Rudolf
Music by Frank Wildhorn | Lyrics by Jack Murphy | Book by Jack Murphy and Phoebe Hwang | Additional Lyrics by Nan Knighton
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a family-friendly comic swashbuckler. Based on Baroness Orczy's classic novel of the same title, the show takes place during the French Revolution. Sir Percy Blakeney, a daring English nobleman, rescues innocents from the Reign of Terror while playing the part of an inane fop at home in order to mask his covert activities. Complicating matters are the relentless Citizen Chauvelin and Percy's own French wife, Marguerite, who he fears he cannot trust.
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."
