The following is a set of lyrics for the new songs by Eric Woolfson as featured in the musical "Gambler: Das Geheimnis der Karten". I do believe the songs are presented in the order of performance. (I really need to take a class in German, then take a vacation to Mönchengladbach, not to mention Köln/Cologne!)
Anyway, the lyrics here are presented solely in the interest and promotion of the Gambler musical and the music from the Gambler musical. The lyrics are a copyright work of art owned and copyrighted © 1996 by the Woolfson Entertainment Group and Hazel Music, and published by either Woolfsongs Ltd/Careers Music, Inc. or Melodie Der Welt for Germany.
Warning: There were tons of typos in the programme. Whoever typed the lyrics in for that as well as the editor should be taken out for 100 lashes with a wet noodle or beaten senseless with marshmellows. I made as many corrections as I could here but may have added new ones myself.
Here are some additional links for Gambler:
Act I
Act II
1997 Sep Gambler - Das Geheimnis der Karten Musical Soundtrack (The Secret of the Cards) CD 1997 GE [homebrew] GAMBLER1 (09/??/97) Act I 0:46 0:30 Fanfare (instrumental) 6:59 7:01 Green Light Means Danger Rafi Weinstock, Chris Van Tongelen 4:19 4:14 Love In The Third Degree Chorus 6:18 6:14 When The World Was Young Georgina Chakos 5:22 5:21 Games People Play Rafi Weinstock, Chris Van Tongelen, Chorus 4:54 4:49 The Golden Key Chris Van Tongelen, Rafi Weinstock 7:22 7:11 Limelight Annika Bruhns Act II 4:40 9 x 9 x 9 (Nine By Nine By Nine) Transvestite 5:13 5:10 Halfway Georgina Chakos 9:09 9:01 Eye In The Sky Rafi Weinstock, chorus 4:30 4:21 (You'll Be) Far Away Annika Bruhns 7:22 7:19 Time Chris Van Tongelen, Annika Bruhns, chorus 1:09 0:55 Medley (various) Total: 68:03 (68:10) (13 tracks) Music and Lyrics by: Eric Woolfson Produced by: Eric Woolfson and Haydn Bendall Engineered by: Haydn Bendall Orchestra and Choir arranged and conducted by: Gavin Greenaway Leading Team [Production Staff] Musik und Texte Eric Woolfson Inszenienrung Elmar Ottenthal BÜhnenbild Hannes Rader Sounddesign und musi- kalische Arrangements Haydn Bendall Soundconsulting Othmar Eichlinger Choreografie Peter Wissmann KostÜme Sabine Coch Musikalische Leitung Harry Koning Regie-Mitarbeit Stefan Zinkgraf Lichtgestalting Wieland MÜller-Haslinger Choir- und Orches- trarrangements Gavin Creenaway Besetzung [The Cast] Character Played By --------- --------- Gambler Reinhardt Brussmann, Gerardo Jak, Mario Taghadossi, Chris van Tongelen Showgirl Annika Bruhns, Nicky Forsyth Casino Boss/Priest Rafi Weinstock, James Sbano Countess Georgina Chakos, Isabel Broders, Yana Kriz Notes: Starring Annika Bruhns, the show premiered on October 26, 1996 at the MusicalStage in Mönchengladbach, Germany. This cast recording was just released (in September 1997), about one year after it was supposed to come out (before the musical's debut was what was planned). Currently, this live CD is only available at the MusicalStage's gift shop. There is no designated release or distribution information on this Live CD. Perhaps a more com- mercial release will be underwritten by a record label. Also, a studio release is in consideration. The music featured in this musical includes tracks from The Turn Of A Friendly Card plus Limelight from Stereotomy and Eye In The Sky from the album of the same name. The Limelight single is sung by Bonnie Tyler (elsewhere in this discography) was named the official ZDF German TV song of the Summer 1996 XXVI Olympiad in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. For more info, see Alistair's Gambler miscellaneous web page. Songs featured in the show that are not on the CD include: -- Vespers -- The World Is Far Away -- Snake Eyes I -- Snake Eyes II Liner notes: The liner notes are all in German. I don't have a translation as of yet, but basically, they give mini bios for Eric (Die Kom- ponist), Haydn Bendall (Der Sound -- i.e. engineer), the players (Die Haptrollen), and Die Story.
If it were an original release, the discography entry would look something like this:
Gambler: Das Geheimnis Der Karten (The Secret In The Cards) ---------------------------------- Disc 1 / Act I 1. Fanfare / Green Light Means Danger [9:46] 2. Love In The Third Degree [8:47] 3. When The World Was Young [11:50] 4. Vespers [4:34] 5. Games People Play [8:22] 6. Far Away (trio) [2:20] 7. The Golden Key [6:13] 8. Limelight [7:31] 59:23 Disc 2 / Act II 1. 9 x 9 x 9 [9:14] 2. Halfway [7:53] 3. Eye In The Sky [10:34] (includes Vespers reprise) 4. Snake Eyes I [7:54] (includes Halfway reprise) 5. (You'll Be) Far Away [5:10] 6. Snake Eyes II [4:31] 7. Time [11:25] (includes Love In The Third Degree reprise) 8. Medley [0:56] 57:37 featuring on lead vocals: - Rafi Weinstock (Casino Boss/Priest) - Chris van Tongelen (The Gambler) - Yana Kriz (The Showgirl) - Georgina Chakos (The Countess) - Dirk Smits (The Transvestite, Gigi) Music and Lyrics composed by Eric Woolfson Produced by Eric Woolfson and Haydn Bendall Orchestra and choirs arranged and conducted by Gavin Greenway (p)1998, (c)1996 Hazel Music B. V.
There are many reasons for the delay. It is possible that Eric wants a release he is truly satisfied with, i.e. Gaudi -- that's why there are two. Another possible reason is that the Gambler show is changing as time goes on, so there may be moves to make the CD contemporary with the show. And more importantly, the players keep changing, thus presenting different vocal versions of each song. (Bear in mind that these are just my opinions.
What are my thoughts on this CD? Well, it's not bad at all, and a must-have for most of us. In particular, I really, really like all the pieces done by Annika Bruhns. I also like The Golden Key and the redone EitS. More later...
It is also rumoured that there is a studio release under way. I believe that it would complement the live CD very well. On a first listen of some of Alan's solo works, there are those who miss Eric's presence. From the first reviews of the live CD that I've read, the overriding thought is that there is something missing too: Alan's impeccable engineering and Andrew's fine orchestral compositions.
It is perhaps not surprising that for many of us, if the genie in the bottle could grant that one wish, it would be for a reunification of Eric's incredible compositions with Alan's masterful engineering and producing. Of course, Andrew would be there with baton in hand, Ian contributing to the songwriting with superb guitar work and newfound saxophone skeels, and of course, Stuart on percussion and the rest of the band.
If you believe in power of magic...
(update from 21 Jun 2001)
The last we had heard from the Woolfson Entertainment Group (WEG), Eric was
supposed to have been working on a new musical called "Poe," featuring
music from you-know-where, however, that has yet to be materialized.
Also, the WEG Internet domain has gone down (unpaid or reregistered)
leaving us further in the dark. We will post any new information we hear.
Coming soon:
- ed.
last updated by wesc: