Lyricist Luc Plamondon, who with composer Richard Cocciante created the International musical smash Notre-Dame de Paris, is working on a new stage version of the Cinderella story. The show will be called Cindy and updated to modern times, according to a report in Variety. Plamondon is partnering with Italian composer Romano Musumarra on the project.
Cindy will bow Sept. 25 at the Palais de Congres in Paris—the same theatre where Notre Dame made its debut. NDP Project produces.
Plamondon is following the same route with Cindy as he did with Notre Dame, preceding the actual production with splashy press conferences and the release of a cast album. He launched Cindy's cast album in Cannes, joined by Murray Head (Jesus Christ Superstar, Chess) and Laam, the Tunisian-French singer who will play Cindy. Both perform on the recording. The album will be released in stores on Feb. 19. The first single is called "Un Monde a part (A World Apart)."
The London production of Notre Dame closed Oct. 6, 2001, after a run of 16 months. The Paris production, however, was a considerably bigger success. It opened on Sept. 18, 1998, after an onslaught of media coverage. One year prior to its opening, a big press conference was held to announce the cast. Seven months before its opening, the cast recording was released to introduce the score to the French audiences. The original cast of Notre-Dame de Paris featured Israeli singer Noa as Esmeralda, Garou as Quasimodo, Daniel Lavoie as Frollo, Bruno Pelletier as Gringoire and Luck Mervil as Clopin.
After triumphing in Paris, the show toured France, Belgium and Switzerland before crossing the Atlantic to French-Canadian Plamondon's home province, Quebec, and Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre. According to Variety, 3 million people have seen the show in Paris and across Europe. Notre Dame de Paris made its U.S. English language debut at Las Vegas' Paris hotel and casino Jan. 21, 2000. Will Jennings, best known for his Oscar-winning "My Heart Will Go On" from "Titanic," wrote the English version of the rock opera, which starred Douglas Storm, Francis Ruivivar and Jessica Grove.
Luc Plamondon wrote the lyrics of the French musical hit, Starmania. Like Notre-Dame de Paris and now Cindy, Starmania was released as a concept album before hitting the stage. He has also penned tunes for pop artists, including Celine Dion. —By Robert Simonson
