Frank Wildhorn


Frank Wildhorn is an American composer known for both his musicals and popular songs. He is best known for his musical Jekyll & Hyde, which ran four years on Broadway, and for writing the #1 International hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" for Whitney Houston.

Early years

Wildhorn was born in Harlem and spent his childhood in Queens before moving to Hollywood, Florida at age 14. Soon after he taught himself how to play the piano, Wildhorn realized he wanted to compose music. During high school, he played in and wrote for various bands, ranging from rock and roll to Rhythm and blues to jazz. He attended Miami-Dade College for two years before transferring to the University of Southern California, where he studied history and philosophy. He started writing Jekyll & Hyde with Steve Cuden, who was working at USC when Frank was a student.

Career

Popular Music

In the popular music arena, Wildhorn has worked with such artists as Stacy Lattisaw, Natalie Cole, Kenny Rogers, Trisha Yearwood, Tracy Lawrence, Trace Adkins, Patti LaBelle, Dennis DeYoung and Linda Eder, to whom he was married. His "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" was an international number one hit for Whitney Houston in 1988.
Wildhorn is Creative Director of Atlantic Theatre, an Atlantic Records division that develops new American musicals. In 2005, he co-founded with long-time collaborator Jeremy Roberts. GlobalVision releases include a new concept recording of Dracula, the Musical and a new studio recording of Jekyll & Hyde: Resurrection

Stage

In 1999, Wildhorn became the first American composer in 22 years to have three shows running simultaneously on Broadway: Jekyll & Hyde at the Plymouth Theatre, The Scarlet Pimpernel at the Minskoff Theatre, and The Civil War at the St. James Theatre; however, all three shows closed without making a profit, for a total loss approaching $20 million. In 2004, he collaborated with Don Black and Christopher Hampton on a musical based on Dracula.
Wildhorn has become a prominent composer globally, with many productions in Europe and Asia having long runs. Jekyll & Hyde is one of the longest running musicals of all time in South Korea. The musical Carmen, with music by Wildhorn and lyrics by Jack Murphy, premiered in Prague in October 2008. The musical Count of Monte Cristo, music by Wildhorn with book and lyrics by Jack Murphy, received a workshop reading in November 2008, and opened at the Theatre of St. Gallen, Switzerland in March 2009. Another musical, with music by Wildhorn and lyrics by Don Black, Bonnie and Clyde, received an industry reading in February 2009 and premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in California in November 2009. Also in November 2009, another new musical, premiered at the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Art in Tampa, Florida, with another production following at the Alley Theatre, Houston, Texas, in January 2010.
Wildhorn is also the first Broadway musician to work with the Takarazuka Revue on the Cosmos Troupe's production of the musical Never Say Goodbye.
Other musicals include Camille Claudel, which ran in 2003 at the Goodspeed Opera House and a short developmental run at the NYMT Festival in 2004, and Waiting for the Moon starring Lauren Kennedy and Jarrod Emmick in New Jersey in 2005, with the musical being renamed Zelda for a run at Flatrock Playhouse in 2012. In 2015, Wildhorn created a musical based off the popular manga series Death Note. In 2018, he debuted The Man Who Laughs in South Korea, based on Victor Hugo's novel. The Man Who Laughs won three awards at the 2019 Korean Musical Awards, including Best Musical.

Upcoming projects

Wildhorn announced he was working on Havana, and a song cycle titled Huberman: A Song for My Father, based on the life of Bronislaw Huberman.

Personal life

Wildhorn married Linda Eder on May 3, 1998. They have a son, and he has another son from an earlier marriage. He and Eder divorced in 2004.
Wildhorn was engaged to Brandi Burkhardt, best known for playing the role of Crickett on Hart of DixieHe also wrote the roles of Alice in Wonderland, and Bonnie in Bonnie & Clyde for her. They separated in late 2010.
In 2014, he announced his engagement to Yoka Wao, a former Takarazuka male-role top star who played the lead role in Never Say Goodbye and the Japanese production of Dracula. They were married on July 26, 2015 in Maui, Hawaii.

Works

Wildhorn produced a majority of Linda Eder's solo albums, and is widely recognized for his ability to release a score before the show opens and selling very well. Below are the Major-concept and cast recordings he has made over his career that have been released, or were planned to at some point in the United States.
Additionally, Wildhorn's musicals The Civil War and The Scarlet Pimpernel were nominated for Best Musical at the Tony Awards, and The Civil War and Bonnie & Clyde earned Drama Desk nominations for Outstanding Broadway Musical. Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Civil War, and Bonnie & Clyde also received nominations for Outstanding Musical by the Outer Critics Circle.