What is Frank working on?
Carmen began its world premiere run at the Karlín Musical Theater in Prague, Czech
Republic on 2 and 3 October 2008, with previews beginning 24 September. Performances will run through 29
November, and then resume in February 2009. The show is presented by Hudební Divadlo Karlín
and Ta Fantastika, with direction by Gabriel Barre, sets and costumes by Andrea Bartha, and choreography by
Pavel Strouhal. The show has lyrics by Jack Murphy and a book by Norman Allen.
A website has been established for this production at www.carmen-musical.com.
You can learn more about this project on the Carmen page.
A cast recording of the show was released on 7 November 2008,
by EMI Czech Republic.
Additional information is available on Lucie Bila's website (both
sites in Czech). Further details will be added here as they become available.
Frank Wildhorn and Jack Murphy's The Count of Monte Cristo will have its world premiere on 14 March
2009 at Theater St. Gallen in Switzerland.
Tickets for the production are now available through the
Theater St. Gallen website.
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, Brandi Burkhardt, Gregg Edelman, Michael Shawn Lewis, Natalie Toro and more, under the direction of
Andreas Gergen. For more information, see the Upcoming
Projects page.
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 track list has been announced, and the album is available for pre-order from
Sound of
Music.
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 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 developing the musical Bonnie & Clyde, with lyrics by Don Black and a book by Ivan
Menchell. 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, with music direction by John McDaniel. Casting and other details have not
been announced at this time.
Frank is available for master classes... for more information, see the
Upcoming Projects FAQ.
For more information on other upcoming projects, visit the
Upcoming Projects page.
Website Updates
You may notice a few changes in the navigation at the top of the site. There is now a
"News" button which will always bring you to this updates page. The German news page is now available from
the dropbox at the top right corner of this page.
The "Community" button will now take you to the community website,
WildhornFans.net.
Information has been added to the site on the "Linda Eder: Greatest Hits" album released earlier this year.
The album includes selections from Jekyll & Hyde and past albums such
as "It's Time", "It's No Secret Anymore" and "Broadway, My Way." Details are listed on the
Music page.
Dracula, The Musical
The premiere cast recording of Dracula, from the production in Graz, Austria, is now
available. The German-language recording features cast members from the Musical Festival Graz
production, as well as the Orchestra of Operett Színház in Budapest, Hungary, conducted by Koen
Schoots. The album is available from
Zoltán Bereczki (Pfeiffer in the world premiere production) 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
OD Musical Company is presenting a fifth season of performances of Jekyll in Seoul, South
Korea. Performances take place at the LG Arts Center, beginning 11 November and officially opening 14
November 2008, with plans to run through 22 February 2009.
The Polish premiere production of Jekyll has returned for a second season at Teatr Rozrywki in
Chorzów, Silesia, Poland, beginning 25 September 2008. Performances have been announced into December,
and further dates are possible. The cast is led by Janusz Krucinski, Marcin Rychcik and Pawel Tucholski
as Jekyll/Hyde, Wioletta Bialk and Marta Florek as Lucy and Alona Szostak and Ewa Grysko as Emma.
The first Swedish cast recording of Jekyll is now available. The recording features the
leads from the Excellence Production staging which recently concluded its run in Stockholm: Mikael
Samuelson as Jekyll, Sarah Dawn Finer as Lucy and Myrra Malmberg as Emma. It is available from
Pimpernel is having its long-awaited Hungarian premiere at Szolnoki Szigligeti
Színház in Szolnok. Performances began with a preview on 2 October 2008 and then an
official opening on 3 October. Dates are announced through the end of November, with further
performances possible. The cast is led by Attila Csengeri as Percy, Réka Koós as Marguerite
and László Molnár as Chauvelin.
Takarazuka Revue - the famous, all-female theater company based in Takarazuka, Japan - presented
the Japanese premiere production of Pimpernel in Takarazuka from 20 June through 4 August
2008, and in Tokyo from 22 August through 5 October.
A cast recording and DVD are now both available from this production. Further
details and purchasing links can be found on the