There's some gorgeous new artwork for the Tokyo production of Rudolf. You can check it out on their website.

The production is just over a month away now. That site is in Japanese, and I expect they'll keep adding details as we get closer. As I learn about any other big news, I'll pass it along.

Best,
Peter

Hello, an official blog of the Japanese "Rudolf" began.

You can check the latest news about the stage here,
although they are written in Japanese:

http://rudolf.toho-stageblog.com/

As you can see, it seems Japanese "Rudolf" is going to be quite different from the Hungary stage.
There was a talk event held on 14 April at Tokyo, where Yoshio Inoue (Rudolf) and Rena Sasamoto (Mary) sang two songs from "Rudolf": "Measure of A Man" by Yoshio Inoue and "I Was Born To Love You" by Yoshio Inoue and Rena Sasamoto.
The videos of their songs may be posted on the blog in a few days.

Another song from "Rudolf", "The Steps of Tomorrow", will be included in the Yoshio Inoue's third CD Album, which will be released on 8 May 2008:

http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/-/Discography/A017516/-.html

Thank you for the news. If you hear anything else, please update us.
Is there someone who could translate the text on the website?
Also, what's different in the Tokyo "Rudolf"? New music? Script?

Now two songs from "Rudolf" are posted on the Japanese official blog:

http://rudolf.toho-stageblog.com/2008/04/post_5.html#more

"Measure Of a Man" (Yoshio Inoue) and
"I Was Born For You" (Yoshio Inoue and Rena Sasamoto).

I don't have enough time to translate the whole Japanese website,
but may give you some image on the Japanese stage.

According to the comments of the Toho producer and the actors,
the stage set, costumes and the plot will be different from the Hungarian stage.
A duet may become a solo song, and some songs may be cut short.
Amom Miyamoto, the director of the Japanese "Rudolf", is also making a drastic change of the plot, probably aiming at making the Japanese audience feel social climate in Europe at that time more tangible and real.
For that purpose, he may create a stage more focused on the love and the tragedy of Rudolf and Mary.

These videos are great! But what's with the teddy bear? Is he like the "backstage reporter" bringing us these blog entries? (Very cute, but confusing with no explanation..)

Ah, your guess is right, Juggler!
The teddy bear "Franz" (named by Yoshio) is a little back-stage reporter.

I'll try to make a brief explanation on each photo later.

Aha. Thanks for confirming that for me. Franz is a very fitting name. :)

The Tokyo "Rudolf" will open tommorow at last!
According to the Director, there will be many changes in the script, the order of the scenes changed, and a few songs added.
The stage sets and costumes willl be traditional, the aristocrats are excessively gorgoeus, while the citizens' costumes are rather simple, dividing both ranks by their colors, materials and sophistication.

You can see a stage set on the official blog:

http://rudolf.toho-stageblog.com/2008/05/post_18.html#more

Very sorry, I cannot explain each photo, for there are so many.
A brief explanation of Today's photos.

"Real stage sets were installed in the theater and the preparation for the opening day has been rapidly in progress.
The scenes of the stage, and the past Vienna, where Rudolf and Mary lived and loved each other, have been materiarized on the stage by the gourgeous sets, lights and musics. "

The Toho "Rudolf" will open on May 6, 2008, and I'll be in the theater.

The curtain call video of the first day is posted on the official blog:

http://rudolf.toho-stageblog.com/2008/05/post_21.html

We had the honor of the attendance of Mr. Frank Wildhorn, Mr. Jack Murphy and Mr. Frederic Morton, the author of the original book.

I'll write the order of the songs later. There are some changes.
I'm not sure, but two songs titled "If I Could" (Rudolf) and "Play A Waltz" (an ensemble song) are added to the Act One?

The opening and the ending are definitely different,
starting and ending with the suicide scene of Rudolf and Mary,
who die together and enter into a frame.
A frame as a metaphor of their time?

The following is the song list of of the Japanese production:

Act 1
Viennese Specialties (Pfeiffer, Ensemble)
Curtain Up (All Casts)
An Ordinary Man (Rudolf)
The Man Who We've Become (Rudolf, Franz)
Viennese Specialties - Reprise 1 (Pfeiffer. Mary, Male Ensemble)
Pretty Little War (Larisch, Mary, Female Ensemble)
Mary's Theme (Mary)
If I Could (Rudolf)
Play A Walz (Ensemble)
The Prince Of Wales Waltz (Rudolf, Edward, Ensemble)
Mary's Theme Waltz (Rudolf, Mary)
Play A Walz - Reprise (Ensemble)
Viennese Specialties- Reprise 2 (Pfeiffer)
Something More (Rudolf, Mary)
Finish What You've Started (Rudolf, Szeps, Andrassy, Lonyay, Karolyi)
How Will I know (Rudolf, Female Ensemble)
The Tra-La-La Ice Skating Song (Pfeiffer, Ensemle)
The Moment I Saw You (Rudolf, Mary)
A Better Life (Pfeiffer, Ensemble)
Bird Dog (Rudolf)
Only Love (Mary)

