Rudolf (musical)

Rudolf
Affaire Mayerling (Hungarian: Az utolsó csók/The Last Kiss)
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Music	Frank Wildhorn
Lyrics	Jack Murphy Nan Knighton
Book	Jack Murphy Phoebe Hwang
Basis	A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889 by Frederic Morton Conceived for the stage by Frank Wldhorn and Steve Cuden
Productions	2006 Szeged, Hungary 2006 Budapest, Hungary 2008 Tokyo 2009 Vienna, Austria 2010 Pécs, Hungary 2012 Tokyo 2012 Seoul 2014 Seoul

A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889 by Frederic Morton

Rudolf is a musical conceived for the stage by Frank Wildhorn and Steve Cuden, with a book by Jack Murphy and Phoebe Hwang, lyrics by Murphy, additional lyrics by Nan Knighton, and music by Frank Wildhorn. Arrangements by Koen Schoots and orchestrations by Kim Scharnberg. It is about Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria and his extramarital relationship with Baroness Mary Vetsera. Their 1889 deaths at his Mayerling hunting lodge apparently were the result of a murder-suicide pact, although historians have debated this explanation.

Loosely based on the book A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889 by Frederic Morton, the musical was developed under the working titles Vienna, Affäre Mayerling (The Mayerling Affair), and Rudolf - The Last Kiss. The pressures of the monarchy have fallen upon Rudolf's shoulders, he is in political and personal conflict with his father, Emperor Franz Joseph, and his marriage to Princess Stéphanie of Belgium is crumbling when he meets and falls in love with the 17-year-old baroness. Their secret liaison doesn't escape the attention of prime minister Eduard Taaffe, who hopes to use his knowledge of the affair to destroy Rudolf's political career.

Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria is forced, by his domineering wife Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, to attend a ceremony commemorating forty years of reign by his father, Emperor Franz-Joseph. All the upper class of Austria attend the celebration, in the renovated Hofburg Theatre, and revel in their eccentricity; while the poor lower class citizens riot outside demanding reform. A miserable Rudolf spends the evening drinking and fighting a terrible cold. (“Vorhang auf / Curtain Up”).