Cast: Tom Hewitt (Dracula), Darren Ritchie (Jonathan Harker), Melissa Errico (Mina Murray)
For complete cast information, see the IBDb's Dracula, the Musical page.
Dracula, the Musical is certainly not the best musical Frank Wildhorn has ever done. In fact, I'd say it's one of his worst. However, at his worst Frank Wildhorn still produces some of the best music in the theatre. The flying vampires are also a nice touch.
I liked this show when I first saw it at the La Jolla Playhouse for the world premiere of the musical and I enjoyed it even more with the improved special effects added by a Broadway budget.
If the story of Dracula interests you at all, go see Dracula, the Musical. You'll enjoy it.
Grade: C+
Labels: 2004, Broadway, drama, Frank Wildhorn, musical, original
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Larry Gatlin (The Confederate Captain), Michael Lanning (The Union Captain), and an amazing cast of talented performers
The Civil War is a wonderful (and very moving) show by Frank Wildhorn. I was very surprised seeing the show, since it takes more of a concert form than a standard musical. Facts about the Civil War are put up on a screen above the stage from time to time and the stats are staggering.
The cast of the touring production is amazing and Frank Wildhorn's music & lyrics are wonderful. Clearly, we all know a lot from history about the Civil War, but Frank Wildhorn's musical makes war more real and puts us into the very difficult situations people had to face at the time of the Civil War in this country.
Don't expect a normal musical, but definitely give The Civil War a chance.
Grade: B
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Douglas Sills (Percy), Amy Bodnar (Marguerite), William Paul Michals (Chauvelin), and a wonderful supporting cast
I thought I was a Douglas Sills fan just from hearing him on the CD and seeing him in the Into the Woods tour. Seeing him in this roll that seems like it was created for him made me a bigger fan than I could have imagined. I was blown away. Amy Bodnar, William Paul Michals, and the rest of the cast also do an amazing job.
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a wonderful story and Frank Wildhorn and Nan Knighton did an amazing job putting it to music. I love almost every single song in this musical and that is very rare.
The cast, costumes, sets, lighting, music, lyrics, story, etc. are all amazing. Go see The Scarlet Pimpernel - it's such a fun show! And, if you can manage to catch it with Douglas Sills, it will be even better. He ad libs a lot and has a lot of fun. The fun he and the cast have with his ad libbing is apparent to everyone in the audience and it makes the show even better. Apparently, Douglas Sills used to improvise a lot more and it would disrupt the show too much (people would break character), so now they've limited him to a few points where he can do whatever he pleases and those parts of the show are even more hilarious than the rest of the musical.
Grade: A
Labels: 2000, comedy, Douglas Sills, drama, Frank Wildhorn, musical, tour, war
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Chuck Wagner (Dr. Henry Jekyll & Edward Hyde), Sharon Brown (Lucy), Andrea Rivette (Emma Carew), and a wonderful supporting cast
As a fan of Jekyll & Hyde since the concept album was released, I was very excited about this tour. I really wanted to see Bring on the Men performed. Good N Evil was okay, but I knew Bring on the Men would be better.
Fortunately, the cast of Jekyll & Hyde is still totally amazing on tour. It surprises me that they altered the beginning and middle of this show, while they continue to do the same initially re-worked show on Broadway that they were doing when I saw the OBC, but I guess that's how producers work sometimes.
I really like the show a lot better on tour than I did on Broadway. The cast is still amazing. I've liked Chuck Wagner ever since Into the Woods and Sharon Brown since the west coast premiere of Rent and they're till wonderful.
The music is still wonderful and they've brought back some things that they took out in the Broadway production, which I think work better in the show.
My advice is to catch Jekyll & Hyde on tour if you can, rather than seeing it on Broadway. The show itself is much better and the cast is as good (and at times probably better)!
Grade: A
Labels: 1999, drama, Frank Wildhorn, musical, tour
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Robert Evan (Dr. Henry Jekyll & Edward Hyde), Linda Eder (Lucy), Christiane Noll (Emma Carew)
For complete cast info, see IBDb's Jekyll & Hyde page.
I've been a fan of this show ever since the concept album came out. It was great to finally get to see it.
I avoided all news of the many changes made so that I could judge for myself and went into Jekyll & Hyde hoping for the best and giving them the benefit of the doubt.
Unfortunately, I don't think that Good N Evil comes anywhere close to Bring on the Men and I really miss some of the great songs that were removed. I understand why they took out some of Linda Eder's songs - the show is called Jekyll & Hyde, not Lucy, but I didn't understand the beinning choices or the change from Bring on the Men at all.
The cast is, of course, amazing. As soon as Linda Eder started to sing, I was thinking (yet again) how wonderful it is for someone that talented to have someone writing musicals for her. Most of those who were known for this luck in the past wouldn't have been anything without their partner writing musicals for them. Linda Eder would be a major star either way, though she might not have chosen to pursue Broadway in that case and it would have been such a loss.
The cast was amazing. Robert Evan did a great job playing the main characters, so I didn't feel like we really missed Robert Cuccioli at all. The music is still wonderful, even with the changes, and the cast is amazing. The costumes, sets, lighting, etc. are all done very well. I recommend Jekyll & Hyde if you can get there or on tour.
Grade: B+
Labels: 1997, Broadway, drama, Frank Wildhorn, musical, original
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:00 PM show | 0 screams