Dracula (Frank Wildhorn)
| Musical dates | |
|---|---|
| Original title: | Dracula |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | Frank Wildhorn |
| Book: | Christopher Hampton , Don Black |
| Literary source: | Dracula by Bram Stoker |
| Premiere: | Oct 13, 2001 |
| Place of premiere: | La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego (USA) |
| Playing time: | approx. 2.5 hours |
| Place and time of the action: | End d. 19th century, Carpathian Mountains London |
| Roles / people | |
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Dracula is a musical based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker by the American composer Frank Wildhorn ( Jekyll & Hyde , The Scarlet Pimpernel , The Count of Monte Christo ).
history
The libretto is by Christopher Hampton and Don Black . It premiered on October 13, 2001 at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California. It was then played at the Belasco Theater , New York , starting July 30, 2004 . This production ran through January 2, 2005. The director was Des McAnuff.
The German-language premiere took place on April 23, 2005 in the St. Gallen Theater ( Switzerland ). The German texts are from Roman Hinze . The director was Matthias Davids .
The Austrian premiere took place on August 9, 2007 at the 1st Graz Musical Festival. The venue was the Schloßbergbühne Kasematten in Graz, again with Thomas Borchert in the title role. The staging by Andreas Gergen and orchestration by Koen Schoots was created in close collaboration with Frank Wildhorn , who was also present at the festival and who composed the additional song "Roseanne" for Kröger / van Helsing, and "zu Ende" for the duet Kröger / Borchert. A new German text version was written by Herwig Thelen.
action
The plot is relatively close to the letter novel by Bram Stoker.
Jonathan Harker, a young lawyer from England, visits Count Dracula in the Carpathian Mountains to complete the sale of a property in London . By chance the count sees a picture of Mina Murray, Jonathan's fiancé. This seems to be doing strange things. The stay at the remote castle turns out to be eerie. Harker manages to escape to Budapest - bitten by his host and very weak . Mina, who rushes to him immediately, gives him the yes, while Mina's girlfriend Lucy and Arthur step in front of the altar in London.
Dracula has now reached London and is up to mischief there. He made contact with Renfield, one of his pioneers, and promised him eternal life as a reward. His first victim is Lucy. Any help comes too late for the young woman. Even the experienced vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, who has been called to help, can no longer do anything for them. Lucy, now a creature of the night, is found in her own tomb by Van Helsing, Arthur and two of Lucy's former suitors, Quincey and Jack, and killed.
Mina is magically attracted to Dracula. Torn between fear and love, she finally invites him to her home. Dracula exchanges blood with her, thus preparing the way for her to become his. But before the stalking of the vampire hunters, he finally has to flee London to his homeland. His enemies pursue him with Mina, who can establish a telepathic connection with him, as far as the Carpathian Mountains.
The final battle takes place in the Count's castle. While the vampire hunters fight with a whole vampire army, Mina agrees to follow her beloved Dracula into the darkness. But Dracula realizes that this should not be their common path. He asks Mina to redeem him. Streaked with tears, she grants him this last token of love.
background
Wildhorn was not very satisfied with the Broadway version, also because the producers deleted four songs (including some of his favorite songs) from the show. That's why Wildhorn released them on a concept album. Wildhorn was able to make some changes for the German-language premiere in St. Gallen . For example, six new songs were added to the piece, namely "The Invitation", "Nosferatu", "Don't let me love you", "Roseanne", "To the end" and "You have my word". On the whole, the musical received little attention on Broadway. It is also less well known in the German-speaking world than, for example, Jekyll & Hyde. However, the song Nosferatu , which is sung in the first act by Van Helsing and interpreted by Chris Murray on a solo CD, achieved a certain degree of awareness (especially among fans) . A German-language cast CD of the musical from the staging of the 1st Graz Musical Festival 2007 was released in June 2008.
Cast and management team for the German-language premiere
The piece was premiered in German in St. Gallen .
- Dracula: Thomas Borchert / Drew Sarich
- Mina Murray: Ann Christin Elverum
- Lucy Westenra: Caroline Vasicek / Nicole Sieger (from September 13, 2005)
- Jonathan Harker: Jesper Tydén
- Prof. Abraham van Helsing: Chris Murray
- Renfield: Stefan Vinzberg
- Arthur Holmwood: Martin Pasching
- Dr. Jack Seward: Alen Hodzovic
- Quincey Morris: Frank Winkels
- Dracula's brides: Marion Furtner, Ines Hengl-Pirker, Anna Thorén
- Director: Matthias Davids
- Musical direction: Koen Schoots
- Stage: Mathias Fischer-Dieskau
- Costumes: Noelle Blancpain
- Choreography: Kurt Schrepfer
- Light design: Fabrice Kebour
Cast and management team in Graz
- Dracula: Thomas Borchert
- Mina: Lyn Liechty
- Lucy: Caroline Vasicek
- Jonathan Harker: Jesper Tydén
- Prof. Abraham van Helsing: Uwe Kröger
- Renfield: Eric Minsk
- Arthur Holmwood: Lucius Wolter
- Dr. Jack Seward: Rory Six
- Quincey Morris: Robert D. Marx
- Dracula's brides: Marion Furtner, Stefanie Tydén, Vicky van Zijl
- Ensemble: Lisa Antoni, Oliver Frischknecht, Titus Hoffmann, Martin Markert, Susanne Seimel, Rita Sereinig
- Director: Andreas Gergen
- Musical direction: Koen Schoots
- Stage: Sam Madwar
- Light design: Michael Grundner
- Costumes: Hanna Wartenegg
Cast and management team for further German performances
The first performance in Germany took place on November 11, 2011 in Münster . Other independent productions took place on November 18 in Trier, from December 31, 2012 in Pforzheim and from June 27, 2013 in Röttingen.
