Jekyll and Hyde: Really cool, fun show (if kinda stupid) Scarlet Pimpernel: Even more stupid, but still pretty fun Civil War: Didn't see it, but the number on the Tonys SUCKED. Dracula: Well, we all know about that show.
So, to sum it up, I guess Wildhorn started out as an OK composer, but is progressively getting worse. Also, he REALLY needs to learn how to find good lyricists, because even when his songs aren't that great, the lyrics are usually even worse. Even Jekyll and Hyde, which is his best show, has some pretty bad lyrics in it.
DB that was an intersting post. Most people claim that Civil War is his best score not J&H. Also, you are judging a show (Civil War) on 1 song, and dracula on critics but not your own opinion. So I'm not sure your conclusion about his earlier stuff better then his newer stuff is valid.
"Judy Garland, Jimmy Dean, You tragedy Queen" ~ Taboo
"Watching a frat boy realize just what he put his d!ck in...ex's getting std's...schadenfruede" ~ Ave Q
"when dangers near, exploit their fear" ~ Reefer Madness the Musical
I enjoy his stuff. People are always dogging people. Snobbery is what I call it. When someone else can write a musical and get it done on Broadway THEN you can bitch about it like you know so much better then him. Until then.....
Wasn't the Civil War number on the Tonys just a film montage of clips from the show as it had already closed? Though I loved J&H pre-Broadway, I really thought Scarlet Pimpernel was his strongest show. The thought of Frankenstein isn't really grabbing me. I'd rather see him go back to something with more romance and adventure. He announced an interest in Zorro years ago and I thought that was a good idea for Wildhorn, but nothing ever came of it. I would like to see Svengali come back with better staging. It's a story that hasn't really been revived on stage or in film in a long time, but I guess it would too closely resemble the plot to Phantom.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
No, THE CIVIL WAR did perform at the Tony's, and I thought it was excellent. And I wouldn't call either PIMPERNEL or JEKYLL fun or stupid...they're dark, serious shows - nothing fun and stupid about them. I agree with Matt - PIMPERNEL is his best work.
boxofficejon: Stop with that logic - it doesn't work.
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."-Charlie Manson
I must agree with munk...which means it MUST be true, that logic doesn't work. Musicals are produced FOR an audience to be rated BY an audience...not only other composers.
I must admit, and you know how I am a big Dracula freak (points to username), I think it had A LOT of potential. As I've said, I think Dracula the book is much better than J&H. Btu aside from that, the show was killed by a lousy book that, if you didn't know Stoker's novel inside and out, left you confused and amateurish lyrics that at some points made me cringe.
The music was dry compared to his other shows. It seemed he did a half-aSs job. I think if he sat down and rewrote some songs, redid the lyrics to some songs, and strengthed the book, the show would have a whole lot more potential.
I don't actually think DRACULA's music is all that bad. I'll compile a list of songs that I think work and songs that need some more work.
SONGS THAT WORKED ON B'WAY: Prelude Over Whitby Bay First Taste (Demo Version) Fresh Blood The Mist Mist (reprise) Modern World A Perfect Life Man of Woman Born Life After Life There's Always A Tomorrow If I Could Fly Deep in the Darkest Night Before the Summer Ends The Longer I Live Finale
SONGS THAT NEED SOME WORK: A Quiet Life (B'way version) Forever Young The Heart Is Slow To Learn
Some songs have bad lyrics and I think they need to redo some of the lyrics. My least fav is from the most beautiful song musically in the show, BEFORE THE SUMMER ENDS:
"She made me give my promise. A terrifying promise. It's not the kind of promise made everday. To desecrate a temple, To trample on a flower, To catch a butterfly And simply tear off it's wings. It's worse than all of these things..."
WHAT??? "Before The Summer Ends" is the BEST thing DRACULA had going for it!!! After I saw it in La Jolla I turned to my dad and said "If they cut "Before the Summer Ends" for Broadway, it would put a stake through my heart"... he laughed, but I was so serious... thank god they left it in. but, the show as a whole is flawed. and the book and lyrics are the biggest upset. some songs work and others like "The Modern Wold", which was NOT in the show in La Jolla need to be abandoned all together in favor of some of the songs from La Jolla like "The Invitation". that song was so lusty that I didn't care about the lyrics... yowza...
Updated On: 2/16/05 at 04:47 PM
Yes, "Before the Summer Ends" is actually the signature song of the show even though Dracula doesn't sing it and it is also my and Frank Wildhorn's favorite song in the score.
I'm among those who can not stand the song "Modern World". It felt to me as though it was haphazerdly stuffed into the show in a last ditch effort to give it some historical context. I don't find the song at all attractive, and I don't see it as having any point in the story.
The songs that I really loved in Dracula were "Forever Young", "If I could Fly", and "Life After Life".
The first time I saw Dracula, I had a pretty strong dislike of "Who Do You Choose". The song just seemed too cheerfull and out of place to me. Also, some of the lyrics made me cringed. However, over time that song really grew on me.
I think that a lot of the bad lyrics in the Broadway production of Dracula were made up for by some really impressive acting.
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No, munk, it makes PERFECT sense...it's just the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.
Roxy, when did you see Dracula?
I think you have to take Dracula for what it is. My mom, who saw the show with me the second time, was TOTALLY agianst it. She doesn't like that somber music. I must say that she is a an avid theatre goer, more than most people here. She has seen many shows. In her older age she has been having a much higher standard of shows.
I wanted to see Dracula again and literally DRAGGED my om to see it (had to buy her ticket). After the second act she said the show was OK, the staging was amazing, but the music is too somber, etc. After the second act she said she was glad I brought her. Just a few hours ago, actually, I received an e-mail from her saying that she has been listening to the Dracula CD over and over and is starting to enjoy it more and more.
This is also coming from someone (well, the two of us) who found ALW's POTO boring.
I know that this is one person's opinion, but I think that it means a lot.
The one thing I don't undersatnd is that the two times I have seen the show, everyone around me and everyone next to me as we left the theatre enjoyed the show. In fact, when I saw it the first time in previews, there were two critics behind me who said the show was good, only the staging had to get much tighter. It was very weak. When I saw it the second time, A LOT had been changed in the staging. Changes I know were made when the show officially opened.