Wildhorn's Rudolf--The Last Kiss to Have European Premiere in May
By: BWW News Desk Jan. 09, 2006
Frank Wildhorn and Jack Murphy, who recently penned the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald bio-musical Waiting for the Moon, have had three commissions for the next three
years by European producers. The first world premiere will be Rudolf - The Last
Kiss, with two productions in Budapest, Hungary and Vienna, Austria. Over
the last two weeks, producers of both productions have met in NYC for workshop and meetings.Wildhorn and Murphy have been commissioned to write the musical
based on Frederick Morton's book A Nervous Splendour. It will open in Budapest, Hungary on May 26 (at the Operett Theater) and
move to the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien as an major production (7 shows a
week) about a year later; Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse's Jekyll & Hyde previously ran at the theatre for 2 years. The musical is the story of Crown Prince Rudolf (the son of the Austrian
Empress Elisabeth), who though married to Stephanie, had an affair with the beautiful
Mary Vetsera. The musical ends tragically as both he and Mary commit suicide. The events were "a big
scandal early last century and there are still many rumors about what 'really'
happened," according to press notes.
The table reading was held at the MTI offices in New York and the leads were played by Rob Evan (Rudolf), Brandi Burkhardt (Mary) and Michael Shawn Lewis (The Woman in White); the latter played the villainous Taafe. The meetings were held at the Chelsea Studios.
Wildhorn's Broadway credits include Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Civil War and Dracula: The Musical. A pop composer who has written many hits (such as Whitney Houston's chart-topper "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?"), he has also penned songs for Linda Eder's various albums. Wildhorn also penned Camille Claudel, in which Eder starred.
Photo by Gordon Bovinet
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