Frank Wildhorn's works span the worlds of popular, theatrical and classical music.
In 1999, Frank became the first American composer in twenty-two years to have three shows running
simultaneously on Broadway: Jekyll & Hyde (written with Leslie Bricusse), which received two
Tony nominations; The Scarlet Pimpernel (written with Nan Knighton), which received four Tony
nominations; and The Civil War (written with Jack Murphy & Gregory Boyd), which received two
Tony nominations. These shows continue to be seen in productions around the country and throughout the
world. Frank also wrote additional songs for Broadway's Victor/Victoria (written with Leslie
Bricusse) and was recently represented on Broadway by Dracula: The Musical (written with Don
Black & Christopher Hampton), which has also played in St. Gallen, Switzerland and Graz, Austria.
Jekyll & Hyde holds the distinction of being the first new American musical to have two
internationally released concept recordings of the score: Highlights from Jekyll & Hyde and
Jekyll & Hyde: The Complete Work. Songs from the show such as "Someone Like You," "A New
Life," and "This Is The Moment" have been performed worldwide and have been featured at the Olympics, the
Super Bowl, the World Series, the WNBA Championship, Miss America Pageants, the 1996 Democratic National
Convention, and the Inauguration of President Clinton (sung by Jennifer Holliday). The Broadway production
of Jekyll & Hyde was the longest running show in the history of the Plymouth Theater, and the
Broadway cast recording received a Grammy nomination in 1997. The show has seen three major tours and
hundreds of regional productions in the United States and Canada. Twenty major international productions
and numerous other regional stagings have
also been seen in such countries as Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary, the
Czech Republic, Poland, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Australia. There are now eleven
international recordings of Jekyll & Hyde in seven different languages.
The Scarlet Pimpernel played at both the Minskoff Theatre and the Neil Simon Theatre on
Broadway. The show has been seen on two tours of the United States and Canada, and in such countries as
the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark,
Sweden, Norway, Finland, Hungary and Japan. The show's score has yielded its own Top 40 Adult Contemporary
Hit with the song "You Are My Home," a duet recorded by Peabo Bryson and Linda Eder. The Broadway cast
recording was released in February of 1998, and a new album entitled Encore! was released in
November 1999. International recordings have been released from Germany, Austria, Norway and Japan.
Frank produced two star-studded concept albums of The Civil War: The Nashville Sessions
and The Complete Work (a two-disc album). These feature such artists as Hootie & The Blowfish, Blues Traveler, Trisha Yearwood, Travis Tritt, Dr. John, and Betty Buckley, among others.
Following its Broadway production, the show was seen on a two-year national tour that featured John
Schneider, Larry Gatlin, and BeBe Winans. The show was staged at the Majestic Theater in Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania in 2006, and at the Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. in 2009.
In the last few years Frank has written several musicals for non-US producers. He is most exited about
Carmen (written with Jack Murphy and Norman Allen), now playing at the Karlin Theater in
Prague, Czech Republic, which has become one of his favorite cities in the world.
Other projects include:
Never Say Goodbye (written with Shuichiro Koike), performed by Takarazuka Revue in Takarazuka
and Tokyo, Japan;
Rudolf (written with Jack Murphy, Nan Knighton and Phoebe Hwang) which premiered in Budapest,
Hungary in 2006, Tokyo, Japan in 2008 and Vienna, Austria on 26 February 2009;
The Count of Monte Cristo (written with Jack Murphy) which had its world premiere in
St. Gallen, Switzerland on 14 March 2009, and is already available on an international concept album;
Cyrano de Bergerac (written with Leslie Bricusse) which premiered in Japan on 5 May 2009; and
Tears From Heaven (written with Phoebe Hwang) which will premiere in Seoul, Korea in 2010.
Frank's current U.S. projects include:
Wonderland (written with Jack Murphy) - a new adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland" which will
premiere in Tampa, Florida in December 2009, followed by a run in Houston, Texas;
Bonnie and Clyde (written with Don Black) which premieres at La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla,
California in November 2009; and
Havana (book by Pulitzer Prize Winner Nilo Cruz and lyrics by Jack Murphy).
There have been recent American premieres of Camille Claudel (written with Nan Knighton)
at Goodspeed Opera's Norma Terris Theatre in Connecticut, which yielded the song "Gold," heard at the
Opening Ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games; and Waiting For The Moon (written with
Jack Murphy), which is based on the lives of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
Frank has written original material for Linda Eder which she has performed in concert on Broadway (at
the Gershwin Theater in 2001 and the Palace Theater in 2004), and at Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music
Hall, and released on eight solo albums: Linda Eder, And So Much More, It's Time, It's No Secret
Anymore, Christmas Stays The Same, Gold, Broadway My Way, and Storybook. He also produced Linda
Eder's Christmas concert special for Bravo TV.
Artists who have recorded and performed Frank's music include Whitney Houston (with the international
number one hit "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?"), Natalie Cole, Kenny Rogers, Sammy Davis Jr., Liza Minnelli,
Julie Andrews, Freddie Jackson, Deana Carter, Tracy Lawrence, John Berry, Trace Adkins, Patti LaBelle,
Bryan White, Amy Grant, Ben Vereen, Regina Belle, The Moody Blues, Jeffrey Osborne, Stacy Lattisaw, Dennis
DeYoung, Molly Hatchet, Brenda Russell, John Raitt, Anthony Warlow, Stanley Turrentine, Johnny Mathis, and
Colm Wilkinson, to name a few.
Frank, who wrote all the music and served as Music Director for Opening Ceremonies for the Goodwill
Games in 1998, was recently commissioned to write the new official theme song for New York City. He
was a producer and co-creator of Harlem Song, the first open-ended theatrical run at the
famed Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. He also produced and served as Creative Director for the
television program Broadway's Best On Bravo.
Frank is an Associate Artist in Musical Theatre with an endowed chair at the Alley Theatre in Houston,
Texas, where he launched Jekyll & Hyde, Svengali, and The Civil War. He also
wrote music for the Alley Theatre's stagings of the plays Cyrano de Bergerac and Arthur
Kopit's The Road to Nirvana.
Frank's current venture, with associate Jeremy Roberts, is
GlobalVision Records. Their first release, the
Jekyll & Hyde: Resurrection album, is now available.