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| re: Tanz Der Vampire - Berlin | |
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pidunk 09:01 pm UTC 04/08/07 |
| In reply to: | Tanz Der Vampire - Berlin - RadioMaster 06:57 pm UTC 04/08/07 |
| Thank you for this very interesting and descriptive review. That coupon thing seems like a good deal: who doesn't get more out of a Steinman prod the second time? I'll have to practise my German. Ist das du buttur? > Drove up to Berlin for the weekend to see Tanz der Vampire > in the Theater des Westens. > Already had planned to see it in December, but had a few > problems then, then, not even a week ago, I decided to go > to Berlin and watch it the easter weekend. > > First of all: > It's an amazing show, one of the, if not THE, best musical > performances I've seen. It's just pure Steinman! If you > got any chance to see it, do it, you wont regret! > But from the beginning: > I chose to watch the afternoon show, 2.30pm instead of > 7.30pm, simply because the tickets are cheaper and I could > afford a ticket in the best category. Phoned the > ticketline and they told me the best ticket available was > row 14, which I took then. I was slightly disappointed > when I came and saw that there was plenty of space, even > in the first three rows! Luckily row 14 wasnt that bad, > because everytime a new character entered a scene, they > walked/ran/danced through the audience, and that path was > directly in front of my seat! > > The "Theater des Westens" is a pretty impressive building, > it's from the 19th century and still got many golden > applications on the walls and a huge chandelier. As I had > to wait 40 minutes until the play began, I went to the > murchandise store and bought a t-shirt, a programme-book > and some memorabilia. I sat down and read the sheet of > paper that was inside the programme, when I got a little > shock: The saturday 2.30 show wasnt going to be played by > the original cast, but by the second cast. I have no idea > why, but I think that was the reason the tickets were > cheaper than the ones for the evening shows. Luckily the > second cast was very good too, mainly because most of the > actors were playing the roles already in the > Hamburg-version. > > However, the doors opened and I went to my seat. The > concert hall was nicely decorated. Under the roof was a > projector throwing thousands of little flying bats all > over the place. It projected the musicals logo (the fangs) > onto the curtain. I've never seen something like this > before: The curtain wasnt a real curtain, it was more of a > giant projection screen, half transparent. > The show began and a short movie-like introduction was > projected onto the screen: You were flying across a snowy > landscape and passing a castle, the clip faded to a > digital snow storm. As the screen was transparent you > could see the actors behind. That way they performed the > first scene in the snowstorm, where Alfred was looking for > Abronsius. > All faded to black, the curtain was opened and the show > began... > It was already an experience to sit there anticipating and > all of a sudden to hear Jim's The Storm. As many times as > I heard this song in it's different variations, to hear it > played by a full orchestra and with rock band elements, > like drums or guitars, really gave me goosebumps. > > Trust me, it is really a great experience to see songs > like Objects, Original Sin, TIWIMTBY or Total Eclipse > performed like that. the people sitting next to me must > have been thinking I was sort of mentally damaged, cause > always when one of the 'big' melodies were played, I had a > HUGE grin on my face all the time! But anyway, in my > opinion the highlight of the performances was "Fühl die > Nacht" (Seize the Night). I see that song, even Meat's > version, I didnt like that one very much before, with > completely different eyes now. The performance was more of > a rock concert than a musical show. It was a full blown > rock show with dancers, GOOD dancers, sound effects like > thunder, a huge choir ensemble and much working with spots > and differently coloured lights. > > The actors did fit into their roles pretty well and > performed them in a believable way. The only role I was > disappointed with was Graf von Krolock. Maybe my > expectations were too high, as I had the example of Steve > Barton in my head all the time. In the first cast Krolock > is played by the famous German musical star Thomas > Borchert, who is known as a very good Phantom of the > Opera, in the second cast Krolock was played by Felix > Martin. Martin is semi-famous from a tv series in the > early nineties and was also second cast for Krolock in the > Hamburg version. His voice wasnt bad, but he interpreted > the role of Krolock in a completely different way. Barton > played the count as calm, wise old man, staying above the > mortals, slightly arrogant. That, in my opinion, made his > fascination, which made Sarah fell for him. Now Martin > played Krolock, more as the creepy creature from the > darkness, trying to seduce the innocent girl, not really > taking her seriously. He was more the leader of the > vampire pack, who isnt really