Vienna part 1 - Tanz der Vampire anniversary concert

[winter]

It turned out that by a stroke of luck, our hotel was only 4 U-Bahn (underground) stops from the Raimund Theater, no line changing necessary. The theater itself is smaller than I thought - perhaps half the size of our Roma, without the aisles that allowed our vampires to run around the audience, and with a much smaller stage, though they do have a superior revolving/descending platform.



Note the pillar - this would be one of the scene-obscuring pillars that make the seats behind them in the stalls and first balcony cost only 10 euro each :> I had such a seat for Rebecca and the view was perfect.


I was a little surprised by the audience - very few people were in black and I only saw one cosplayer. I'm wondering if the cheaper tickets didn't draw people who just wanted to see any musical at all.

The show itself was amazing, especially since it was done practically without sets. There were some symbolic "doors", beds, chairs, and a see-through bathtub, plus a walkway constructed behind the orchestra (which was sitting in the middle of the stage). I was glad I had advance warning about the costumes used - otherwise I may have embarrassed myself ;) All the elaborate costumes except for von Krolock's were the Warsaw ones, which caused some comedic effects sometimes, since Tim Reichwein's built is very different from our Herbert's.

With one exception, I have nothing but praise for the actors. I was able to see the first Magda I've ever liked, there were some amazing singer/dancers in the ensemble, and the main characters were very well-played. The only downside was the Herbert - I'm really not a fan of Tim Reichwein. After seeing Kuba Wocial's predatory prowling dandy and Keigo Yoshino's blushing schoolgirl with fangs, Tim's generic bored drag queen was something of a letdown. On the other hand, he seemed to be having much fun with the wonderful Warsaw Herbert cloak, but I still wish they'd got Mate Kamaras to do it. On the other hand, with him and Borchert both hogging the spotlight, there might have been real bloodshed onstage.

Rebecca's lines were almost all cut, which was a pity, and Chagal was good but not particularly memorable. Gernot Kranner simply was Abronsius, and it was an experience to see him do it all so effortlessly.

I was worried about the two newcomers to Vampires, but Marjan Shaki was a very cute and engaging Sarah. It seemed to me that she was modelling her performance at least partly on the Japanese one, and like in the Toho production I was able to believe in Sarah's love for von Krolock, for once.

Lukas Perman was an absolutely perfect Alfred - sweet, tragic, drawn towards darkness. With his looks, voice and grace, he reminded me of a Takarazuka performer, and he gamely did his own dancing in the Carpe Noctem scene. The Black Vampire took advantage of it to get a few long gropes, but then Lukas is again playing Rudolf to Mate's Death, so he's used to it ;)

I had heard and seen clips of Thomas Borchert's von Krolock before, but it didn't prepare me for the manic intensity of his performance that night. He was the one who put most preparation into the show, and both his vocal and visual performance showed this. I had a lot of fun identifying his influences - the cloak control and growling in Gott ist Tot spoke clearly that someone's Warsaw DVDs were not being ignored, and the cloak-less and rockstar-style Tanzsaal, complete with Mate-style vocalisations, was definitely echoing Yamaguchi.

But what got me, what left me breathless was when he came out onstage and sang Unstillbare Gier, in an accent that wasn't his own, with gestures that weren't his own. Every note, every breath was Steve Barton's. It was like watching someone possessed.



There were comedic moments, too, like the Vor dem Schloss vampire lineup jazzing up their vocal performance and parading across the stage only to freeze when Abronsius looked around, plus Borchert's wonderful taking of Abronsius's card with two fingers, like it was a dead rat. At the end, the cast were clearly ecstatic - especially Borchert, who threw up the horns at the conductor (repeatedly), bounced around during the final song and then grabbed Lukas and kissed him on both cheeks.


I can't say I wouldn't have liked an Elisabeth-style anniversary performance, with multiple actors singing each role and a lineup of Von Krolocks, but then they'd probably have to do CPR on at least one after Lukasz and Yamaguchi got into a sing-off. The show was gorgeous, and well worth the trip - and that was just my first day in Vienna.

Comments

[arabwel.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, wow... so very awesome there :D

[winter]

And that was just the start of it :)

Btw, glad to hear you're doing better and with the new place!