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See Wonderland below.
La Jolla Playhouse has announced that they will present the world premiere of Bonnie & Clyde this fall. 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. It will have music by Frank Wildhorn, 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), and will be directed by Jeff Calhoun (Brooklyn, Grey Gardens, Deaf West's Big River). The project is described as a "non-traditional score, combining rockabilly, blues and gospel music." Further details on the project are mentioned in the articles on BroadwayWorld.com and Playbill Online. The show will run 10 November - 20 December 2009 at the Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Theatre in La Jolla, California. Subscriptions are available by calling (858) 550-1010 or visiting lajollaplayhouse.org. Single tickets go on sale 12 July, and there is a form available to sign up for priority ticketing information. Casting and further information will be posted as it is announced. An industry reading of the show took place at The Roundabout
Theatre Company in early February 2009. The reading was directed by Jeff Calhoun, with music direction
by John McDaniel ("The Rosie O'Donnell Show", Grease!, Annie Get Your Gun). The cast was led by
Laura Osnes (Kathleen Marshall's Grease) as Bonnie and Stark Sands (Journey's End, Tony Award
nominee) as Clyde. They were joined by Rob Evan, Kelsey Fowler, Natalie Hill, Michael Lanning, David
Larsen, Jacob Levine, Brynn O'Malley, Geoff Packard, Tricia Paoluccio, Jessica Phillips, Nancy Ringham, Bart
Shatto, Marty Thomas, Ben Thompson, Tad Wilson and Betsy Wolfe.
The show just had its world premiere at the Nissay Theatre in Tokyo, Japan, from 5 through 28 May 2009. The production stars Takeshi Kaga (the original Japanese Jekyll & Hyde) in the title role, Hikaru Asami (Elisabeth) as Roxanne and Kenji Urai (Rudolf, Elisabeth) and Masataka Nakagauchi sharing the part of Christian. It has direction by Kazuya Yamada, music direction by Akihiro Shiota and choreography by Kiyomi Maeda. The lyric translations were provided by Kazuko Matsuoka, with the script translation by Machiko Ryuu. More information is available on the Fuji TV production site (in Japanese). This production also played at Umeda Arts Theater in Osaka, Japan, 3-7 June 2009, and is reportedly touring the country. There are also plans to bring Cyrano to the stage in Spain. 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.
Wonderland tells the story of author Alice Cornwinkle (a descendant of Lewis Carroll's muse Alice Lidell) who is struggling with her career and her daughter, Cloe. With a chaotic Wonderland in danger of disappearing into nothingness, only Alice can restore balance and joy. Audiences will journey with her through the Looking-Glass from present-day Manhattan to a strange-yet-familiar place where she must reclaim her daughter, defeat the Queen of Hearts and learn to follow her heart. The developmental staging at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center's Ferguson Hall will begin with previews on 24 November, and run through 3 January 2010. The show will be the inaugural effort for TBPAC's Broadway Genesis Project, under the leadership of Judith Lisi. Tickets for the Tampa run are available to season subscribers, and will go on sale to the general public on 16 August. Regular performance times (there may be exceptions) are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays at 8:00, Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00, and Sundays at 2:00 and 7:30. There will be no performances on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day. There is a ticket waiting list available, and select show merchandise is also available. The show will then move to Houston's Alley Theatre, where Frank has launched such projects as Jekyll & Hyde and The Civil War. The Houston staging will take place on the Hubbard Stage from 9 January through 14 February 2010, with an opening night of 13 January. Season subscriptions are available on the Alley Theatre Website or by calling (713) 220-5700. A sale date for individual tickets has not yet been announced. There is a website for the show at
wonderlandthemusical.org - including sound clips, video
interviews and more - and a blog at
wonderlandthemusical.blogspot.com.
Additional information and sound clips can be found on
Jack Murphy's
website.
Havana with Jack Murphy & Nilo Cruz, Tears From Heaven with Phoebe Hwang and Excalibur with Jim Steinman & Gregory Boyd. Copyright © 1999-2009 Wildhorn Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.
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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 
Wonderland: Alice's New Musical Adventure will have its world premiere in Tampa, Florida
on 5 December 2009, followed by a run at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas. It is hoped that
these productions will be followed by touring plans or a Broadway engagement. A concept album is also
planned, aiming for a US release in summer 2009 and an international release the following fall or winter.
The show will have book and lyrics by Jack Murphy and direction (in both cities) by Gregory Boyd.