Berlin part 1: The Music
Jun. 10th, 2007 11:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
winterMy main aim in going to Berlin was to see a "proper" version of Tanz der Vampire. Original costumes and more elaborate sets than the Warsaw symbolism and Vienna anniversary lack of any sets whatsoever had an appeal, and so did ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fyrie's squee on said sets. I had tickets for 10th row on Thursday and ended up switching to 9th row because there were free places in front of us.
I have to agree withfyrie that the sets were simply gorgeous. The inn was a little too fairytale, but the way it moved and turned around and fell apart was brilliant, and in the second act the staircase, bathroom, bookcases, cemetary gates, pillars – baroque gothic gorgeousness with extra bats.
I can’t fault the cast either. Matthias Edenborn was Graf von Krolock, and while I could certainly hear the Javert still in his voice from his time in St Gallen recently, he’s got a definite concept of the role and quite a few touches of his own. I loved the fact that at the end of Gott ist Tot, he hissed at the moon, echoing the Unstillbare Gier line of der Mond vesteckt sich, im Graut vor mir. There was a lot of the Fëanorian elf in his portrayal, proud and fierce and sometimes not thinking at all before he acts. I loved how Lucy Scherer’s Sarah complimented this, clear-voiced, and kittenish in the truest sense – no remorse, all impulse and the seeds of cruelty. Alex Klaws was a great, passionate Alfred, and while I don’t know who Abronsius was, he just about tore the stage down in the best performance of the bunch. The rest were similarly good, with an outstanding performance, as usual, from a certain blond acquaintaince of mine, who should watch his moves in Carpe Noctem because he nearly knocked out half the ensemble with his cloak ;)
But the fact is, there was no magic in it. No fun. J’s concept for his minor vampire (the same guy Máté Kamarás played in the Vienna version, complete with circlet) is someone deathly bored of it all and completely unimpressed by VK; suffice it to say that all the cast seem to feel the same way. They do a great job, it just doesn’t click. I’ve heard it’s something that has plagued the Berlin production from the beginning. I’m not regretting going (and Mother was rather satisfied about finally getting bitten during Ewigkeit, after at least five shows in Warsaw spent pointedly seated within biting distance), but I didn’t feel any urge to go again and again and again, the way I did in Warsaw and Vienna.
In the Theater des Westens, everyone I talked to told me to go to Theater am Potsdamer Platz and see Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. I was indifferent to the idea, though I’d wanted to see Yngve Gasoy-Rohmdal in something, and Mother was having doubts, but I shelled out the money for 2 last-row tickets on Friday even though Yngve wasn’t playing. How was it? I was in first row centre the next day, too. I think that tells you a bit.
What struck me most about the show was that all the cast was having so much fun. Where the vampires were diligently going through the motions, here the villagers and enchanted servants were going "Whee! Look! I’m a salt-shaker! With sparkles!" Everyone had just so much energy. It made all the difference.
Okay, that and the fact the performers were even more kickass :) I came up to the ticket office on Friday and asked if Yngve was doing Biest and Leah, Belle; instead I heard unfamiliar names. I knew no other on the cast list, either, and that had me a bit worried. Right up until the show began and Biest came out.
Jan Ammann is the guy’s name. He hasn’t been in much yet, except Ludwig II and Mar-I-Cel, mostly because he started late and then went on to study two extra years in America. The first thing I noticed was the way he moved: smooth, every movement both spontaneous and timed for maximum effect. His speaking voice was low and clear. He played a great Beast, proud and wild and unsure of himself. Then the git started to sing.
Did I mention he does opera, too?
I think I’ve found a guy who can almost rival Yuichiro Yamaguchi in voice strength and clarity. That’s the level we’re talking of. And when after the transformation he came out as a prince and it turned out he’s also drop-dead gorgeous, that was just icing on the cake.
Uli Scherbel was a perfect Lumiere, the guy has genius comic timing and can sing and tapdance like no tomorrow. The way he swings his hips... oh my. Plus his French accent rocks. Kevin Kraus – his Gaston had me in stitches, and wasn’t hard on the eyes either. Great voice, and what a dancer! He had to be on 15cm platforms and so much padding, and yet he did all the routines like it took no effort at all.
Everyone else was equally great, so much that I ended up going to the matinée on Saturday as well. I got front-row tickets to the very side (second zone, not the uber-expensive first one), but again had good luck with the seats next to us being empty, so front row centre it was. The show was even better, with brilliant energy to it, and Jan is really far too pretty up close. The guy looks like Lestat should look like – like he’d eat you for dinner and wash it down with a glass of virgin blood and you’d applaud.
I’m also very happy that I went to the matinée, because this time I caught Leah Delos Santos as Belle. She’s magnificent – she’s been Belle in three productions so far, and she brings such an utter freshness to the role. She sings like a nightingale, completely effortlessly and perfectly. She’s Filipino, but she looks mostly like Japanese crossed with Spanish, with the best of both features – I’d kill for those cheekbones – and in Belle’s later dresses she simply glows. At the end there, she and Jan (who has excellent chemistry with her) looked just too perfect to be real.
And hey, it’s Disney onstage. So sets were gorgeous in an animation magic kind of way (and whoa on the castle, the way that set moves in something like 6 separate pieces), costumes were great - you could really see the way the transformations progressed - and there was a Broadway number to rival the best of them, "Be our guest". I can safely say that if I’d stayed one more day, I’d be going again.
