"Wonderland" - Broadway bound??- Page 2

[Pgenre]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 4:08pm

WONDERLAND - The John Holmes Musical?

Actually, with Scissor Sisters having just completed their musicalization of (part one) of Maupin's TALES OF THE CITY, I could see their down-and-dirty/glam-rock take on the horrific events in the Valley leading up to those murders (quite thrillingly portrayed in the oft-maligned but fascinating film) working out quite well. You certainly have some... "theatrical"... characters involved.

A producer I've known for decades, whose opinion I trust, saw a reading of this seven or eight years ago and spoke very highly of the material but said it needed A LOT of work. Hopefully, that work has been done.

In seeing JEKYLL & HYDE, PIMPERNEL (2.5-considered by many to be the best version, no?) and THE CIVIL WAR- Wildorn has yet to impress me.

His scores for SVENGALI and GOLD, on the other hand, are shockingly intelligent which is, I assume, the reason neither of those shows have seen any significant mounting since the original - people like their Wildhorn schlocky and banal (or don't, given his track record).

"Bells of St. Pauls" is probably my favorite non-traditional Christmas song, alongside Steve/Streisand's new "I Remember (Christmas)".

Actually, how about the Scissor Sisters write the score for Alice and ushers can hand out pre-show... lozenges... to the audience to experience the story as Carroll intended (and did himself). Wasn't there rumors of something like this happening at previews of UP! at the Uris back in the 70s?

A Good Nightmare Comes So Rarely,
P genre

[philly03]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 4:22pm

"Wonderland" - then "Alice" has only had 3 or 4 readings/workshops? One way back when I believe when Linda Eder was still involved as Alice ("Anything Can Happen")...which it probably did need tons of work. Then two years ago, with Brandi Burkhardt/Lanning/Miller/etc. in a miniature one, and I believe two this year/season (with Kennedy). Don't know per facts though - Wonderland is one of the few Wildhorn projects that's been pretty kept private. (As opposed to all the others which usually have the demos all over the place)


I believe by score to GOLD you mean Camille Claudel...which I would agree. It's a wonderful score, with a pretty good backing story to it. And perhaps even inspirational for Wildhorn. It's a shame it never "took off" / acquired more support.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 4:31pm

Thanks for reminding me its CAMILLE CLAUDEL and not GOLD (was it ever titled this? I thought it was at some point to capitalize on this song being used as the Olympic Theme (04?)) but the tumultuous relationship between Rodan and Claudel is far more than a "pretty good backing story", though that may be what Wildhorn & co. turned it into. If you investigate the facts of their relationship (and the conjecture) as well as their biographies and art itself, it is one of the most compelling psychological studies of two creative artists in history.

I really wish Wildhorn's ROMANTICS project took off... so many of those ideas were infinitely more enticing then what came to fruition.

BTW, has the DRACULA concept album actually been made availible yet? I've had a (sick) compulsion to hear "Life After Life" again recently...

A Good Nightmare Comes So Rarely,
P genre

[philly03]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 4:49pm

"Gold" is the major song from Camille Claudel (jokingly always referred to as the "11 o'clock number")!

DRACULA, the musical 's Concept Album starring James Barbour and Kate Shindle has not yet been released. However, you can hear song clips at Global Vision Records website.

Also: the excellent, well-received Graz production (based off of the 2005 St. Gallen production) released a cast recording last June. Starring: Lyn Liechty as Mina, Uwe Kroger as Van Helsing, and Thomas Borchert as Dracula. It's in German, but incredible orchestrations / new additions make it not to be missed!

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 4:51pm

Totally OT, but philly03, did you see Jekyll and Hyde on Broadway?

[philly03]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 5:00pm

Yes, and also watch/love the DVD version of the show, but didn't see the Hoff in person.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 5:26pm

How is the DVD? I've never seen the show, but I don't mind the score too much. Is it a pretty good capture of the show?

Also, does Camilie have a recording? I like Wildhorn, and I really really want to hear his score for the Fitzgerald project. I think they're a brilliant source for a musical.

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 6:57pm

RippedMan, the DVD is nice to have if you're a die hard fan, but if you're not, it's up on YT.

David Hasselhoff is not as terrible as everyone says he is, but he's not good. Personally, I think it's worth it for Coleen Sexton's OUTSANDING performance. I want to rip all of her songs to a CD and just listen to them all day. The only word to describe it is breathtaking.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 9:35pm

The DVD was my first taste of Wildhorn. I didn't notice how bad Hasselhoff was but I loved every second of the show. I was excited to see it because when it was still playing, I saw ads for it all over the place and thought, "Ooh, Jekyll & Hyde The Musical, that sounds cool". And it was beyond cool. And it took me like seven years to finally get off my butt and buy the double disc concept album and the Broadway cast recording! And I already had the CDs of The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Civil War.

And so, my friends, in conclusion, I am a Wildhorn junkie.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 10:03pm

But is it a taped performance of the Broadway production a la Light in the Piazza or Passion or is it more of a staged for TV film like the Cats DVD? Either way I'll probably Netflix it, but just wondering.

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 10:09pm

It's a taped performance.

Updated On: 5/30/09 at 10:09 PM

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 10:35pm

With some pretty killer cinematography in my opinion.

[philly03]

Posted: 5/31/09 at 1:22am

Def Netflix the DVD. Honestly, I think the Hoff is horrible (as compared to the rest of the Jekyll's), and his acting isn't even that good. However, mayn of the Original Broadway Cast (including 3 "featured" (or slightly smaller) roles) stayed throughout the run, and Andrea Rivette is a delight as Emma. Coleen Sexton is just about one of the best reasons to rent it -- she's wonderful. She's featured as Brooke right now in the Legally Blonde national tour -- and was great in that too!


"Also, does Camilie have a recording? I like Wildhorn, and I really really want to hear his score for the Fitzgerald project. I think they're a brilliant source for a musical."

Camille has NOT released a recording commercially .. although the demo was handed out to some audience when it played at the NYMF I believe it was. However, Linda Eder has recorded 'Gold,' which I may regard as Wildhorn's best score (and also lyric wise - for Nan Knightnon).

Waiting for the Moon has not released anything that you'd legally be able to get your hands one, save for one song: "Easy," which was recorded by Lauren Kennedy who played Zelda Fitzgerald. The other big song for Zelda's character is "Remember," which can be heard at Jack Murphy's website I believe (as well as a nice video preview of the whole show!)

[philly03]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 1:50pm

Sorry to "bump" this whilst all the Tony threads are going on (and we all know Frank = no Tonys!), but:

Pheobe Hwang, who was the book writer for this show .. is no longer credited on it's website? Or the Alley Theatre website? Her video & bio are both gone!

Anyone know what's going on - was she fired or something!? Is Murphy just going to write the book now?

[philly03]

Posted: 6/29/09 at 3:45pm

Bumping this again...looks like a set designer/video designer has been picked.

No stranger to musical theatre, he has "video designed" the musical REBECCA in Austria and also was the first to use the projections on a major scale with Andrew Lloyd Webber's 2004 musical WOMAN in WHITE.

www.mesmer.co.uk/projects/


I haven't seen anything of REBECCA, but is it like WOman in White? Will the scenes seem to flow such as that of a film and be on a big projection wall? Any ideas?

I would imagine Wonderland would be hard to design with all the twists and turns of different backgrounds for the different characters, so just wondering if anyone else has heard anything about it?