Muenster
Premiere: November 11th, 2011, Free Musical Ensemble
- Dracula: Christian Hentschel
- Mina Murray: Julia Hansen
- Lucy Westenra: Sarah Blauwitz
- Jonathan Harker: Adalbert Sznapka
- Prof. Abraham van Helsing: Steffen Keul
- Renfield: Carsten Jaehner
- Arthur Holmwood: Stephan Gröger
- Dr. Jack Seward: Chris Lammert
- Quincey Morris: Frank Kasuch
- Dracula's brides: Andrea Herrmann, Canan Toksoy, Johanna Patschke, Lisa Wehn, Melanie Wittke, Sonja Grevenbrock, Sophie Artmann
- Ensemble: Alexander Rauschenberg, Andreas Strothmann, Anja Stephan, Anke Gronenschild, Anna Boehmer, Ariane Bauer, Britta Bündgens, Cerstin Lennartz, Christiane Reckert, Constanze Winkler, Dana Winkler, Dirk Rathoff, Henrike Schelling, Ilka Bosse-Stender, Julia Schmidt, Jutta Lahrmann, Katinka Teckhaus, Marenka Sedlaczek, Markus Schrick, Petra Steeger, Wiebke Julius, Wolfgang Ense
- Director: Ingo Budweg
- Musical director: Ingo Budweg
- Stage: Andreas Strothmann, Rainer Budweg, Stephan Gröger
- Costumes: Canan Toksoy
- Choreography: Johanna Patschke
- Props: Petra Steeger
- Mask: Dana Winkler
- Light design: Georg Weigang, Holger Blumberg
- Sound design: Thorsten Brinkman
trier
Premiere: November 18, 2011, Europahalle
- Dracula: Michael Thinnes
- Mina Murray: Kerstin Bauer
- Lucy Westenra: Anne Blum
- Jonathan Harker: Mario Stammel
- Prof. Abraham van Helsing: Markus Mitschke
- Renfield / Arthur Holmwood: Thomas Kuhnen
- Dr. Jack Seward: Philipp Rhein
- Quincey Morris: Christopher Olk
- Dracula's brides: Tina Veit , Carmen Blum, Grit Carroll, Christine Orth
- other roles: Horst Ternes, Willi Wonnebeck
Pforzheim
Premiere: December 31, 2012
- Dracula: Chris Murray
- Mina Murray: Femke Soetenga
- Lucy Westenra: Yvonne Luithlen
- Jonathan Harker: Thomas Christ
- Prof. Abraham van Helsing: Jon Goldsworthy
- Renfield: Benjamin Savoie
- Arthur Holmwood: Steffen Fichtner
- Dr. Jack Seward: Klaus Geber
- Quincey Morris: Ingo Wagner
- Dracula's brides: Chiharu Takahashi, Manuela Wagner, Gitte Pleyer, Franziska Hornyai, Laura Wick, Aline Münz
- Musical director: Tobias Leppert
Röttingen
Premiere: June 27, 2013, Franconian Festival
- Dracula: Rob Fowler
- Mina Murray: Caroline Frank
- Lucy Westenra: Kathleen Bauer
- Jonathan Harker: Andreas Bieber
- Prof. Abraham van Helsing: Dennis Kozeluh
- Renfield: Gernot Kranner (alt. Daniel Ogris)
- Arthur Holmwood: Daniel Ogris
- Dr. Jack Seward: Norbert Holoubek
- Quincey Morris: Anton Graner
- Dracula's brides: Katharina Lochmann, Tina Schöltzke, Elena Dediu
- Roseanne: Katharina Lochmann
- Ensemble: Manuela Hauck, Anja Höfling, Friederike Knauth, Lea Melber, Nicole Rießmann-Balling, Brigitte Schmitt, Lea Umscheid, Ulrike Ziegler
- Production: Sascha Oliver Bauer
- Musical director: Walter Lochmann
- Choreography: Kathleen Bauer
Flensburg
Premiere: November 30th, 2013, Schleswig-Holstein State Theater
- Count Dracula: Ansgar Hüning
- Professor van Helsing: Kai-Moritz von Blanckenburg
- Jonathan Harker: Joa Helgesson / Marco Vassalli
- Mina Murray: Camilla Lehmeier
- Lord Arthur Holmwood: Jorge Alberto Martinez Mendoza
- Lucy Westenra: Brigitte Bayer
- Dr. Jack Seward: Jin-Hak Mok
- Quincey Morris: Markus Wessiack
- Renfield: Nicholas Shannon
- Dracula's brides: Sünne Ohlen, Polina Ivanova, Oxana Sevostianova
- Musical director: Stefan Diederich
- Production: Markus Hertel
- Set design: Erwin Bode
- Choreography: Miguel Cartagena
- Choir master: Bernd Stepputtis
Hildesheim
Premiere: December 12th, 2015, TfN - Theater for Lower Saxony
- Count Dracula: Alexander Prosek
- Mina Murray: Elisabeth Köstner
- Lucy Westenra: Sandra Pangl
