| I just re-read this...and I'm more pissed off now than I was this morning | |
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Posted by: |
Jacqueline 11:55 pm UTC 02/17/07 |
| In reply to: | Vampires from Variety - Jacqueline 06:57 pm UTC 02/17/07 |
| It would be nice to se Jim's name mentioned here. They make it sound like Kunze is the most important part of the Vampire team. However, I'm sure it wasn't the libretto that was making my heart pound last week in Vienna!!! > Big thanks to Rob D. for pointing me to this article. > xxx JD > > > 'Vampires' has big bite in Berlin > > German version of Polanski tuner a hit > > By ANDREW HORN > BERLIN -- Roman Polanski's "Dance of the Vampires" is > doing what the tuner's Broadway incarnation failed to do > four years ago: It's pulling in sizeable auds here. > > "Tanz der Vampire" has racked up more than 4 million > ticket sales in Europe since it first preemed on the > Vienna stage in 1997 and enjoyed successive two-year runs > in Stuttgart and Hamburg. And the Berlin production has > been posting record attendance since it opened Dec. 10 at > the 1,600-seat Theater des Westens. > > But the musical adaptation of Polanski's 1967 cult vampire > comedy was Broadway's biggest financial loser to date, > closing after 56 performances and hemorrhaging an > estimated $13 million-$15 million. > > Is the discrepancy due to a different mindset between > Teutonic auds and Americans? Not bloody likely, according > to the folks behind it. > > "The show in Berlin cannot be compared to the New York > show," says Andreas Kuenne, spokesman for German promoter > Stage Entertainment. "New York had nothing to do with > Polanski; he didn't direct it because he is still unable > to visit the U.S. It has nothing to do with what we're > doing here." > > The tuner's German author-librettist, Michael Kunze, who > has translated musicals such as "Aida," "The Phantom of > the Opera" and "Evita" for the German market, as well as > composing local hits "Mozart" and "Elizabeth" (about the > Austrian empress), is eager to elaborate on the Broadway > bloodbath. > > "They changed the whole concept of the show," explains > Kunze, whose book was rewritten by David Ives for the > Gotham production. "I would have understood if they had > changed some things they thought were not good for the > States, but they should have kept the show's basic > structure." > > Kunze says the U.S. version shifted focus away from > Alfred, the bumbling young hero portrayed by Polanski in > the film, and instead turned ingenue Sara into the > protagonist. Much of the comedy -- and some songs -- > reserved for geriatric vampire hunter Professor Abronsius > were taken over by lead bloodsucker Count Krolock, played > by Michael Crawford. > > "They turned him into a horny old man," says Kunze. " 'The > Producers' was the biggest thing on Broadway then, and > they thought if they could turn the vampire spoof into a > 'Producers'-like production, it could succeed. It had to > fail because it couldn't work that way." > > The Berlin tuner maintains the original book and staging. > > The eerie comedy is closer in feeling to the film, which > suffered a similar fate as it crossed the Atlantic. Though > a big hit in Germany, the film was retitled "The Fearless > Vampire Killers" for its U.S. release by MGM and was > severely cut. The new version, disowned by Polanski, > fizzled at the American box office. > > The Berlin tuner is billed as a grusical, a mash-up of a > traditional "musical" and the Teutonic gruslig, meaning > eerie or spine-tingling: In effect, it's a horror musical > in the vein of "Sweeney Todd" with a touch of "The Rocky > Horror Show." > > Although Kuenne would not release box office figures, > which are near impossible to ascertain for privately owned > theaters in Germany, he expects a long run in Berlin. > > "The show is one of our best sellers," says a local ticket > agent. "It's doing at least as well as Blue Man Group, but > a lot of people like it better because it's such a big > spectacle." > > Polanski came to Berlin -- where he shot "The Pianist" -- > in early October to begin rehearsing. > > The director responded to the show's opening night > standing ovation by saying, "We should have come to Berlin > sooner." > > Contrary to the bloodcurdling New York press, Berlin > critics praised the show, which has an all-German cast, > for its "striking, strong-voiced appearance" (Tagespiegel) > and "fabulous ensemble work" (Berliner Zeitung), calling > it "a spectacle for eyes and ears" (Berliner Morgenpost). > > The reviews gave scribe Kunze some vindication. "I can > laugh about it because it didn't kill the show," he says. > "It only killed the Broadway production, and they paid > very, very dearly for it." > > > http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117959694.html?categoryid=15&cs=1 | |
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