Rudolf

Lyrics by Jack Murphy
Additional lyrics by Nan Knighton
Script by Jack Murphy and Phoebe Hwang
Conceived for the stage by Frank Wildhorn and Steve Cuden

The musical Rudolf tells the tragic story of Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf and Mary Vetsera, who were found dead in a hunting lodge in Mayerling, near Vienna. The show was previously referred to under the working title of Vienna, and now bears the subtitles The Last Kiss or Affaire Mayerling (The Mayerling Affair). It is loosely based on a book by Frederic Morton, which is available in English as A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889 and in German as Ein Letzter Walzer (The Last Waltz). It has been previously published in German under the title of Herbstwaltzer: Chronik um Erzherzog Rudolf.

Performances:

A new production of Rudolf is expected to take place beginning in December 2010, at Pécsi Nemzeti Színház (National Theatre of Pécs) in Pécs, Hungary. Somogyi Szilárd, who was assistant director for the original Budapest production, will direct. More information is available on the Pécsi Nemzeti Színház website. Updates will be posted here as they become available

Rudolf - The Last Kiss had its world premiere at the Operett Színház in Budapest, Hungary on 26 May 2006, and its open-air premiere on 28 July 2006 in Szeged, Hungary. The show is a co-production by Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, the Budapest Operetta Theater and the Szeged Open-Air Festival.

Vereinigte Bühnen Wien presented the German-language premiere of Rudolf - Affaire Mayerling at the Raimund Theater in Vienna, Austria. The show played two seasons there, from 26 February through 4 July 2009, and from 10 September 2009 through 24 January 2010. More information is available on the VBW website (in German and English). Merchandise from the show is still available.

Rudolf was voted the "best new production of 2009" by readers of the German "Musicals" magazine. Top honors were also given to leading man Drew Sarich, director David Leveaux, choreographer John O'Connell, and designers Mike Britton and Laura Hopkins. The cast recording was voted "best musical CD of 2009". The voting results have been posted at kultur-channel.at.

The cast of the show was led by Drew Sarich as Rudolf, Lisa Antoni as Mary Vetsera, Uwe Kröger as Taaffe, Claus Dam as Franz Joseph, Carin Filipcic as Marie Larisch and Wietske von Tongeren as Stephanie. The Ensemble included Kathleen Bauer (Mitzi), Silke Braas, Sasha DiCapri (Clemenceau), Alexandra Farkic, Niklas-Philipp Gertl, Matilda Hansson, Jan Hutter (Meisner), Leigh Martha Klinger, Dennis Kozeluh (Edward), Adrienn Krékacs, Robert D. Marx (Andrássy), Markus Neugebauer (Wiligut), Tineke Ogink, Martin Pasching (Wilhelm II), Kai Peterson (Szeps), Rory Six (Prince of Braganza), Manuel Stoff (Vogelsang), Niran Straub, Anja von Geldern and Claudia Wauschke. Swings for the production included Liane Maynard-Schmid, Katrin Mersch, Maxi Neuwirth, Max Niemeyer, Fritz Schmid and Marcus Tesch. Photos from the first (press) rehearsal have been posted by Kultur-Channel.

The production was directed by David Leveaux (The Real Thing, Nine, Fiddler on the Roof), with choreography by John O'Connell, music direction by Caspar Richter, orchestrations by Kim Scharnberg, arrangements and music supervision by Koen Schoots, sets by Mike Britton, costumes by Laura Hopkins, lighting by Patrick Woodroffe and Adam Bassett, and sound design by Hendrik Maaßen. The German translation was provided by Julia Sengstshmid (script) and Nina Jäger (lyrics).

The Hungarian production first opened on 26 May 2006 at Operett Színház in Budapest, with a series of performances through 3 June. Since then it has played two summers at the Szeged Open-Air Festival in Szeged and three full seasons in Budapest.

The cast for the Hungarian production was led by Attila Dolhai (Rudolf), Bernadett Vágó (Mary Vetsera), Kata Janza (Countess Larisch), Attila Németh (Franz Joseph), Tamás Földes (Taaffe, the prime minister), Veronika Nádasi (Stephanie, Rudolf's wife) and Zoltán Bereczki (Pfeiffer, the puppeteer). The show was directed by Kero® (Miklós Gábor Kerényi), with musical direction by Koen Schoots and choreography by Michael Reardon, Éva Duda, Jenõ Lõcsei and László Rogács. The musical arrangements were by Kim Scharnberg and Koen Schoots, the conductors were László Makláry, István Silló, and the chorus director was László Kéringer. The set design was by Csörsz Khell, with costume design by Rita Velich, lighting design by Péter Somfai and puppets by Lucia Õsz. The script translation was by Gergely Zöldi, with lyric translations by Gergely Zöldi, Szilárd Somogyi and Miklós Gábor Kerényi. The show was performed in Hungarian, with English subtitles.

Rudolf - The Last Kiss had its Japanese Premiere, presented by Toho Musical & Play in Tokyo from 6 May through 1 June 2008. The cast for this production included Yoshio Inoue as Rudolf, < a href="http://fc.renasasamoto.jp/">Rena Sasamoto as Mary Vetsera, Rina Chinen as Princess Stephanie, Tatsuki Kohju as Countess Larisch, as Edward (Prince of Wales) and Kojiro Oka as Taaffe. The staging was directed by Amon Miyamoto.

