Frank has written a new musical, titled Rudolf - The Last Kiss, with Jack Murphy (book and lyrics), Nan Knighton (additional lyrics) and Phoebe Hwang (book). The show has previously been referred to under the working titles of Vienna or Affäre Mayerling (The Mayerling Affair). It tells the tragic story of Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf and Mary Vetsera, who were found dead in a hunting lodge in Mayerling, near Vienna.

The musical is loosely based on a book by Frederic Morton, which is available in English as A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889 and in German as Ein Letzter Walzer (The Last Waltz). It has been previously published in German under the title of Herbstwaltzer: Chronik um Erzherzog Rudolf.

Performances:

Rudolf - The Last Kiss had its world premiere at the Operett Színház in Budapest, Hungary on 26 May 2006, and its open-air premiere on 28 July 2006 in Szeged, Hungary. The show is a co-production by Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, the Budapest Operetta Theater and the Szeged Open-Air Festival. The show is currently running in Hungary, and is expected to open in Vienna in February 2009.

Upcoming performances at Operett Színház in Budapest include 13-15 January and 27-28 March 2009. Additional performances are expected, and will be posted as they are announced. Ticket information is available on the Operett Színház Website.

The cast for the Hungarian production is led by Attila Dolhai (Rudolf), Bernadett Vágó (Mary Vetsera), Kata Janza (Countess Larisch), Attila Németh (Franz Joseph), Tamás Földes (Taaffe, the prime minister), Veronika Nádasi (Stephanie, Rudolf's wife) and Zoltán Bereczki (Pfeiffer, the puppeteer). The show is directed by Kero® (Miklós Gábor Kerényi), with musical direction by Koen Schoots and choreography by Michael Reardon, Éva Duda, Jenõ Lõcsei and László Rogács. The musical arrangements are by Kim Scharnberg and Koen Schoots, the conductors are László Makláry, István Silló, and the chorus director is László Kéringer. The set design is by Csörsz Khell, with costume design by Rita Velich, lighting design by Péter Somfai and puppets by Lucia Õsz. The script translation is by Gergely Zöldi, with lyric translations by Gergely Zöldi, Szilárd Somogyi and Miklós Gábor Kerényi. The show is being performed in Hungarian, with English subtitles.

Photos have been posted on this site from opening night and from the reading in NYC. Further details, including news, performance dates, complete cast and creative team lists, photo galleries and more, are available on the Operett Színház Website (site in Hungarian). Information and photos from the Szeged performances can be found on the Szeged Open-Air Festival Website.

Vereinigte Bühnen Wien will present the German-language premiere of the show at the Raimund Theater in Vienna, Austria, opening 26 February 2009. Tickets are currently on sale; details are available at the VBW website.

The cast of the show will be led by Drew Sarich as Rudolf, Lisa Antoni as Mary Vetsera, Uwe Kröger as Taaffe, Claus Dam as Franz Joseph, Carin Filipcic as Marie Larisch and Wietske von Tongeren as Stephanie. The Ensemble includes Kathleen Bauer (Mitzi), Silke Braas, Sasha DiCapri (Clemenceau), Alexandra Farkic, Niklas-Philipp Gertl, Matilda Hansson, Jan Hutter (Meissner), Leigh Martha Klinger, Dennis Kozeluh (Edward), Adrienn Krékacs, Robert D. Marx (Andrassy), Markus Neugebauer (Wiligut), Tineke Ogink, Martin Pasching (Wilhelm II), Kai Peterson (Szeps), Rory Six, Manuel Stoff (Vogelsang), Niran Straub, Anja von Geldern and Claudia Wauschke. Swings for the production include Liane Maynard, Katrin Mersch, Maxi Neuwirth, Max Niemeyer, Fritz Schmid and Marcus Tesch. Photos from the first (press) rehearsal have been posted by Kultur-Channel and the VBW website.

The production will be directed by David Leveaux (The Real Thing, Nine, Fiddler on the Roof), with choreography by John O'Connell, music direction by Caspar Richter, orchestrations by Kim Scharnberg, arrangements and music supervision by Koen Schoots, sets by Mike Britton, costumes by Laura Hopkins, lighting by Patrick Woodroffe and Adam Bassett, and sound design by Hendrik Maaßen. The German translation will be provided by Julia Sengstshmid (script) and Nina Jäger (lyrics).

Rudolf had its Japanese Premiere, presented by Toho Musical & Play in Tokyo from 6 May through 1 June 2008. The cast for this production included Yoshio Inoue as Rudolf, Rena Sasamoto as Mary Vetsera, Rina Chinen as Princess Stephanie, Tatsuki Kohju as Countess Larisch, Haruhiko Jo as Franz Joseph, Kenji Urai as Johann Pfeiffer, Hiroshi Hatanaka as Szeps, Yuji Kishi as Kaiser Wilhelm, Shinya Niro as Edward (Prince of Wales) and Kojiro Oka as Taaffe. The staging was directed by Amon Miyamoto. Production photos have been added to the Project Photo Gallery.

Yoshio Inoue included "The Steps of Tomorrow" from the show on his recent album, "Welcome to the Theater", which is now available in Japan and from Sound Of Music.

Recordings and More:

A CD single of the song "I Was Born To Love You" is now available. The song was recorded in English by Drew Sarich and Lisa Antoni (Rudolf and Mary Vetsera in the upcoming Vienna production). The disc includes a radio version, acoustic version, dance version and instrumental/karaoke version of the song. A sound clip is available on the VBW website. The single can be purchased from Sound Of Music or iTunes (US, Germany or Austria).

Zoltán Bereczki (Pfeiffer in the world premiere production of Rudolf) and Dóra Szinetár have released their second album of duets together, titled "Musical Duett 2." Included on the album is "Ez most más" (Something More), performed in Hungarian. The album is available from Sound Of Music.

Sounds clips from the show, as well as a video highlight from the Hungarian stage production, are available at Jack Murphy's website.

A song list for the show has now been posted on this site.

Three songs from the show can now be heard on the Hungarian musical theater sampler CD titled "Mindhalálig Musical". The tracks from Rudolf are "Te Értem Születtel" (I Was Born For You), performed by Kata Janza and Attila Dolhai; "Csak Szerelem" (Only Love), performed by Kata Janza; and "A Holnap Hídja" (Steps Of Tomorrow) performed by some of the biggest stars in the country: Kata Janza, Ágota Siménfalvy, Dóra Szinetár, Zoltán Bereczki, Attila Dolhai, Árpád Zsolt Mészáros and Szilveszter Szabó P. There are a total of 21 tracks on the CD, which also includes a performance of "No One Knows Who I Am" from Jekyll & Hyde, sung by Dóra Szinetár. This CD is available from Sound Of Music.

Two songs from the show were also included in Yoka Wao's January 2007 concert in Tokyo, Japan. Wao performed "The Steps of Tomorrow" and was joined by Mari Hanafusa for "I Was Born To Love You," both in Japanese. The concert also included the title song from Never Say Goodbye and a selection from Mitsuko. It is available on DVD, from TCA Pictures or Takarazuka Video. Both sites are in Japanese and offer domestic shipping only. International orders can be placed through Crescent Shop.

Rob Evan recorded the song "Measure Of A Man" for his first, upcoming solo album. A sound clip is available on Rob-Evan.com. A release date has not yet been announced.