The Musicals of Frank Wildhorn

This is a list of all of the musicals worked on by American composer Frank Wildhorn: "Jekyll & Hyde" 1990; "Svengali" 1991; "Victor/Victoria" 1995; "The Scarlet Pimpernel" 1997; "The Civil War" 1998; "Dracula" 2001; "Camille Claudel" 2003; "Scott & Zelda" 2005; "Mitsuko" 2005; "Never Say Goodbye" 2006; "Rudolf" 2006; "Carmen" 2008; "Cyrano de Bergerac" 2009; "The Count of Monte Cristo" 2009; "Bonnie & Clyde" 2009; "Wonderland" 2009; "Tears of Heaven" 2011; "Artus Excalibur" 2014; "Death Note" 2015; "Mata Hari at the Moulin Rouge" 2016; "The Man Who Laughs" 2018; and most recently "Your Lie in April" released as a concept album in December 2020.

OK. Take a breather.

His upcoming projects include: "Song of Bernadette", "Casanova", "Huberman" and "Peter the Great". He has been working for a number of years (a hundred years as he once joked in one of his Frank Wildhorn and Friends concerts) on a musical called "Havana". Many of the songs were recorded by his ex-wife, muse and leading lady in "Jekyll & Hyde", "Svengali" and "Camille Claudel" Linda Eder.

Frank started his career at UCLA in Los Angeles where he had written a musical there called "Christopher" starring Chuck Wagner. Chuck went on to appear in musicals like "Into the Woods" and "Beauty and the Beast" on Broadway, as well as becoming the original Jekyll and Hyde at the Alley Theatre in Houston, while Frank went into writing pop songs for stars like Whitney Houston. Frank gave Whitney one of her biggest hits in 1988, "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?" which in turn helped Frank to return to his first love, composing for musical theatre.

Ever since his days at UCLA, Frank had been working on a musical of the R.L. Stevenson novella "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" with his classmate Steve Cuden. It had come close to Broadway, which is how Frank and Linda first met during auditions, but the Black Monday stock market crash of 1987 happened and the show went into freefall. Enter veteran lyricist Leslie Bricusse (the guy who co-wrote "Pure Imagination" from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and so much more) and "Jekyll & Hyde" first emerged as an enormous hit at Houston's Alley Theatre in 1990. Audiences were clamouring to see this musical which yielded classic songs like "This is the Moment", "Someone like You" and "A New Life". With the Top 40 Adult Contemporary single "You are my Home" sung by Linda Eder and Peabo Bryson from "The Scarlet Pimpernel", Frank seemed destined for a great career at home and internationally.

Frank was also trying to bridge the gap that he felt had existed between Broadway musical audiences and the charts since about the time of the Beatles. Musical theatre songs were once the music of the streets. Why couldn't it be that way again? If you listen to these songs, like "You are my Home" for example, it's obvious what he’s trying to do. Also, these songs had not only just come from musicals, but pre-cast albums (in the style of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Evita") which would help to launch the scores before an actual production.

Frank had worked on several of these albums, many of which I am going to be exploring in this post. Eventually all of these recordings would wind up as productions on Broadway, not always the successes that Frank had envisioned, but achieving that sort after goal of many aspiring composers and writers: longevity, whether that be at a professional level, regional theatres, or international productions as far and wide as say Vienna, Tokyo or the Czech Republic. Following the international successes of "Evita" and "Cats", the commercial musical theatre world had opened up wider than it ever had before. For example, "Jekyll & Hyde" was a tremendous success in both Japan and South Korea. "Dracula", a commercial flop on Broadway, has gone on to have another life in Europe and Asia along with regional productions worldwide. This is fantastic.

Of Frank's musicals that were performed on Broadway since 1995: "Victor/Victoria", Frank wrote additional music for this, "Jekyll", "Pimpernel", "Civil War", "Dracula", "Wonderland", "Bonnie & Clyde" and a revival of "Hyde", why were many of these not financial successes? Go onto a musical theatre forum and you will find out many opinions on this, e.g. the books were not very well put together, the lyrics were sort of second rate, the productions had been better before they went to Broadway, they were better after, or the critics didn't really like the music which belonged in an ice skating rink. I couldn't really give you the answer.

