Interview with: Frank Wildhorn, Jeremy Roberts and Rob Evan

I had the opportunity to chat with the owners of Global Vision who are also the creators of their new  CD Jekyll & Hyde Resurrection released on August 22. I also talked with Rob Evan who sings the lead role on the CD and has been part of the Jekyll & Hyde project starring in both the pre-Broadway and the Broadway production for several years.

Global Vision records was developed by Broadway composer Frank Wildhorn and his partner, musical director/ arranger of 18 years, Jeremy Roberts. Their first CD will be based on a project that has been a major part of Wildhorn and Roberts' lives, Jekyll and Hyde. With numerous stage productions taking place in the United States and internationally over several years, it's small wonder that Frank Wildhorn regards Jekyll as "the gift keeps giving ".

Jeremy shares his thought about Global Vision and the new CD: "With record companies holding back somewhat from making original Broadway cast albums for various reasons, financial, contractual reasons, and after much planning we decided take advantage of my state of the arts studio that I have in New York, add some technical aspects, which is getting more simplified, affordable and smaller to implement. Collectively we said "if no one else is willing to participate in producing this let's just do it. We can work on this plus whatever projects we want. Also, the distribution process is changing allowing smaller and more distributors to be part of the process. We went ahead and made a world wide distribution deal with Koch, the largest independent distributor of music products. We now have a multi-item, multi-year deal which means our products will get into the major stores. We formed Global Vision basically because we could".

Pati Buehler: With several recordings already out there, why another J&H recording?

Frank Wildhorn: Jekyll has been in my life since the 80's, at a time when I was very much into pop music writing. I never had the chance to record Jekyll & Hyde with a pop music vocabulary, as it was written for a theater project. I wanted to go back and look at this in the way I first created it. It was always the preamble to a theater piece or cast album. As you know, The Jekyll and Hyde in Concert was a totally new concept and we just took this a step further. Also, Rob (Evan) had never had the chance to record the whole score and I love his singing and the pop sensibility in his voice and I tried to surround him with that and also the same with Kate Shindle and Brandi Burkhardt. Not being confined to the prison, so to speak, of the theater version, it allowed us the freedom to experiment as we went along. So this was a new way of looking at it and a really fun thing to do.

Jeremy Roberts: The concept to make this was inspired by the Jekyll & Hyde Concert Tour with Rob Evan, Kate Shindle and Brandi Burkhardt. The concert version was streamline and very much about the songs. However we re-approached this from scratch. I personally have been living with J&H since 1988, before the Alley production, before any of the demo cds. Frank approached me and said "let's just make a recording that has nothing to do with the stage show, no book, nothing but a journey with the music. Let's go back to the things we would have done different from the beginning had we not tried to make a show on stage". Jeremy replied " Well, yeah, this is what I wake up for every morning! It opened the big door and kicked the stage away from the music. Whether people like it or not is not up to me. We made a record, it's 71 minuets of music and we're happy with it".

PB: Rob, it's been 2 years since Jekyll & Hyde in Concert premiered at Lenape in NJ. What has taken place since then with the concert and what can we expect?

Rob Evan: It's been great. Since Lenape, we kept redefining it and it grew and kind of adjusted. I was always happy with the product. As far as changes, they added a new song for Emma, which helped her character a lot. When we first did it at Lenape, we has a 35 piece orchestra and a lot of props. The next show we did was Mohegan Sun in their cabaret room, which was done with 6 pieces. I prefer hearing Frank's music with more strings and a fuller sound, but we certainly made it work with a smaller group. Then we went on to do it symphonically in Atlanta and it was amazingly full. The weeks we spent presenting this in Korea were very exciting. It was extremely well received. We were treated a bit like mini rock stars (laughing), so we really pushed the envelop a little bit further with TSO guitarist Alex Skolnick and the band and we lock into their sound system which was extraordinary. We did about 16 performances. We really didn't know what to expect. After the first show, instead of applauding the crowd sounded out a lot of excited screams. It was really different and crazy but in a great way. Then they applauded. After the applause died down we took our bows and left the stage, but were told they expect an encore. So totally unprepared we came out and did "Moment" again. (laughing) and they still didn't leave. They stood and started singing along. They wouldn't leave! So, I didn't know what to do and shouted back " You guys like the Beatles?". They went crazy, so we all did " Hey Jude". It was unbelievable. Every night I had to do "Moment" twice and then "Hey Jude". Autograph lines and signing the Korean CD...it was really crazy, but so much fun".

