Frank Wildhorn – I choose Europe - I do not like Broadway (Author: Jan Adam, Michael Prostějovský) "I was delighted with the Czech premiere of my musical Jekyll & Hyde," says the world-renowned composer FRANK WILDHORN. I want to come back to Prague. One of the reasons is to cooperate with Karel Gott. The recent premiere of the Jekyll & Hyde musical given in Prague was attended by its author Frank Wildhorn. The famous American composer of many musical and world hits gave MF DNES an exclusive interview.
* How did the Czech performance compare with the renderings of your musical in other countries?
First, let me explain something. I admire Andrew Lloyd Webber. Yet I do not share agree with his theory that each spectator anywhere in the world should see his musical in the exactly same form as the audience of his premieres in London’s West End or New York’s Broadway. My opinion is that each new rendering of my musical should bear the signature of its director and his team. They should always inspire their premiere with a new, original concept. This goal was fulfilled in Prague with utmost perfection.
* OK. But did you like the performance?
Did I like it? It swept me of my feet! The décor and costumes, direction, singing performances and especially the performance of the orchestra of Hudební divadlo in Karlín. Each performance in Prague is accompanied by a huge, thirty-one member orchestra, which has not been the case anywhere else in the world. I’d like to come back to Prague.
* Do you have other music interests here?
Yes, I do. I’d be happy in the future if some of my musicals could be given in the original historical building of Hudební divadlo in Karlín that was devastated by floods three years ago. Yet, there is more. I’d like to record an album with Karel Gott – not only for the Czech market but also for the German one.
* How did you find Karel Gott?
I have known about his talent and popularity in Central and Eastern Europe for several years. Now we have met in Prague to find out that we like the same music and that it would be great to join our potentials together.
* How could you profit from such cooperation?
I’d like to spread my music in the countries where Karel Gott can be my good guide as he is very popular in them. I’d be pleased if he sang songs from my musicals as well as songs I’d compose for him. Put simply, I’d like to arrive in Europe more pronouncedly.
* Do you mean that it is not your ultimate goal to have your music performed mainly in New York at Broadway? It was you in 1999 who became the first American in twenty-two years whose three musicals were given at Broadway same time.
Sure, this was a wonderful success. But I’ll tell you something. I have never been absolutely stunned by musicals. I enjoy composing pop music or pieces that can rank among contemporary classical music. My main interest is to create music that people like and enjoy and that becomes part of their lives. Therefore, when I work on my compositions I do not have their success at Broadway on my mind. I think about how people anywhere in the world will like them. Broadway has never been the dream of my life. Maybe this is why my musicals made it there.
* It almost seems as if you did not like Broadway.
I don’t, indeed! I don’t like it. Broadway considers itself the center of the universe. It is governed by rules that do not apply anywhere else.
* For example?
Money is talking everywhere; I do not deny this. Fortunately, no other place in the world is subject to the non-written rule that the future performances of your work depend on one or two critiques published in prestigious dailies such as New York Times. Last year Broadway presented the premiere of my musical Dracula. At the beginning of this year, this musical was taken off after it had completed 157 performances. Guess why.
* People did not like it.
The audience that came left the theater with real delight. However, the take off of this musical was the result of two negative critiques in overestimated New York newspapers that influenced sponsors to such an extent that they stopped supporting the performance not only in New York, but in the entire United States. But I do not worry about Dracula. At the end of this April, its European premiere will take place in St. Galen, Switzerland; this performance will be followed by an European tour.
* Will we also have a chance to see it here?
We will not visit the Czech Republic with Dracula. We are aware if the fact that your musical of the same name is your all time accomplished original musical.

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FRANK WILDHORN
One of the most prolific and worldwide-presented authors of musicals. He wrote, amongst others, the musicals Jekyll & Hyde, Scarlet Pimpernel and Civil War. Together with the magician David Copperfield, he works on a musical entitled Alice in the Wonderland. Wildhorn’s songs resounded at many significant events – for instance, at Olympic games. The greatest hit from the Jekyll & Hyde musical – ‘This Is The Moment’ – was played during Bill Clinton presidential inauguration in 1996. His songs were performed by American showbiz stars (Whitney Houston, Sammy Davis jr., Liza Minelli, and others). He also composed music for his wife, the excellent singer Linda Eder whom he divorced last year. Frank Wildhorn (46) has two sons -Justin (19) and Jake Ryan (6).
The musical Jekyll & Hyde was composed by Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse based on the novel by Roberta Louise Stevenson ‘The Strange Case Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The world premiere was in Houston in 1990. Seven years later, the musical was staged at Broadway. Its recent Czech premiere was presented by Hudební divadlo Karlín in Prague’s Congress Center.