Me, I first heard the highlights version of the Anthony Warlow "Jekyll & Hyde" album in 1999 and was utterly astonished. When I listened to it, I felt like this musical was even more dramatic than both "Les Mis" and "Phantom", both which I'd only recently heard at the time. That was where my life-long passion for Frank Wildhorn musicals began.

Let's take a look at the recordings then. I know these don't contain the full scores, or at least as they currently stand, but they represent the scores and I can still review these.

1. Jekyll & Hyde (1990)

Highlights from Jekyll & Hyde (1990) --- this is the first album for Jekyll, with just Colm Wilkinson (as both of the titular roles) opposite Linda (this time, both Jekyll's fiancée Lisa and the woman he meets in the East End Lucy). It's more like an album or moments from the story, as opposed to a direct narrative. You get some idea, but I wouldn't recommend this as an introduction. You want to hear the Complete Work first with Anthony Warlow and then go back to this. As an album, it's quite a good listen overall. My favourite moment here is "Till you came into my life" which to me is the great lost power ballad from this score. It was never used in the original production or any production since. Also, I believe this album was recorded before the musical first opened.

The Complete Work (1995) --- in Australia, this was also released as a single highlights album. If you're nervous about listening to the full thing, definitely check this one out first. It's what I heard, before I was finally treated to the masterpiece of the complete album. It knocked me off my chair. Warlow and Linda's vocals are astonishing. If this had been the version that had opened on Broadway, with maybe a couple songs taken out (it's too long considering there is also dialogue), this probably would have run for ten years. It's like at some point someone started second-guessing what they had and so it didn't really reach its full potential at the time. I hear there's a movie in development. Perhaps that will give them another chance.

The Original Broadway Cast (1997) --- J&H was unprecedented in that it had two pre-production cast albums. The second album with Warlow launched a national US tour with Robert Cuccioli, Linda and Christiane Noll in the leads. That was not the production, I believe, that opened on Broadway two years later. It was no longer being advertised as "The Gothic Musical Thriller". When I heard the Broadway Cast album from 1997, I definitely noticed something was different, not as potent as it was before. It was good, it was very good, but the complete version had been great. Something had been lost. Instead of fan favourites like "I Need to Know" and "Bring on the Men", there were now songs like "Lost in the Darkness" and "Good 'n' Evil" (both of which had been in the original Alley production nevertheless.) If you have never heard the other albums, this is still an impeccable introduction. The problem comes when you listen to the other albums. You're left wondering, again, what might have been instead of what was. Ironic, perhaps, considering what happened to the good doctor.

2. Victor/Victoria (1995)

Original Broadway Cast (1995) --- firstly, this is not really Frank's musical. It was written by Henry Mancini with Leslie Bricusse, based on the Blake Edwards film with Julie Andrews, which in turn was based on an earlier film. Sadly though, Henry had passed during the making of the musical and Frank was asked to compose the rest of the score that hadn't been completed. He and Leslie came up with this sensation of a song, which to me is one of the best songs Frank has ever worked on, called "Living in the Shadows". If I am not mistaken, this is also Julie Andrews' last role in a Broadway musical at least, and so that makes the song even more powerful. It's an enjoyable fun musical comedy, and I wouldn't mind seeing how this plays out onstage. Again, I just have to praise that song: "Living in the Shadows". If you're a Wildhorn fan and you haven't heard it, I almost want to say: for shame! You are missing out.

3. The Scarlet Pimpernel (1997)

Original Concept (1992) --- similar to the "Highlights from J&H" album a few years earlier, Frank launched his next musical "The Scarlet Pimpernel" with book and lyrics by Nan Knighton as a concept album. This is where the Linda Eder/Peabo Bryson version of "You are my Home" comes from. Again, I wouldn't recommend this one as your first one. I would go straight to the original Broadway cast, but again it's quite a good listen. It has some fine moments like "Marguerite" and "Our Separate Ways" which did not appear in the eventual production. I remember Frank saying in an interview "Home Again" was one of his favourites of his and I can see why. It too does not appear in the musical. You also get some great performances from Chuck Wagner and Dave Clemmons, both of whom had been in the Houston productions of "Jekyll & Hyde" and "Svengali". My favourite song is probably "Into the Fire".

