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See Wonderland below.
Frank is developing the musical Bonnie & Clyde, with lyrics by Don Black (Sunset Boulevard, Aspects of Love, Dracula) and a book by Ivan Menchell (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Cemetary Club, The Prince and the Pauper). The show tells the story of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, ill-fated lovers and outlaws whose tale has captured the imagination ever since it took place during the Great Depression. The project is described as a "non-traditional score, combining rockabilly, blues and gospel music." As reported by BroadwayWorld.com, there
will be an invite-only, industry reading of the show presented by
The Roundabout Theatre Company on 9 February 2009. The
reading will be directed by Jeff Calhoun (Brooklyn, Grey Gardens, Deaf
West's Big River), with music direction by John McDaniel ("The Rosie O'Donnell Show", Grease!,
Annie Get Your Gun). Casting and other details have not been announced at this time.
Information about this project has been moved to the new Carmen page.
Tickets for the production are now available through the Theater St. Gallen website. The show will be performed in German, and is expected to run through 13 June 2009. Additional dates are possible. Andreas Gergen will direct, Koen Schoots will serve as musical director, with Kim Scharnberg as orchestrator, Allen Moyer as set designer, Susanne Hubrich as costume designer and Melissa King providing musical staging. Further casting for the production has yet to be announced. BroadwayWorld.com and Playbill.com have both reported that there is a workshop of Monte Cristo taking place in New York this month. The workshop cast includes James Barbour as Edmond Dantes, Brandi Burkhardt as Mercédès, Gregg Edelman as Abbé Faria, Michael Shawn Lewis as Mondego, Natalie Toro as Louisa the Pirate Queen, Craig Bennett as Danglars, Kevin Earley as Villefort, Chelsea Stock as Valentine, and Kevin Greene as Albert. They are joined by Alison Cimmet, William Thomas Evans, Dan Petrotta, Tim Shew, Anne Tolpegin and Alison Walla, and are under the direction of Andreas Gergen. A concept recording is being prepared for release in December 2008. The English-language CD will feature Thomas Borchert as Edmond Dantes (The Count of Monte Cristo), Pia Douwes as Valentine, Brandi Burkhardt as Mercédès, Patrick Stanke as Fernand Mondego, Mark Seibert as de Villefort, Mathias Edenborn as Baron Danglars, Jesper Tydén as Albert and Alexander Goebel as the Abbé Faria. The album is available for pre-order from Sound of Music. The song list for the concept recording includes: Prologue to the Count of Monte Cristo; When Love Is
True; A Story Told; I Will Be There; Every Day A Little Death; When The World Was Mine; When We Are Kings;
Hell To Your Doorstep; Ah, Women; I Know Those Eyes/This Man Is Dead; Pretty Lies; All This Time; The Man
I Used To Be.
A production of Cyrano has been announced at the Nissay Theatre in Tokyo, Japan. The show will run there from 5 through 28 May 2009, starring Takeshi Kaga (the original Japanese Jekyll & Hyde) in the title role, Hikaru Asami (Elisabeth) as Roxanne and Kenji Urai (Rudolf, Elisabeth) and another unnamed actor sharing the part of Christian. There are also plans to bring Cyrano to the stage in Spain in 2009. Spanish singing star
Raphael - who headlined the Spanish premiere of Jekyll & Hyde in
2000 - will star. A Spanish concept recording of the show featuring Raphael is in the works. A release
date for the album and further details on the production have not been set, and will be forthcoming.
Frank is currently developing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with Gregory Boyd and Jack
Murphy. The show is expected to be a gothic, romantic mystery, and will largely examine the
inspiration and creative process that led to Mary Shelley's famous novel. There are hopes for a
concept recording and for a production, possibly at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas. No
definite production or recording plans have been announced at this time.
Frank is writing a new musical with Shuichiro Koike (book and director) and Jack Murphy (lyrics), titled Mitsuko. The show focuses on Mitsuko Aoyama (1874-1941), who was the first Japanese woman to marry a westerner. In 1892, she married the Austro-Hungarian ambassador, Count Heinrich Coudenhove-Kalergi. Almost five years later they moved to Austria, where their family would grow to include seven children. Following Heinrich's death in 1906, Mitsuko stayed in Vienna to provide the best opportunities possible for their children. Their second son, Richard Nikolaus, became the founder of the first movement for a unified Europe, editing the "Paneuropa" journal and publishing a manifesto of the same name. Mitsuko is therefore sometimes referred to as "the mother of European unification." She remained in Vienna even through anti-Japanese sentiments during the First World War, and until her own death in 1941.
Yoka Wao included the song "Love Crosses All Borders" from this project, along with three of Frank's other
songs, in a concert performance in January 2007 in Tokyo, Japan. The concert has been released on DVD - full
details and purchasing links are on the albums & songbooks
page.
Frank is working with Jack Murphy (lyrics) and Phoebe Hwang (book) on Wonderland: Alice's New Musical Adventures, a contemporary spin on Lewis Carroll's tale of Alice in Wonderland. Material from the show was developed at the Broadway Theatre Project's Summer Musical Theatre Arts Education Program in July 2007. Participants in the program worked with Frank and artistic director Debra McWaters "on creating the well-known characters in innovative and modern ways." Brandi Burkhardt, who is attached to the project for the title role, also participated. Two songs from the show were premiered in a concert titled "Musicals: The Old and The New", which concluded the BTP program. More information on the project, including sound clips, can be found on
Jack Murphy's
website.
Havana with Jack Murphy & Nilo Cruz and Excalibur with Jim Steinman & Gregory Boyd. Copyright © 1999-2008 Wildhorn Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Frank is working with Jack Murphy on a musical version of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre
Dumas, père. The show will have its world premiere on 14 March 2009 at
Cyrano is Frank's next collaboration with Leslie Bricusse (Jekyll & Hyde), based
on the classic work by Edmond Rostand.
Material from the show was premiered at the "Mitsuko Musical Concert" in Vienna
on Friday, 9 December 2005. Ten selections from the show were performed by Uwe Kröger (as
Heinrich), Maki Ichiro (as Mitsuko) and Yoshio Inoue (as Richard). They were backed by the
Musical Festival Orchestra Vienna, conducted by Adrian Manz. Most of the songs were performed
in German, with translations by Ulrich Peters, while the rest were presented in English. The
concert also included selections from Jekyll & Hyde and other shows. The event, which
was produced by