About the Show

Rudolf tells the tragic story of Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf and Mary Vetsera, who were found dead in a hunting lodge in Mayerling, near Vienna. The show is loosely based on Frederic Morton's book, A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889.

The show began life under the title of Vienna, and was the first project that Nan and Frank Wildhorn worked on together. Nan then stepped aside to allow Jack Murphy to continue the development of the show while she worked on Camille Claudel. Many of Nan's original ideas and plotlines are still present in the show. Songs with her lyrics include "Only Love", "Pretty Little War", "New Boy in Town" and parts of "Viennese Specialties."

Latest News

Rudolf had its world premiere at the Operett Színház in Budapest, Hungary on 26 May 2006, and its open-air premiere in Szeged, Hungary on 28 July 2006. The show is a co-production by Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, the Budapest Operetta Theater and the Szeged Open-Air Festival.

The show has opened in Vienna, Austria! Vereinigte Bühnen Wien is presenting the German-language premiere of the show at the Raimund Theater, where it officially opened on 26 February 2009. Performances run through 4 July, and the show is expected to return on 6 September 2009, with tickets available through 31 December. The Viennese cast is led by Drew Sarich as Rudolf, Lisa Antoni as Mary Vetsera, Uwe Kröger as Taaffe, Claus Dam as Franz Joseph, Carin Filipcic as Marie Larisch and Wietske von Tongeren as Stephanie. The production is directed by David Leveaux, with choreography by John O'Connell and music direction by Caspar Richter. The German translation was provided by Julia Sengstshmid (script) and Nina Jäger (lyrics). More information is available on the VBW website (in German and English), the Rudolf blog (in German, includes numerous videos). Tickets and merchandise are currently available.

The show first opened at Operett Színház in Budapest, Hungary on 26 May 2006. It ran through 3 June 2006 and has since played two summers in Szeged, Hungary, and three full seasons in Budapest. Additional performances are possible, and will be posted as they are announced. The cast for this production was led by Attila Dolhai (Rudolf), Bernadett Vágó (Mary Vetsera), Kata Janza (Countess Larisch), Attila Németh (Franz Joseph), Tamás Földes (Taaffe), Veronika Nádasi (Stephanie) and Zoltán Bereczki (Pfeiffer, the puppeteer). The show was directed by Kero® (Miklós Gábor Kerényi), with musical direction by Koen Schoots and choreography by Michael Reardon, Éva Duda, Jenõ Lõcsei and László Rogács. The script translation was by Gergely Zöldi, with lyric translations by Gergely Zöldi, Szilárd Somogyi and Miklós Gábor Kerényi. The show was performed in Hungarian, with English subtitles. More information is available on the Operett Színház Website (site in Hungarian). Information and photos from the runs in Szeged can be found on the Szeged Open-Air Festival Website.

Toho Musical & Play presented the Japanese Premiere of Rudolf in Tokyo from 6 May through 1 June 2008. The cast for this production included Yoshio Inoue as Rudolf, Rena Sasamoto as Mary Vetsera, Rina Chinen as Princess Stephanie, Tatsuki Kohju as Countess Larisch, Haruhiko Jo as Franz Joseph, Kenji Urai as Johann Pfeiffer, Hiroshi Hatanaka as Szeps, Yuji Kishi as Kaiser Wilhelm, Shinya Niro as Edward (Prince of Wales) and Kojiro Oka as Taaffe.

A cast recording from the Viennese production was released on 7 April 2009, and is available for purchase from VBW, Sound of Music, Amazon.de, Musical-Shop and iTunes. The track list includes: Prolog/Wie jeder andre Mann (Prologue/An Ordinary Man), Du willst nicht hören (You Never Listen), Ein hübscher Krieg (Pretty Little War), Marys Lied (Mary's Theme), So viel mehr (Something More), Wohin führt mein Weg? (How Will I Know?), Vertrau in uns (Only Love), Die Fäden in der Hand (The Master Of The Strings), Du bleibst bei mir! (It Will Be Me!), Wie jeder andre Mann (An Ordinary Man), Mut zur Tat (Measure Of A Man), Der Weg in die Zukunft (The Steps Of Tomorrow), Die Liebe lenkt (Only Heroes Dare), Wenn das Schicksal dich ereilt (The Writing's On The Wall), Kann ich einfach gehn? (Can I Say Goodbye?), Ich schütze den Staat (Maintain The State) and Du bist meine Welt (I Was Born To Love You / Only Love Reprise).

A karaoke/sing-along CD for the show, with orchestral tracks recorded by the Orchestra of Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, is also available. It contains the same songs as the cast recording, with the exception of the Prologue. It is available from VBW, Sound of Music and Amazon.de.

Three songs from the show were released on the Hungarian musical theater sampler CD, "Mindhalálig Musical". These include Csak Szerelem (Only Love), performed by Kata Janza; Érted Születtem (I Was Born For You), performed by Kata Janza and Attila Dolhai; and A Holnap Hídja (Steps Of Tomorrow) performed by some of the biggest stars in the country. The CD is available from Sound Of Music.

Several songs from the show are available on Kata Janza's website. They include Csuda csinos ez a harc (Pretty Little War), Kétség és ábránd (Fear and Desire), Csakis az lesz hos (Only Heroes Dare) and Csak szerelem (Only Love).

More information, including cast and crew lists, numerous photo links, a song list and details on additional recordings, can all be found at Frank Wildhorn's website.

Related Items

19 July 2006 - Letter From Nan
Nan mentions the production of the show in Budapest, Hungary.

17 November 2004 - Letter From Nan
Nan gives an update on the show, including her involvement and upcoming plans.

1 July 2004 - Question & Answer
Nan discusses her involvement with the musical Vienna, including a surprise for Pimpernel fans!

18 September 2003 - Interview with The Voice
Nan discusses how she and Frank started working on Vienna.