Barbour & Burkhardt to Lead Workshop of Wildhorn & Murphy's 'The Count of Monte Cristo'

European producer Werner Signer announced the workshop of "The Count Of Monte Cristo," the latest Wildhorn/Murphy collaboration, which opens in St. Gallen, Switzerland on March 24, 2009. The European pre-cast recording, which was recorded in Vienna in English with both European stars and Brandi Burkhardt as Mercedes, has been on the European charts for two weeks now.

The American workshop begins Sunday, November 9, 2008, with James Barbour (Tale Of Two Cities, Jane Eyre, Assassins) as Edmund Dantes/The Count of Monte Cristo and Brandi Burkhardt (Jekyll & Hyde, Tale of Two Cities) as Mercedes. Joining them will be Gregg Edelman as Abbe Faria, Michael Shawn Lewis as Mondego, Natalie Toro as Louisa the Pirate Queen, Craig Bennett as Danglars, Kevin Earley as Villefort, Chelsea Stock as Valentine, and Kevin Greene as Albert. Also in the cast are Alison Cimmet, William Thomas Evans, Dan Petrotta, Tim Shew, Anne Tolpegin, & Alison Walla.

The workshop will be directed by European Andreas Gergen (euro premiere Urinetown in Berlin, Germany), orchestrated by Kim Scharnberg, with arrangements and musical direction Koen Schoots.

In 1999 Frank Wildhorn, notably became the first American composer in twenty-two years to have three shows running simultaneously on Broadway: Jekyll & Hyde, Scarlet Pimpernel, and The Civil War, which altogether garnered eight Tony nominations.

Mr. Wildhorn also wrote additional songs for Broadway's Victor/Victoria and was a producer and co-creator of Harlem Song at the legendary Apollo Theater. Most recently in the United States, Wildhorn's For the Glory: The Civil War Musical opened at the Majestic Theater in Gettysgurg, PA. Recently, Wildhorn has enjoyed International success with Never Say Goodbye (written with Shuichiro Koike) performed by Takarazuka Revue in Takarazuka, Japan; Rudolf - The Last Kiss (written with Jack Murphy & Nan Knighton) opening in Budapest, Hungary and in Vienna, Austria and multiple productions of Jekyll & Hyde: In Concert.