FW: We are all so pleased with the outcome of Jekyll and Hyde in Concert. As you know, there are literally a hundred J&H productions taking place here in the United States. We need to be aware of that and focus on taking J&H The Concert to Europe and Asia and that will be our focal point for this show.

PB: What makes this CD different than the J&H Warlow concept album?

JR: The Warlow concept album we recorded 3 months before we staged the Houston production. The book was written. This was a conceptual recording of what the show could be. We recorded everything, some of it never made it to the stage, as we expected it wouldn't. The music was the potential show on disk. With "Resurrection," each song got it's own treatment. We took "Dangerous Game" and made it more trance-like and sexy. The Warlow CD was pointed in the direction of a staged show. With "Resurrection," the rock and roll concept portrays the drama and radical changes in the characters of Jekyll and Hyde to the extreme. It's really not such a stretch of imagine that the Hyde character would be this rock and roll type character. We went there because we felt we could... musically.

PB: Rob, what was it like to record "Resurrection" after performing in so many staged productions?

 RE: Well, as was mentioned, it was born from the concert and as you know, I've never really had my version of this. It was always somebody's else vehicle. After coming out from doing the Trans Siberian Orchestra and my involvement with Jim Steinman and his music, I unlocked that inner passion for the edgy rock sound. I always wanted to bring this to appeal to a younger crowd. So when we all sat down to do this we brought in some of these other elements like Alex's screaming guitar. He is just an amazing artist that can play anything. We first met when I was the soloist with the Trans- Siberian Orchestra and we went on to work with Jim Steinman together. You know me, I didn't want to do something that's already been done well by others. I admit, I love the Warlow complete version on record. I think it's a real theatrical masterpiece. None of us wanted to put out another record unless it was completely different. Frank wanted to give it more of a gothic rock sound and Jeremy just took it and ran with it. Jeremy has been a big influence on the sound of this. We all (me, Kate and Brandi) just sat in the studio with Jeremy on piano and just starting thinking and singing. Of course, some of the songs like "This Is The Moment" we decided not to push the envelope too much. But other songs like "The World Has Gone Insane" we said OK lets totally push the envelope with this. Let's get crazy with this. It was a blast and I'm thrilled to finally have my version on record.

PB: While we're still on Jekyll & Hyde, what's going on with the movie plans?

FW: Jonathan Sanger, who produced "Elephant Man" has teamed up with Dan Angel at the Hatchery, a Los Angeles production company. Their last big thing was " Door To Door" with Bill Macy. They have got their financing together and we are now interviewing and talking to potential directors. As you know, it's going to be a 2 to 3 year project just like they all are. I hope in a couple months I'll be able to tell you who's directing it, and the cast and we'll go from there.

PB: Great. With so many projects on your table Frank, let's talk about a few others. What's the latest on Cyrano?

FW: What I can share with you is that Bill Kenwright, the most prolific producer on the West End, has the rights and is producing the show. There has been talk of different stars doing it in London and different stars doing it here in America. It's not set yet what scenario he's going to do first. They may open it in West End, and in the US both at the same time. I will tell you that Bob Thompson, who directed "Blood Brothers" is the director. Co-writer Leslie Briscusse, Bill and I are talking all the time. But in the weeks to come I will tell you something more definitive.

