Frank Wildhorn

Frank Wildhorn (born November 29, 1959 in New York ) is an American composer .

Life

Frank Wildhorn was born in New York City and moved to Florida with his family at the age of 14. He first studied for a year at the University of Miami, then moved to Southern University in California. While still a student, he began composing for Jekyll & Hyde and did musical engagements in the evenings.

In the 1980s he wrote the No. 1 hit "Where do broken hearts go" for Whitney Houston , after which he became a successful musical composer .

Career

Wildhorn is the first composer since George Gershwin to have three shows on Broadway at the same time (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Civil War) . Since the premiere of Jekyll & Hyde in Bremen, he has also enjoyed success in Europe. His pieces have since been performed in America, Europe and Asia. In 2006, the first performance of a Wildhorn musical in Europe took place in Budapest: Rudolf , which deals with the death of the Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf in 1889 at Mayerling Castle . The German-language premiere in Vienna followed in February 2009. In March 2009 the world premiere of the musical Der Graf von Monte Christo (in German) took place in the St. Gallen Theater ( Switzerland ) . From April 18 to May 15, 33 performances of his play Wonderland were on Broadway. In March 2014 his musical Artus - Excalibur was premiered at the Theater St. Gallen .

Wildhorn worked in the course of his career a. a. with Stacy Lattisaw, Natalie Cole , Kenny Rogers , Trisha Yearwood, Tracy Lawrence, John Berry, Trace Adkins, Patti LaBelle, Liza Minnelli , Julie Andrews , Deana Carter, Dennis DeYoung, Freddie Jackson, Bryan White, Amy Grant, Ben Vereen, Regina Belle, The Moody Blues , Jeffrey Osborne, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Linda Eder (whom he was married to).

Frank Wildhorn is currently producing songs for David Hasselhoff.

Works

• Jekyll & Hyde (premiere 1990, Houston ; first on Broadway 1997; German premiere 1999 in Bremen )
• Svengali (WP 1991, Houston)
• Two songs in Victor / Victoria (premiere 1995, Broadway)
• The Scarlet Pimpernel (premiere 1997, Broadway; German premiere 2003 in Halle (Saale) )
• The Civil War (Premiere 1999, Broadway)
• Camille Claudel (Premiere 2003, Chester (Connecticut) , Goodspeed Theater)
• Dracula (premiere 2002, La Jolla ; first on Broadway 2004, European premiere at Theater St. Gallen ( Switzerland ) April 23, 2005)
• Waiting for the Moon (WP 2005, Marlton (New Jersey) , Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center)
• Never say goodbye (2006)
• Carmen - Texts by Jack Murphy, book by Norman Allen (World premiere October 2008, Prague)
• Rudolf (Premiere May 26, 2006, Budapest, Operettszínház; German-language premiere February 26, 2009 in Vienna, Raimund Theater)
• The Count of Monte Christo (Premiere March 14, 2009, Theater St. Gallen)
• Cyrano de Bergerac - Texts by Leslie Bricusse (WP May 5, 2009, Tokyo)
• Bonnie and Clyde - Lyrics by Don Black, book by Ivan Menchell based on the story of Bonnie and Clyde ( Premiere November 22, 2009, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego ; German-language premiere September 7, 2014, Theater Bielefeld )
• Wonderland - Lyrics by Jack Murphy, book by Jack Murphy and Gregory Boyd with additional dialogue texts by Phoebe Hwang based on Alice in Wonderland ( Premiere December 5, 2009, Tampa , Broadway premiere April 17, 2011)
• Artus - Excalibur (WP March 15, 2014, Theater St. Gallen, Germany premiere 2016 at the Freilichtspiele Tecklenburgs)
• Death Note: The Musical (April 6, 2015, Nissay Theater in Tokyo, Japan)

Works not yet listed

• Havana - lyrics by Jack Murphy, book by Nilo Cruz - is about an "ambitious North American writer" who inherited a nightclub in Havana . The premiere planned for June 2010 was canceled in February 2010 due to financial difficulties of the theater ( Pasadena Playhouse) without giving a new date.

Web links

• Frank Wildhorn in the Internet Broadway Database (IBDb)
• The Official Web Site of Frank Wildhorn (English)