Canada. The English version opened in Las Vegas and has been shown in London. And now the Polish adaptation, entitled Notre-Dame-l'histoire, is coming to Warsaw's Kongresowa Hall Dec. 29 and 30.

The plot is faithful to Victor Hugo's novel of the same name, usually translated into English as The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Frollo, the Archdeacon of Notre-Dame Cathedral, has cared for the hunch-backed bell ringer Quasimodo ever since the latter was born and forbids his charge to set foot outside the tower where he has lived since infancy on account of his horribly deformed features.

Quasimodo, however, yearns to live in society and, one fine feast of Saint Blaise day, he dons a disguise and sets out to mingle with the masses. This little jaunt is not without its hitches but at least he gets to meet a lovely young gypsy named Esmeralda.

The setting is colorful and the stage design and costumes take you back to 15th-century Paris. And the greatest hits of Plamondon and Cocciante-Belle, Bohemienne and Le Temps des Cathedrales-are all there in the Polish version.

M.B.

Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 30 at 5 p.m.
Kongresowa Hall
1 Defilad Sq., Warsaw
Tickets: zl.70, zl.90, zl.120, zl.160, zl.190, zl.250, available from Kongresowa box office (cash only, no ticket reservation) or online at www.ticketonline.pl and
www.ticketpro.pl
For more information, go to www.kongresowa.pl