http://broadwayworld.com/article/Wildhorns...irects_20100803

WONDERLAND officially opens April 17, with performances from March 17.

No casting announced, awaiting announcement.

The website has also changed

WonderlandOnBroadway

"At a tea party. Check back soon."

I can't explain how excited I am. This is incredible!!!

I would have thought "Bonnie & Clyde" would have been announced first though. This is a very pleasant surprise.

:D :D :D

If you go to the old website, it's a bit more up to date-ish.

The press release is there, which says released TOMORROW, not Today, which is why I think BWW keeps deleting the threads.

Looks like no more Snelson - Mad Hatter was up for recasting, as well as her pictures aren't on the picture scroll thing anymore on the homepage :-(!

Finally! After the HUGE deception that The Addams Family was, it was about time that at least ONE show on Broadway interested me! :D

I'm really sorry Nikki won't be in it! She was one of the best Cast members...
I just wished they kicked Janet Dacal out (I really disliked her!) and replace her by Brandi Burkhardt which would be, to me, a much more suitable Alice.

.... something tells me they would never offer Brandi the role in a million years.

Besides, Brandi, after seeing the show, wouldn't "flow" with the piece. Vocally? Sure, well perhaps not in the opening song even. I think when they cast Dacal they really changed up the "image" of Alice and how she acts/etc. Brandi's generally done those "classic" pieces, this is much more contemporary, although I've been told she was very good in Mamma Mia! after even some of the casting directors questioned (She asked for the role!).

I think Lauren Kennedy is the ideal person for the role - she's got a kid around the age of Chloe, she's a bit of a name with the Broadway community, has a following, got the blonde/blue thing going on, can adapt to do anything (all across the board from South Pacific to The Last 5 Years to a country musical I just saw Off-Off-Broadway with her in it!).

Dacal was fine, but I don't know if she's the best decision for the role, it's just... different. Not sure if Frank's reputation can handle different, but the vibe I got from the production team/interviews/everything is: "We're making our OWN musical, you can either like it or hate it" which I like.


There's three people's pictures up - Darren Ritchie (White Knight, who was fantastic!), Janet Dacal & Karen Mason (the Queen)!

I was also really disappointed with what happened to the Phantom of the Opera sequel. Great score, IMHO, almost to die for, but it was totally let down by the story and the bad promotion. Even the logo seemed off. But that's another story...

I'd heard that there'd been a reading recently so I knew something was going on. I just didn't know it would be this.

I wonder how much they've changed?

So excited :D

I've heard they've been doing readings for just the select cast and writers every couple of weeks, although I'm not sure how true it is!

I wonder if "Don't Wanna Fall in Love" will sneak back in, or if they'll cut some songs like "All Hail the Queen"...Hmmm!

I really hope they get a recording this time. I have a feeling that "Dracula" won't happen again. And who else is excited that Gregory Boyd finally gets to direct a Wildhorn show on Broadway? He should have directed J&H. But, again, that's another story...

I wish "Wonderland" had a traditional Alice, I just think Janet's version looks more like a grown-up version of Annie, and I think some people are going to have a problem with that. Other than that, I can't say much else except that I hope the script is moving along in the right direction.

I think Janet can't handle the songs. I really didn't liked her voice and she just looks weird as Alice. Sure they made a different "Alice" but since it's Broadway we're talking about, perhaps a grown up version of the normal Alice (blonde/blue eyes) would be better (not to mention red hair in red clothes is just...awful).

The songs I would like to see out would be "Love begins" (it completly breaks the pace of the show) and I'm really not that fond of neither "One knight" nor "Through the looking glass"...I'm sure Frank could come up with better songs to replace those.

I like "Hail the Queen!", it's funny and the Queen can't have just one song (no matter how great "Off with their heads" is).

Lauren would be a nice option but I'm not familiar with her work to be absolutly sure...

____________________________

rockfenris2005
You had any expectations on Love Never Dies? :P The story is horrible, I've seen far better fan fiction written. And the score is mediocre at best. Half of it is decent, the other half is unbearable (specially the ensemble songs). I HIGHLY doubt the show even transfers to Broadway, and even if it does, I think it will last even less than The Woman in White... :P
But then again, Sequels are always a terrible idea...

Why don't they search for an Alice through TV?

I think that'll be the first time that's done for a new Broadway musical, or anything related to the story of Alice.

What can I say about "Love Never Dies"? I've been in love with Andrew Lloyd Webber's music from the moment I heard Meat Loaf's version of "A kiss is a terrible thing to waste" on his Very Best of album. Ever since then, I've been blown away by so many of his scores, "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Evita" among my very favourites.

