''Gambler'' is a musical written by

Eric Woolfson Eric Norman Woolfson (18 March 1945 – 2 December 2009) was a Scottish songwriter, lyricist, vocalist, executive producer, pianist, and co-creator of the band the Alan Parsons Project, who sold over 50 million albums worldwide. Woolfson also p ...

. It features several of his most popular songs from his earlier writing with

The Alan Parsons Project The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock music, rock duo formed in London in 1975. Its core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons, and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They shared w ...

. It is loosely based on the Project album ''The Turn of a Friendly Card'', although it also contains several newly written songs as well as two songs from later albums, and doesn't include all songs from the 1980 album (as had been the case with '' Gaudi''). The song "The Turn of a Friendly Card" is interpolated in "Green Light Means Danger" as well as "When The World Was Young". "Snake Eyes" is one of several songs that were part of the musical production, but left off the original cast album. "Golden Key" would later appear on '' The Alan Parsons Project That Never Was'' in a version sung by Woolfson.

Plot

The plot, inspired by

Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...

's 1866 novel '' The Gambler'' as well as

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is conside ...

's '' Pique Dame,'' involves a young man entering the Peking Palace Casino and becoming a serious gambler in order to win the affection of a showgirl there, both of whom are being manipulated by the casino boss.

Production

''Gambler'' the musical had world premier and was created in October 1996 at the Stadttheater in

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...

, Germany, and it ran October 1996 till June 1998, being staged 501 times. German reviews were mixed. It was staged in 1999 in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea, and again in 2002 and 2008.

Album release

The recording of the German cast was released as a CD in 1997 (with the subtitle "Das Geheimnis der Karten", lit. "the secret of the cards"). It is currently out of print, but is available as an official digital download. Another cast album was released from the Korean performance, with a slightly different tracklisting.

Track listing (original release)

All songs written and composed by

. #"Fanfare" (0:30) #"Green Light Means Danger" (7:01) #"Love In The Third Degree" (4:14) #"When The World Was Young" (6:14) #" Games People Play" (5:21) #"The Golden Key" (4:49) #"

Limelight Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a non-electric type of stage lighting that was once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illum ...

" (7:11) #"9 x 9 x 9" (4:40) #"Halfway" (5:10) #" Eye in the Sky" (9:01) #"(You'll be) Far Away" (4:21) #"

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

" (7:19) #"Medley" (0:55) #"Afterture" (7:30) ''(bonus track to the download version)''

References

External links

Gambler - Eric Woolfson official website
*
''Gambler'' musical programme
{{Authority control 1997 albums 1997 musicals Music based on works by Fyodor Dostoevsky Eric Woolfson albums 1990s concept albums Musicals based on novels Musicals set in casinos Musicals about gambling Works based on The Gambler (novel)