Gambler (musical)
Gambler - The Secret of the Cards is the third musical by Eric Woolfson (music and text), based on the novel The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky . The world premiere took place on October 26, 1996 on the musical stage in Mönchengladbach.
action
The setting for the story is a classy casino - somewhere in the world where people become obsessed gamblers because they mistake money and winnings for happiness. In the “Peking Palace” there are seducers and seduced people who, through intrigues, longings and passion, get into a network of mutual dependency. Each character uses the other in a subtle or open way to get to the goal of their dreams. But luck, as it turns out, cannot be calculated and cannot be enforced in the game. A combination of numbers is rarely the key to long-term success. And least of all, love is a calculable quantity: It says goodbye when it is abused for dubious purposes.
music
The music includes tracks from The Alan Parsons Project albums The Turn of a Friendly Card , Stereotomy and Eye in the Sky . The song at the end of the first act Limelight (originally sung by Bonnie Tyler ) was the ZDF's official TV song for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Artistic team for the premiere
Music and lyrics: Eric Woolfson; Production: Elmar Ottenthal ; Stage design: Hannes Rader ; Sound design: Haydn Bendall; Sound consulting: Othmar Elchinger; Choreography: Peter Wissmann; Costumes: Sabine Coch; Musical direction: Harry Koning; Lighting design: Wieland Müller-Hasslinger; Choir and orchestral arrangements: Gavin Greenaway.
Cast of the premiere
Casino Boss: Rafi Weinstock (James Sbano); Gambler: Chris van Tongelen (Reinhardt Brussmann, Gerardo Jak, Mario Taghadossi); Show girl: Annika Bruhns (Nicky Forsyth); Countess: Georgina Chakos (Isabel Broders, Stephanie H. Tschoeppe, Yana Kriz, Kerstin Brix,)
Discography
There is an English live recording from September 1997 with the original Mönchengladbach cast. The individual tracks on this CD: 1. Fanfare, 2. Green Light Means Danger, 3. Love In The Third Degree, 4. When The World Was Young, 5. Games People Play, 6. The Golden Key, 7. Limelight, 8 Nine By Nine By Nine, 9th Halfway, 10th Eye In The Sky, 11th (You'll Be) Far Away, 12th Time, 13th Medley.
There is a second limited recording from 2002 with the original Korean line-up and therefore also in Korean.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dirk Richerdt: Gambler - a musical stirs up a city. In: RP-Online from August 20, 2014. Accessed February 28, 2016 .