It was absolutely wrong to continue something that wasn't meant to be continued, which has endured as a classic for a hundred years. But I thought if anybody was going to do it, it was the man behind "Cats" which nobody really thought would ever work? Alas, I forgot that he was also the man behind pretty much everything he's written since "Phantom".

Such a pity. There was music in that score that made me lose my breath. It was both an amazing experience and a torturous one. I don't think I've ever experienced that before with a musical in any form.

I agree - I think the reviews won't be as kind for Dacal in New York. The reviews from Florida didn't even make sense..."A great dancer!" .. she danced in one or two scenes???

Perhaps Dacal has also performed - she did a great job in Tampa, but still made me feel like "She's an understudy." I still think Lauren Kennedy should do it, though I'm not sure if she wants to/they'd re-offer it to her (as if it's up to me HAHA). I heard good things about her in the readings!

Oh I quoted that and didn't mean to - rumor still has it about the Dracula using the Euro tracks, but who knows....I suppose some songs may actually need some re-translating based off just a listen and not looking at the lyrics.

"Love Begins" won't get cut - they made it more pop-ish for Houston, which made it flow faster (with a drum beat in it) as opposed to what I remember in Tampa which was very slow.

Still don't understand why they wouldn't put "Don't Wanna Fall in Love" directly after "Love Begins" and put them in Act 1 or something. Conflict o0o0o0o.

The Queen could theoretically have one song. It's not imperative she have two or more, she has enough appearances.

"One Knight" will 100% NOT be cut. The laughs, the cheers, the acting, the whole flow of the song is so funny. That's been the concept from the beginning of the inception of the show, so I do not expect that to get cut. It's a beautiful tune on top of it!

"Through the Looking Glass" is a great song - but why did they over orchestrate it LIVE at the theatre? Even the concept album made it seem goofy.


I hope they re-orchestrate, to be honest. Remember this time last year when all the clips on the website of Lauren Kennedy, Tracy Miller & Michael Lanning were up? I LOVE the heavy emphasis on the piano in Through the Looking Glass and Finding Wonderland, etc etc.

I'd say this is almost certainly getting a recording -- Frank has the resources now to pretty much do it on his own, and the concept album isn't evolved at all towards how the show is!

English version of the German Dracula recording, you say? He should really consider doing that. It would make a nice recording also for all the people thinking about putting it on regionally.

Yes - I don't remember where I heard that from (could've been this board, honestly), but they should have an English version out there. I think many would agree of all DRACULA musicals (most are terrible), Frank's is one of the best.

Also - They were going to do a TV show for Bonnie & Clyde, but I think plans fell through. I don't think Frank should do that, he's scores are pretty difficult and I don't want a joke/puppet up there on stage!

The German CD is breathtaking. That's right up there with the J&H Complete Work album, for me.

Edit: I wonder when "Tears from Heaven" will open? I know Robin Lerner is also working on a new musical version of "Officer and a Gentleman", but I think I remember reading that it was supposed to open this year. I doubt that will happen at this stage.

Tears won't open in the US. It's in Korea only, well as of now.

There is a concept album which has been recorded and I think will be mixed soon... but I'm not sure if it'll be released commercially here yet!

Hopefully we get more info on that. Linda Eder, James Barbour, christiane Noll & more are on it1

Yeah, that's what I heard, it's supposed to open in South Korea this year or next year. I have no idea what will happen from there. Maybe the concept album with Linda will make it more well known?

I also hope "Monte Cristo" moves to Vienna, but I feel lucky enough as it is that Frank's coming back to Broadway.

Boyyy they already got their knives out over on Broadwayworld.

I know "One knight" and "through the looking glass" won't be cuted...I just wish they were :lol:

I think an English Concept of DRACULA with the Budapest Orchestra tracks would be amazing, but I would be VERY carefull with the english Cast and I would seriously re-think the lyrics first. Some of them are trully horrible ("It's Over" has awfull lyrics in both english and german...which is a pitty). But I think that won't happen until a new BIG production of DRACULA takes place.

MONTE CRISTO in Vienna (unfortunatly) isn't likely for the time being. For 2 major reasons:

1 - People have to "forget" a bit the connection between Wildhorn and Rudolf ('cause the show floped in Vienna)

2 - Tanz der Vampire is there to stay and will most likely run through 2011. Same with Ich war noch Niemals in New York which hasn't been set to close yet and will be returning in September and most likely will keep runing. Then in 2012 there will most certainly a revival of Elisabeth to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the show. There are also rumors of a Revival of Mozart! and Marie Antoinette is also a possibility since Michael Kunze really wanted the show in Vienna.