Act 2
The Master Of The Strings (Pfeiffer, Taaffe, Franz, Wiligut, Meissner, Ensemble)
It Will Be Me! (Stephanie)
An Ordinary Man (Rudolf, Pfeiffer)
Viennese Specialties - Reprise 3 (Pfeiffer)
New Boy In Town (Pfeiffer, Prostitutes)
Measure Of A Man (Rudolf)
The Steps Of Tommorrow (Rudolf, Ensemble)
Only Heroes Dare (Larisch)
The Writings On The Wall (Mary, Taaffe)
Finish What You've Started (Szeps, Andrassy,Lonyayi, Karolyi)
Maintain The State (Franz)
Can I Say Goodbye? (Mary)
I Was Born To Love You (Rudolf, Mary)
The Fourth Dimension Ball (Ensemble)
Only Love - Reprise (Rudolf, Mary)
Viennese Spedialties - Reprise 5 (Pfeiffer)

And here are some stage photos (three pages in all):

http://allabout.co.jp/entertainment/play/c...up/CU20080507A/

I'm pretty sure the song "Play A Waltz" is part of the Hungarian production... it was on an early draft of a song list that I received, and even though it's not listed on the final song list, I think it's included as part of the "Prince of Wales' Ball".

"If I Could" does look like a new song to me.

A message from Mr. Wildhorn!

http://rudolf.toho-stageblog.com/2008/05/post_32.html

I was sent some production photos from Tokyo, and just added them to Frank's website. Enjoy.

http://FrankWildhorn.com/gallery/

Thanks to the posting of the Toho stage photos, Juggler!

The Japanese production "Rudolf" successfully dosed on June 1.
I was amazed that several scenes changed every time I watched the stage, both in the movement and the singing styles of the actors,
as the understandings of their roles by the actors have deepened.

I love this musical and the Wildhorn songs very much
and sincerely hope it will be repeated in a few years.

Next, the Vienna version.
I'm looking forward to it,too!

Thanks a lot to both of you for all the great information/links!

I'm always glad to do what I can here. And I'll add my thanks to Kumiko for all the great updates. :)

It's a shame Japanese productions only run for a month at a time, but hopefully the show will be back there in the future. The production in Hungary is continuing too (starting up again in October), but the next big thing will be Vienna.

Best,
Peter

It was my pleasure to introduce the Japanese production to foreign Wildhorn lovers
and enjoy the beautiful songs and photos together.

We have a different system and the running period of a stage is pre-fixed.
I really hope this magnificent work will be back in Tokyo in a few years.

Kumiko

Has there been any interest beyond Vienna?

I haven't heard anything about this yet. Doesn't mean that they aren't talking about it behind the scenes... it's so hard to guess with these things. Of course, I'll pass on anything that I learn.

It is very regrettable that the official website of the Tokyo production "Rudolf" will be closed at 18:00 (Japan local time), June 30.

Additional information:
Yoshio Inoue will sing at the Nippon Budokan Charity Concert for the victims of the Sichuan Earthquake on September 18.
Rena Sasamoto's concerts and Yoshio Inoue's dinner shows are planned in December 2008.
They may sing some songs from "Rudolf".

Hello to everybody!
I’m a newbie here and I’ve got one question for the community and maybe any of you can help me. The fact is that it’s very little known about the Japan production of “Rudolf”. At least I could not find much information of it except for a few photos, short clip from youtube (not even from the show but it looks more like a concert version of the “Something More” duet) and the list of the songs (thank you to this community).
May be some of you saw the Tokyo show live and can say briefly how it looked like and what were the principle differences from the Hungarian and Austrian productions of this musical? Or maybe you know of the reviews (preferably in English, but German is ok too) for Japan “Rudolf” on some online resources. Then I will be glad if you will share the link with me. :)
Thank you in advance!

Welcome to the boards.
Unfortunatly there isn't much info about the Japanese production. It was a rather small run, they didn't even released a CD as usual. There are also no plans of reviving it that I know and I never found a single soul who attended the show.
But I think its safe to say the script they used was the original Hungarian one. The changes to the show were only made in the Vienna production (and I just wish they hadn't done them...)

Michael Edwards, who has a brilliant collection of Frank Wildhorn memorabilia, some of which I've included on my website and most of which is available on his myspace, has a couple posters and other merchandise from the production but other than that and everything discussed here, there's not a lot out there I'm afraid. It would have been interesting to be able to see the show and compare it to the Hungarian and Austrian productions, to see the changes made inbetween those productions. I do know the sequence "Viennese Specialties" was reprised a lot throughout the score, sort of similar to "Facade" in the Broadway J&H.

Fantasma da Opera
Thank you! :)
It's a pity that there's so little info about the show. But as I understood reading this thread some users here were in Japan so maybe they could put the shed some light on this mysterious show.
Concerning the script – so the Hungarian was closer to the original libretto, then the Viennese one? I mean I never see the English script for this musical but suppose it must have been written along with the song for the concept of the musical.

rockfenris2005
Thank for the links. Your website is great! Too bad they didn't do any video from the show even the commercial one. But let's hope it will be revived some day,
As for the "Viennese Specialties" as far as I remember it was reprised (it seems for four or five times) in Budapest production too but that's very interesting anyway, thank you.

The Budapest script is the "original" since it was the premiere production. I have no idea what the english libretto was like but granted there were a lots of evolutions, the final script was probably the one translated into Hungarian. And the english libretto was first by Nan Knighton, then she was replaced by Jack Murphy and almost nothing survived the change. The music to the show was probably composed over the over 20 years Frank had this show in his mind :P
The Japanese production may have used a different staging but I don't think there were many difference. "Viennese specialties" is reprised a lot during the show, even in the Vienna production. If they did it even more in Japan is hard to say...
Lets hope the show gets Revived in Japan and see if this time they put out a CD ;)