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Tanz is a masterpiece.

Posted by:
rockfenris2005 05:09 pm UTC 03/07/17

'Tanz' to me is a masterpiece from beginning to end, all two and a half hours of it or however long the CD actually is (the show is slightly longer naturally as there were a few interludes and scene changes that they didn't include on the CD, which you can see why.)

Beginning to end, just a masterpiece and a total emotional rollercoaster, from the explosive 'Overture' (going to refer to titles by English names), just pulling you into that world (like another long running successful musical, if not THE long running successful musical "Phantom"), like watching "Star Wars" or "Indiana Jones". You're right there, hurled into the Gothic atmospheric action. The 'Overture' gives way to a blizzard and I just love that little scene with Alfred and how the music builds up at the end and just soars. Gives me chills, maybe even just thinking about it.

Love the comedy of 'Garlic' and all the moments with Chagal, Magda and Rebecca. The humour in the original show felt very clover and woven into the story, unlike the Broadway version where there's a dancing clove of garlic and a penis-shaped sponge, and oh to be a total vampire you have to be sucked as dry as a mummy's scrotum. To put it graphically.

Love how Chagal reminds me of Tevye from "Fiddler on the Roof", another musical I really like, and love that connection it sort of has for me. 'Don't leave Daddy' is both funny and poignant in my opinion. 'A girl as beautiful' contrasts from beautiful love duet, with Alfred and Sarah exploring their feelings for one another, to the other events that are going on in the different rooms, and the vampires outside waiting just somewhere out of sight.

Loveeee that feeling when Krolock comes out of the shadows and starts singing 'Original sin', bursting into the chorus of 'Total eclipse' which just soars, and then they pull away again with Krolock slinking back into the shadows. Then they contrast the atmosphere with the comedic goings on of Chagal Magda and Rebecca the next morning, culminating in the patter song with Professor Abronsius which I just love. I also love Gilbert & Sullivan which is what it reminds me of, like "I'm the very model of a modern Major General".

Love the seductive tune to 'You're really nice' between Alfred and Sarah, and Sarah coaxing Alfred into letting her use the bathtub, and he goes outside and watches through the keyhole, and... perfect time for Krolock to come down through the ceiling singing the rest of 'Original sin' inviting her to the ball. That's the kind of thing, again, that I just didn't really get from the Broadway version of the show. It all seemed to be cleverly interwoven, humour mixing with romance and Gothic atmosphere and in just the right way. It's just the length of the piece I suppose that would prove to be the issue, which I think they've worked with pretty nicely on the whole.

I've said this before, but it's worth saying a hundred times, but the chorus for 'Braver than we are' alone is one of Jim's most haunting ecstatic melodies. It's literally breathtaking. It leaves you feeling breathless and emotionally overwhelmed, like you've just seen something incredibly beautiful. Loved how it developed later on into the full epic version, with everyone singing at the end. I can see WHY they moved that closer to the end of act one in the Broadway version, because it has the climactic feel, but I prefer the German.

'Death is such an odd thing' actually kind of expresses for me that numb feeling you kind of get after someone's just died. The music just goes there and then it lifts you as well as it develops and goes on. I love the big note she hits at the end and how Chagal frightens her and the music just goes right off as he bites her. We go from soaring sensuality to more comedy with Abronsius and Alfred. Again, the humour here was so much better.

Love every minute of 'Bless the night/man' and 'Come with me' at the end. Love how the vampires always keep referring to 'Turn around bright eyes' from 'Total eclipse' a theme that keeps coming back, along with 'Original sin' and 'The storm'. That's really great.

'Total eclipse' in Act Two just feels made for this show. The acronym for 'Total eclipse' is even TEOTH which nearly makes TEETH so 'Vampires'. That works.

'Carpe Noctem' for me is like Jim's phenomenal study of Walpurgis Night, like Disney's earlier triumph with 'Night on Bald Mountain' in "Fantasia". It even has that same kind of haunting emotional ending with the 'Carpe Noctem' reprise, like with 'Ave Maria'. I love that.

Oh, I could go on... Love how the crypt sequence "hints" at 'Who needs the young?' but doesn't quite "go all the way" with it, and even adds a bit to it as well. It does get a bit reprise-heavy around this point though, but the music just feels so engaging and the drama, that you don't even really mind, or at least I don't.

Love, love, love 'Eternity' with all the vampires coming out. Like 'Fantasia' with "Carpe Noctem", this makes me think of the March of the Winkies scene in 'Wizard of Oz" haha, crossed with Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video. Krolock comes out at the perfect point singing to the 'Objects in the rear view mirror' music and it just soars.

To me, they actually feel like different songs, but just with the same/similar (it's not exact) tune in common, and I always could have lived with that I suppose.

One of the most breathtaking moments in the ENTIRE Steinman canon in general HAPPENS AT THE BALL. PLEASE. If I'm going to get bitten by a vampire, especially in front of a room full of elaborately costumed guests in a Gothic fairy tale castle, JUST MAKE SURE THE ORCHESTRAL PLAYS 'TOTAL ECLIPSE' OK. I'll be very disappointed if they don't! I'm not joking!!!

Love Krolock's explosion at the end, with the music going haywire. 'Braver' (reprise) is even more breathtaking and in my imagination if that was a movie, I can see a shot of the white snow with just a sudden splash of blood, a ribbon of blood in the snow while the orchestra just soars.

What can I say about 'Dance of the Vampires' (finale)? It was the perfect end for a masterpiece show. I think in time eventually it WILL be more recognized for the success that it is, in composing storyline direction set design performance, all the other elements. Everything just came together like the perfect storm. That's what I think. It reminds me of 'Phantom' because I thought that happened with 'Phantom' too.

Also, as a cast recording in itself, it's an absolute masterpiece too. It's so well produced, so well captures Steve's orchestrations which are a listening experience in themselves, so captivating so intricate so multilayered. It fills you full of appreciation for the arts in the way that early Disney does. It's a true triumph of a show.


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Previous: re: Braver---six months on - Tremorlor 10:44 am UTC 03/08/17
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