Here is the song list from the Hungarian world-premiere production of Rudolf:

Act One:
Ez Bécs! / Viennese Specialties	Pfeiffer
A város ünnepel! / Curtain Up	Franz Joseph, Rudolf, Mary, Larisch, Taaffe, Prince of Braganza, Szeps, Ensemble
Mária dala / Mary's Theme	Mary
Mért nem ért meg engem / The Men Who We've Become (You Never Listen)	Rudolf, Franz Joseph
Csuda csinos ez a harc / Pretty Little War	Larisch, Mary, Ensemble
Hétköznapi hõs / An Ordinary Man	Rudolf
A walesi herceg bálja / Prince of Wales' Ball	Edward (Prince of Wales), Rudolf, Mary, Ensemble
Ez most más / Something More	Mary, Rudolf
Fejezze be, kérem! / Finish What You've Started	Andrássy, Károlyi, Lónyay, Szeps, Rudolf
Mondd, mit tegyek? / How Will I Know?	Rudolf
Kétség és ábránd / Fear And Desire	Taaffe, Larisch
Trallalla-dal / The Tra-La-La Ice Skating Song	Pfeiffer, Ensemble
Kettõnk közt nemrég / The Moment I Saw You	Rudolf, Mary
A nemzet hív / A Better Life	Pfeiffer, Ensemble
Nyulak és vérebek / Bird Dog (Willigut, Taaffe & Rudolf transition)	Willigut, Taaffe, Rudolf
Szerelem vár és semmi más / Only Love	Mary
Act Two:
A mester és a drót / The Master of the Strings	Taaffe, Ensemble
Nem más, mint én! / It Will Be Me!	Stephanie
Kiskatonám / New Boy In Town	Ensemble
Így vagyok csak én / Measure Of A Man	Rudolf
A holnap hídja / The Steps of Tomorrow	Rudolf, Ensemble
Csakis az lesz hõs / Only Heroes Dare	Larisch
A rend a fõ! / Maintain The State	Franz Joseph
Ez szimpla egyszeregy / The Writing's On The Wall	Taaffe, Mary
Összeesküvés / Finish What You've Started (reprise)	Andrássy, Károlyi, Lónyay, Szeps, Rudolf
Ez a perc úgy fáj / Can I Say Goodbye?	Mary
Akár az õszi levél / A Leaf in the Wind	Pfeiffer, Ensemble
Te értem születtél / I Was Born To Love You	Rudolf, Mary
A Negyedik dimenzió bálja / The Fourth Dimension Ball	Ensemble
Szerelem vár és semmi más (repríz) / Only Love (reprise)	Rudolf, Mary
Ez Bécs! (repríz) / Viennese Specialties (reprise)	Pfeiffer

Here is the song list from the Vienna, Austria production of Rudolf:

Act One:
Ouverture
Vorgang auf / Curtain Up	Franz Joseph, Rudolf, Taaffe, Ensemble
Wiener Schmäh / Viennese Specialties	Ensemble
Wie jeder andere Mann / An Ordinary Man (short version)	Rudolf
Du willst nicht hören / The Men Who We've Become (You Never Listen)	Franz Joseph, Rudolf
Wiener Schmäh (reprise) / Viennese Specialties (reprise)	Three Men
Ein Hübscher Krieg / Pretty Little War	Marie Larisch, Mary Vetsera, Ladies
Marys Lied / Mary's Theme	Mary Vetsera
Der Ball / The Ball	Ensemble
Marys Walzer / Mary's Waltz	Mary Vetsera, Rudolf
Der Ball (reprise) / The Ball (reprise)	Ensemble
So viel mehr / Something More	Rudolf, Mary Vetsera
Die Strahlende zukunft / Blue Skies (short version of "The Steps of Tomorrow")	Taaffe
Zeit zu Handeln / Finish What You've Started	Andrássy, Szeps, Vogelsang, Clemenceau, Rudolf, Edward
Wohin führt mein Weg? / How Will I Know?	Rudolf
Tralala / The Tra-La-La Ice Skating Song	Ensemble
In dem moment als ich dich sah / The Moment I Saw You	Rudolf, Mary Vetsera
Vertrau in uns / Only Love	Mary Vetsera
Act Two:
Die Fäden in der Hand / The Master of the Strings	Taaffe, Ensemble
Du bleibst bei mir! / It Will Be Me!	Stephanie
Wie jeder andere Mann / An Ordinary Man (long version)	Rudolf, later Mizzi
Wiener Schmäh (reprise) / Viennese Specialties (reprise)	Ensemble
Mein süsser Held / New Boy in Town	Ensemble
Mut zur tat / Measure of a Man	Rudolf
Der Weg in die Zukunft / The Steps of Tomorrow	Rudolf, Ensemble
Die Liebe lenkt / Only Heroes Dare	Marie Larisch
Die Fuchsfalle / The Bird Dog	Taaffe, Meisner
Wenn das Schicksal dich ereilt / The Writing's on the Wall	Taaffe, Mary Vetsera
So viel mehr (reprise) / Something More (reprise)	Rudolf, Mary Vetsera
Zeit zu Handeln (reprise) / Finish What You've Started (reprise)	Andrássy, Szeps, Clemenceau, Edward
Du bist meine Welt / I Was Born to Love You	Rudolf, Mary Vetsera
Vertrau in uns (reprise) / Only Love (reprise)	Rudolf, Mary Vetsera

Note: Early in the Vienna run of the show, several revisions were made to the script and song list of the show. The intial version (reflected on the first cast recording) included "The Prince of Wales Waltz" during the Ball scene, and "Maintain The State" sung by Franz Joseph in Act Two. These were both cut, and "Can I Say Goodbye?", a solo sung by Mary, was replaced with a reprise of "Something More", sung by Rudolf and Mary. The revised production was used for the DVD release and complete cast recording.