better than they are, than > this majestic, heroic, dark count played by Steve Barton.. > All these facts made his performance of Krolock a little > bit weak, but I guess it isnt possible to reach the level > of Steve Barton's performance. > > I've been to many plays, in big and small theatres, but > I've never seen such an effort on a stage design before. > The different sets were revolving or even 'driving' across > the stage. Many sets had playing on different levels. > Chagal's house, for example, had two floors, both > playable. It was really a house they had built on stage. > Another thing I hadnt seen in such perfection was the use > of different technics. Sound effects were coming from > every corner of the theatre and I was already talking > about the use of various spotlights. You could see that > especially during the final dance. > All the actors had very nice and fitting costumes, pretty > much the same as in all the previous versions, known from > pictures and video clips. I especially liked Krolock's > costume. The whole appearance of Martin as Krolock, > despite his way of acting, was great: In the song "Nie > geseh'n", the first duet of Sarah and Alfred, you'll > recognize: the first "Sei bereit" line, what is, sort of, > the leitmotiv for the vampires. Now with this "Sei bereit" > Krolock is entering the hall. The door where he entered > was a few meters away from my seat, and it's truly amazing > when you see him walking right in front of you through the > audience, all in black and whispering just these words. > Martin is pretty tall, and he's wandering around like a > black shadow, that's a pretty scary thing. > > The worst moment in the play was when all of a sudden > nothing worked anymore! Shortly before the scene in the > ballroom, Alfred and Abronsius finished their talk, and > the curtain came down. Everyone was confused, a few people > applauded, cause they thought the play was over, when > someone said through the speakers that they had a little > technical problem and had to pause the play for a few > minutes. Appearantly the whole staff was as confused as we > were, the staff-girl standing next to my seat was > hectically communicating through her walkie-talkie all the > time what to do now. However, after about 10 minutes they > continued the play. It was a bit irritating, cause the > intensity of the mood is rising through the second act, > anticipating the climax, and now, suddenly all that > excitement was gone, and we were 'thrown' into the > climax-scene in the ballroom. > It was followed then by the reprise of "Draußen ist > Freiheit", the part where Sarah bites Alfred, and one of > the highlights: The final dance to the melody of Tonight > is what it means to be young. The vampires were dancing > and singing through the whole theatre celebrating their > victory. > The play was finished by massive standing ovations, about > 10 minutes, and after all the characters came on stage > again, the orchestra gave an encore and played the final > dance again. > > Compared to other plays, I can say that Tanz der Vampire > is more of a rock concert with very good acting than just > a musical play. Mostly because of Jims music, which is, as > I said, on a completely different level, when you see it > performed by a full orchestra. > If you know the soundtrack from the Vienna world premiere, > you'll notice a few changings in the script. Biggest > change is the addition of the song "Stärker als wir sind" > (Braver than we are) instead of the instrumental part "Die > Roten Stiefel". A few other lines were changed too, though > I'm not completely sure if that was in the script, cause > it looked more like the actores forgot or mixed up a few > lines, cause the way some of the verses were performed > didnt make logically much sense, text wise. What made me > kind of sad, was that some lines of the songs were cut. > For example the first chorus in "Die unstillbare Gier" or > one the first few lines of first act's final scene, in > front of the castle. > Talking to other people after the show, they told me that > they thought the voices of the actors weren't that good > understandable during the songs, well I didnt notice that, > but on the other hand I know all the words by heart anyway > ;) > > All in all I can say that the play was, despite a few bad > things, still very good, and, as I said, one of the best > musicals I've seen so far. When we went out of the > theatre, everyone got a coupon for a 10€ discount if we go > and watch Tanz a second time. I might do that later in the > year, cause I'm curious to see the first cast with well > known people as Thomas Borchert or Alexander Klaws. > > So, if you find any chance, go and watch it, it's > absolutely worth the money! > > > Just a side-note: I bought the programme of the musical, > and beside many very good pictures and interviews it has > an article about Jim, presenting his vita and all of his > works, and the last paragraph talks about his recent work, > that he's working on the BOOH-stage show with motorcycles, > etc. So I guess the work on that show now isnt a rumour > but an officially confirmed fact now. | |
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