PB: Very interesting. It's posted that Waiting For The Moon is slotted to play in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2007. Any more details about that?

FW: Lauren Kennedy and Jarrod Emick will be back for Waiting For The Moon and some exciting news is going to be released very soon that I wish I could tell you. Vincent (Marini), Jack (Murphy) and I are going to be working on some changes through the Fall and Winter. We'll probably do another workshop in New York next Spring and probably have the 2.0 version ready for the summer.

PB: There have been nothing but wonderful things being said about your Gettysburg, PA concert staging of  For The Glory. And I will say that this is some of the most glorious music I've heard. I hope plans for a return are solid.

FW: Thank you so much! Yes, absolutely, there are plans for next summer. It was a grand experiment. The press treated us very kindly and the people are loving it. The challenge about that was putting a theater piece in a place that never had a theater piece. We will be back next summer and hopefully every summer of my life. I am very close to that score in such a special way. Because it's touches on the kind of writer I am in that it's both country, gospel and rock and I truly love it. And the big news about that is that the Atlanta Symphony is going to be doing the symphonic version in 2008 in conjunction with the Lincoln Celebration of the Bicentennial.

PB: There is a non-equity production of Dracula taking place in West Windsor, NJ in October. What's new on that front?

FW: Yes, My associate Nick is responsible for setting that up. Dracula was a big hit in St. Gallen, Switzerland last year and next year it goes to Japan. We are contemplating more European productions as we speak. Sometime next year I'll release that concept record of Dracula. Dracula's going to wind up having a nice international life.

PB: Another project that seemed to have jump off your shelf is Rudolph- The Last Kiss in Budapest, Hungary. This one sounds intriguing.

FW: Rudolph was probably the best opening of my life. In fact, one of the publications over there called Das Musical just reviewed it last week and you should contact Nick for the review and photos. The show is sold out through next February. Next October it opens in Vienna. Rudolph is a real special project, probably my biggest score with a 44 piece orchestra. It's kind of like Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky meets pop music. I was quite thrilled about the production. Richard Dreyfus came to the opening and it was overwhelmingly received. "Another project that I'm happy to be part is Never Say Goodbye. This was done by a Japanese company, Takarazuka, an all girl company. They have been together for 91 years and I am the first Westerner to write for them. So this was a real honor to do that. I worked with a famous Japanese director and writer named " Shu", that's not his full name (Shuchiro Koike) but that's what we called him. They brought in one of the biggest stars in Japan named Yoka Wao, who played the lead. It was a wonderful time doing this and they treated me beautifully.

PB: Frank you have branched out into so many projects that if we interview together again next year, it will take me 2 hours to cover your projects.

FW: (laughing), well listen , you know next year, we're going to have my version of Carmen which will open in Prague, which is really happening. Rudolph will move from Budapest to Vienna, Waiting For the Moon will be playing, Cyrano will hopefully be in full swing. Next year will also be about Mary Shelley, who wrote the book Frankenstein when she was 19 years old and Gregory Boyd and I are writing about the dream she had about writing the book, a very interesting story in itself. We're looking forward to more releases from Global Vision. So it looks like it will have a kick ass year. (Laughing) 

PB: Well then, it looks like we may have more to talk about next year as well.

FW: Pati, it's a lot of fun and I always appreciate the consistency and continuity that I have with you. We're all taking this journey together and I appreciate your interest in my projects and sharing this with others.

PB: Many thanks to you all.

For more information please visit the following websites: www.frankwildhorn.comwww.rob-evan.com and www.globalvisionrecords.com

Photo credits: www.frankwildhorn.com 

1) Brandi Burkhardt, Rob Evan and Kate Shindle
2) Lauren Kennedy and Jarrod Emick in Waiting for the Moon
3) Jack Murphy and Frank Wildhorn
4) Rudolph opening 
 Bernadatte Vago ( Mary Vetsera), Attila Dolhai (Rudolph)