Original Broadway Cast (1998) --- Oh my goodness. This album to me is a knockout. If it weren't for the J&H "Complete Work" album, I would say hands down this is the best Frank Wildhorn score I've heard. It's also one of those rare scores where I can't really think of a weak moment, musically. You’ve got "Madame Guillotine" for the French, you've got "Prayer" and "Into the Fire" for Percy, "Falcon in the Dive" for the villain Chauvelin, "When I Look at You", "Only Love" and "Storybook" for Marguerite, and oh I could go on. You just have to find out for yourself.

Encore (1999) --- if you know your musical theatre, you know that the history of "Scarlet Pimpernel" is a complex one. This is one show that really could have benefited from a tryout. It might have prevented them from opening up three different versions on Broadway, which were apparently referred to as "Scarlet Pimpernel 1.0", "2.0", etc. When they got to "3.0", I believe that was when this recording was issued. If you own the Broadway cast, you've heard most of these recordings already. Songs have been re-positioned a bit, with several new recordings from the current leads Rex Smith and Rachel York. The song "Only Love" has been cut. "You are my Home" was moved to Act 1, and instead of where it was sung originally in Act 2 is another song, "I'll Forget You" which had been on the concept album. That song is why I would argue that you should own this version too. It really brought something to the experience. When "Only Love" was cut, it was restored to the musical where it had been intended, "Rudolf". It's been there ever since. Yes, this might be second best to the Broadway album and it might have been better if it was all new, but it's a fine companion nevertheless.

4. The Civil War (1998)

The Nashville Sessions (1998) --- whenever Frank is asked about "The Civil War" musical or song cycle, you can tell that he is extremely passionate about the project and the source material, and you can understand why. This was the original CD, taking all of the Nashville sessions from the concept album and putting them onto one CD. This sort of makes it a highlights release, since the Complete Work version with these same sessions is also available. I have not been able to track down a copy of that album. One of the songs that stay with me from this recording is Linda singing "I Never knew his Name". Many of these songs are inspired or adapted from actual letters and speeches that had been given. It's a very moving experience and one of Frank's best works.

5. Wonderland (2009)

Original Broadway Cast (2011) --- hopes were high for the Broadway production of the new musical from Frank, Jack Murphy and Gregory Boyd who had worked together on "The Civil War". It was a great premise for a family musical, the idea of a young woman going down an elevator into the world of Wonderland to rediscover her identity, and it should have done well. Frank had two disappointing experiences with "Civil War" and "Dracula" on Broadway. Perhaps this would fare better. It didn't.

From my memory, it lasted even shorter than "Dracula". Luckily however, Sony Masterworks preserved the original cast in the lead-up to the New York opening and this is what we have here. Some fine moments like "Home", "Advice from a Caterpillar", "Go with the Flow", "One Knight", "The Mad Hatter", and so on and so forth, and one heck of a song in the second act called "I Will Prevail". The Queen of Hearts gets a grand song too, "Off with her Heads". The most familiar one here is probably "Finding Wonderland" which is really very nice. It's a good fun listen. It's just not top tier Wildhorn for me. "Jekyll & Hyde", "Pimpernel", "Civil War", "Bonnie & Clyde" are all better, but it didn't deserve the fate that it got. Perhaps with a different book it would have lasted longer. Maybe the timing wasn't right, also. I don't know, but things were not exactly what they should have been, ironic if you're looking at yourself in a mirror maybe, since things are back to front.

6. Bonnie & Clyde (2009)

Original Broadway Cast (2012) --- when this musical had entered previews on Broadway, I remember there being a lot of audience excitement surrounding it. What happened? After this and the "Jekyll & Hyde" production in 2013, Frank hasn't had another Broadway musical since. After "Bonnie & Clyde" I can't really blame him at this point. It should have worked but for some reason it didn't. The album at least sounds like a very good strong musical. You wonder where it went wrong. From the moment "Picture Show" begins, you're sucked into the story more or less from beginning to end. It strikes me as one of Frank's strongest pieces. It has gone on to do quite well internationally and this album is a fitting testament to the Broadway cast who gave it their all. Don't listen to the naysayers. Check it out if you're curious. I hope I get to see a production someday.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, brings us to the end of this post. What about all those other musicals I listed? Well, if I'm ever able to find those recordings, and I don't have to pay some hideous price for them, I'll come back here and let you know. From what I've heard though, I would love to see "Dracula" get a shot at the West End, and "The Count of Monte Cristo" too. I'm also curious about "Peter the Great".

Thank you for reading,

Ryan.