- Jonathan Harker: Tim Müller
- Prof. Abraham van Helsing: Jens Krause
- Renfield: Jürgen Brehm
- Arthur Holmwood: Jesper Mikkelsen
- Dr. Jack Seward: Björn Schäffer
- Quincey Morris: Stephan Freiberger
- Vampires: Judith Bloch, Teresa Scherhag, Agnes Buliga-Contras, Anne Lütje, Kathelijne Wagner
- Opera choir of the TfN ( Theater for Lower Saxony )
- Musical director: Achim Falkenhausen
- Director: Craig Simmons
- Stage and costumes: Esther Bätschmann
- Choreography: Katja Buhl
Hamburg
Premiere: August 3, 2018 FIRST STAGE Theater Hamburg
- Count Dracula: Sven Geiger
- Mina Murray: Isabelle Schubert
- Lucy Westenra: Larissa Pyne
- Jonathan Harker: Tim Divers
- Prof. Abraham van Helsing: Alexander Mikliss
- Renfield: Lorena Dehmelt
- Arthur Holmwood: Lukas Löw
- Dr. Jack Seward: Dominic Angler
- Quincey Morris: Nils Marckwardt
- Vampires: Lara Seibert, Joyce Dehinde, Rita Sebeh, Alexandra Nikolina, Eva Schütz, Mae Ann Jorolan
- Roseanne: Selina Kneipp
- Dracula dance double: Piero Ochsenbein, Lukas Löw
- Lucy dance double: Franziska Müller, Katrin Kube
- Ensemble: Lucia Feneberg, Franziska Bonk, Larissa Kählert, Chiara Schumann, Matthias Fischer, Paola Aslan, Nicole Schöpe, Leonie Gassner, Julian Pirling, Janka Linea Rademacher, Luisa Pracht, Maximiliane Elbers, Nicolas Schulze, Lina von Soosten, Maria Lange, Daniel Pfefferer, Angelika Studensky, Ole Simmermacher, Dominik Thätner, Michelle Misslitz, Sara Kettmann, Janina Bienkowsky, Marie-Joli Peter
- Production: Kira Hehlemann
- Musical director: Dominic Angler
- Choreography: Franziska Müller, Lukas Löw
- Costumes: Ole Simmermacher
- Stage design: Lina von Soosten
- Mask: Alexandra Nikolina
The songs
Act 1
- Prologue - Jonathan
- I am enough for myself (in the Graz translation: lonely man) - Dracula
- Whitby Bay - Mina, Jonathan
- Forever Young - Dracula's Brides
- Blood - Dracula
- The Song of the Master - Renfield, Dr. Seward, Dracula's brides
- How to choose - Lucy, Mina, Arthur, Quincey, Jack, Ensemble
- Fog and Night - Lucy
- Fog and Night Reprise - Dracula
- A lifelong dream / I only live because you exist (in the Graz translation: A perfect life) - Mina, Dracula, Jonathan
- Weddings Ensemble
- The invitation - Lucy
- Nosferatu - Van Helsing
- The funeral ensemble
- Live again (in the Graz translation: One more life) - Dracula, Lucy, Dracula's brides
Act 2
- Undead, surrender - Van Helsing, Ensemble
- Don't make me love you - Mina
- The Song of the Master Reprise - Renfield, Dracula, Dracula's Brides
- Roseanne - Van Helsing
- If I were free (in the Graz translation: if I were the wind) - Mina
- The seduction - Dracula, Mina
- Over - Dracula, Van Helsing
- You have my word - Jonathan
- In a dark night (in the Graz translation: Before you are lost) - Van Helsing, Jack, Arthur, Quincey, Ensemble
- Extinguishing the flame that burns for freedom (in the Graz translation: Frost on a summer day) - Jonathan
- The train sequence - Van Helsing, Mina, Dracula
- The longer I live - Dracula
- Finally - Mina, Dracula
- Finale (in the Graz translation: There is always a morning) - Mina, Dracula
Web links
- Website of the composer on Dracula
- Dracula The Musical - The (Many) Scripts
- Official website of the ensemble of the German premiere
Individual evidence
- ^ Dracula, the Musical The (Many) Scripts. Archived from the original on March 5, 2008 ; accessed on September 29, 2018 (English).
- ↑ Jones, Kenneth. "Wildhorn's Dracula Musical Makes European Premiere, With New Songs" ( Memento of the original from August 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. playbill.com, May 9, 2005
