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See Wonderland, below.
Lucie Bílá is set to star in the title role. Bílá is one of the most popular singers and musical theater stars in the Czech Republic. She has performed in Les Misérables, Karel Svoboda's Dracula, Joan of Arc and more. She has recorded seven albums, starred in 9 feature films, and has won Grammy Awards, Music Academy Awards, Tý Tý Awards and Czech Nightingale Awards as a top Czech performer. Further casting will be announced in July. Gabriel Barre will direct the Czech production. Barre recently helmed the new Kander and Ebb musical All About Us at Westport Country Playhouse, and has also directed The Wild Party at Manhattan Theatre Club, Camille Claudel at Goodspeed Musicals, and national tours of Pippin and Cinderella. Frank has been developing this adaptation of Carmen with Jack Murphy (lyrics) and Norman Allen (book). It is a contemporary tale inspired by the Prosper Mérimée novel which contains the essence of the famous characters but explores the story in a brand new way. Carmen is part of a circus, which give the show great visuals (set and costumes by Andrea Bartha) and daring stunts. According to Norman Allen, "the eternal truth of the character - a courageous and daring woman full of the zest for living - is the driving force behind this new musical." The show will not be musically related to the opera of the same name. A website has been established for this production at
www.carmen-musical.com. The site, in Czech and English,
includes more information about the creative team, tickets (which are currently on sale), a photo gallery
and an update mailing list.
Photos from a recent round of press events and animal auditions have been posted in the
Project Photo Gallery.
A Photo Flash at BroadwayWorld.com
features some of the costume sketches for the show.
Frank is working with Jack Murphy on a musical version of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre
Dumas, père. The show is expected to premiere on 14 March 2009 at
Theater St. Gallen in Switzerland, with
Thomas Borchert in the title role. Koen Schoots will serve as
musical director and Kim Scharnberg will provide orchestrations.
There are 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.
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.
Excalibur with Jim Steinman & Gregory Boyd, and Bonnie & Clyde with Don Black. Copyright © 1999-2008 Wildhorn Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Carmen is set to premiere in Prague, Czech Republic on 2 and 3 October 2008,
with previews beginning 24 September. The show will be presented by
The Count of Monte Cristo
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