TEARS won't probably open anywhere besides Korea. Kinda like Never Say Goodbye. In Europe the show has no appeal (no matter how good the music can turn out to be) and in the USA for that kind of show, people already have Miss Saigon...

WONDERLAND is definitly a good show for Frank to return to B'way. At least, music-wise, it fits perfectly the current B'way type of show.
And it is also a good show to cross over to Europe since everyone knows Alice in Wonderland anyway. I think this "Wildhorn and Friends" Concert in Vienna will be really good to promote Frank's newest works and will probably help the VBW to see which songs/show gets more responce from the audience so they can think of a possible future-production of a Frank show (being the ones that are going to the test Monte Cristo; Bonnie & Clyde and Wonderland.)

I'm a member from waaaaay back. There's just so much cattiness over there that I can't possibly post. It used to be good, when Margo was still with us :(

Straz's 'Wonderland' is bound for Broadway

More at the link
http://www.tampabay.com/features/performin...roadway/1112793

Also, a new synopsis has appeared on Jack Murphy's website

http://www.jackmurphymusic.com/jackmurphy/...Wonderland.html

Atleast you didn't say jaystarrr. People were so obsessed with him on that board, his opinion was so non-applicable. They just liked him because he would post pictures of his boyfriend and spoke poor English.

Haha I'm still defending the show out the wall on there, but the other people defending it are ridiculous and make it look BAD.

I can see what you're doing over there. And I feel bad that you have to go through it. It's very courageous. I would just get upset.

I've had to deal with a lot on forums over the years and I decided about a year ago that I'd had enough. I love this place though, and IMDB and a couple others.

Btw, I just noticed the synopsis on Jack's site is only Act One.

Wonderland will be playing at the Marquis Theater :D

And the previews start today! Anyone attending any?

I'll be seeing it later in the week... but the early buzz is This is a trainwreck!

Some changes from the first preview, reportedly (as many have not seen the show before):
-"Home" is now sung by Alice
-Alice is now a teacher, who wants to be a writer
-They resorted to jokes (like The Addams Family did) that are specific to one modern audience
-"Heroes" was cut

Many people have a problem with the focus of the show where they say Janet is swimming lost at sea, the actors don't realize the show is pure camp besides Kate Shindle who has been getting great reviews.

Christ...this is Dracula all over again...They keep changing and it keeps getting worse :(

Alice the teacher...Isn't this her 3rd job now? I recall reading somewhere that she was first meant to be a dancer of some sort, then she was made a writter and now she's a teacher? I see little point in changing the career if they don't really know what they want to do with her anymore.
On the other hand it may solve the entire problem of the Everheart foundation and the presentation of characters for no reason.

Home sung by Alice...don't quite see the point of it...

I'm fine with the jokes as they were used in The Addams Family so I don't see a problem with that in Wonderland which is supposed to be a modern show. As for the lasting of the jokes in time...well they can be changed easly.

Heroes being cut sounds bad. I wonder if they recorded it for the OBC as a bonus or not...

This is quite frustrating. I still plan on seeing this over the summer when i'm back in NY.

"Heroes" I saw is included in the playbill song list, meaning it must have been cut recently. Hopefully that means they recorded it.

If this show infact does not do well, do you think it will have any effect on "Bonnie & Clyde" making it to Broadway any time soon?

I hope not but probably will.

Bonnie & Clyde was planned to move to Broadway in August but I think those plans frozen at the moment. If Wonderland flops I don't think they'll transfer Bonnie & Clyde. Its like "Hey, that show failed but here's another one!"

It is sad though. Bonnie & Clyde has a far stronger script (or at least use to have!) than Wonderland ever did so if Wonderland fails because of the script it's quite unfair.

But lets think positive!
The Addams Family was bashed by the critics, has a quite mediocre script (at best!) and still is being quite successful (at least up until Nathan Lane leave. I lost the interest in the show after that)

So lets hope Wonderland has a healthy run! After all...the show hasn't premiered! There's time to fix things until April 17!

Oh I agree that no matter what the reviews, there's a deffinate possibility that the show will draw enough interest to fill seats every night to give the show a decent run.
It's what happened with some of Frank's past NY shows. We'll see. Not giving up. :)

As far as it is known... Bonnie & Clyde is all set up to open in August/September... so it shouldn't be affected. I actually think it was purposely set up like this.

That being said.. just saw WONDERLAND.

I could not have liked it less... Disaster. More to come.