Part two will probably be squee on the various museums I went to, but that’ll wait until I get the photos sorted out ;) I can safely say I’ve hit on a winning mixture for a short vacation with maximum relaxation: run around sightseeing all day and catch a show every night. Next time, I just have to remember to book a hotel with working internet (argh!) and let my guts know they’re not allowed to rebel while I’m away.
fyrie's squee on said sets. I had tickets for 10th row on Thursday and ended up switching to 9th row because there were free places in front of us.I have to agree with
fyrie that the sets were simply gorgeous. The inn was a little too fairytale, but the way it moved and turned around and fell apart was brilliant, and in the second act the staircase, bathroom, bookcases, cemetary gates, pillars – baroque gothic gorgeousness with extra bats.I can’t fault the cast either. Matthias Edenborn was Graf von Krolock, and while I could certainly hear the Javert still in his voice from his time in St Gallen recently, he’s got a definite concept of the role and quite a few touches of his own. I loved the fact that at the end of Gott ist Tot, he hissed at the moon, echoing the Unstillbare Gier line of der Mond vesteckt sich, im Graut vor mir. There was a lot of the Fëanorian elf in his portrayal, proud and fierce and sometimes not thinking at all before he acts. I loved how Lucy Scherer’s Sarah complimented this, clear-voiced, and kittenish in the truest sense – no remorse, all impulse and the seeds of cruelty. Alex Klaws was a great, passionate Alfred, and while I don’t know who Abronsius was, he just about tore the stage down in the best performance of the bunch. The rest were similarly good, with an outstanding performance, as usual, from a certain blond acquaintaince of mine, who should watch his moves in Carpe Noctem because he nearly knocked out half the ensemble with his cloak ;)
But the fact is, there was no magic in it. No fun. J’s concept for his minor vampire (the same guy Máté Kamarás played in the Vienna version, complete with circlet) is someone deathly bored of it all and completely unimpressed by VK; suffice it to say that all the cast seem to feel the same way. They do a great job, it just doesn’t click. I’ve heard it’s something that has plagued the Berlin production from the beginning. I’m not regretting going (and Mother was rather satisfied about finally getting bitten during Ewigkeit, after at least five shows in Warsaw spent pointedly seated within biting distance), but I didn’t feel any urge to go again and again and again, the way I did in Warsaw and Vienna.
In the Theater des Westens, everyone I talked to told me to go to Theater am Potsdamer Platz and see Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. I was indifferent to the idea, though I’d wanted to see Yngve Gasoy-Rohmdal in something, and Mother was having doubts, but I shelled out the money for 2 last-row tickets on Friday even though Yngve wasn’t playing. How was it? I was in first row centre the next day, too. I think that tells you a bit.
What struck me most about the show was that all the cast was having so much fun. Where the vampires were diligently going through the motions, here the villagers and enchanted servants were going "Whee! Look! I’m a salt-shaker! With sparkles!" Everyone had just so much energy. It made all the difference.
Okay, that and the fact the performers were even more kickass :) I came up to the ticket office on Friday and asked if Yngve was doing Biest and Leah, Belle; instead I heard unfamiliar names. I knew no other on the cast list, either, and that had me a bit worried. Right up until the show began and Biest came out.
Jan Ammann is the guy’s name. He hasn’t been in much yet, except Ludwig II and Mar-I-Cel, mostly because he started late and then went on to study two extra years in America. The first thing I noticed was the way he moved: smooth, every movement both spontaneous and timed for maximum effect. His speaking voice was low and clear. He played a great Beast, proud and wild and unsure of himself. Then the git started to sing.
Did I mention he does opera, too?
I think I’ve found a guy who can almost rival Yuichiro Yamaguchi in voice strength and clarity. That’s the level we’re talking of. And when after the transformation he came out as a prince and it turned out he’s also drop-dead gorgeous, that was just icing on the cake.
Uli Scherbel was a perfect Lumiere, the guy has genius comic timing and can sing and tapdance like no tomorrow. The way he swings his hips... oh my. Plus his French accent rocks. Kevin Kraus – his Gaston had me in stitches, and wasn’t hard on the eyes either. Great voice, and what a dancer! He had to be on 15cm platforms and so much padding, and yet he did all the routines like it took no effort at all.
Everyone else was equally great, so much that I ended up going to the matinée on Saturday as well. I got front-row tickets to the very side (second zone, not the uber-expensive first one), but again had good luck with the seats next to us being empty, so front row centre it was. The show was even better, with brilliant energy to it, and Jan is really far too pretty up close. The guy looks like Lestat should look like – like he’d eat you for dinner and wash it down with a glass of virgin blood and you’d applaud.
I’m also very happy that I went to the matinée, because this time I caught Leah Delos Santos as Belle. She’s magnificent – she’s been Belle in three productions so far, and she brings such an utter freshness to the role. She sings like a nightingale, completely effortlessly and perfectly. She’s Filipino, but she looks mostly like Japanese crossed with Spanish, with the best of both features – I’d kill for those cheekbones – and in Belle’s later dresses she simply glows. At the end there, she and Jan (who has excellent chemistry with her) looked just too perfect to be real.
And hey, it’s Disney onstage. So sets were gorgeous in an animation magic kind of way (and whoa on the castle, the way that set moves in something like 6 separate pieces), costumes were great - you could really see the way the transformations progressed - and there was a Broadway number to rival the best of them, "Be our guest". I can safely say that if I’d stayed one more day, I’d be going again.
Part two will probably be squee on the various museums I went to, but that’ll wait until I get the photos sorted out ;) I can safely say I’ve hit on a winning mixture for a short vacation with maximum relaxation: run around sightseeing all day and catch a show every night. Next time, I just have to remember to book a hotel with working internet (argh!) and let my guts know they’re not allowed to rebel while I’m away.
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Thanks for the review.........
Date: 2007-06-10 11:44 pm (UTC)Yami ga Hirogaru - Elisabeth
Date: 2007-07-03 11:14 am (UTC)Thanks!!!!!!!!!
Re: Yami ga Hirogaru - Elisabeth
Date: 2007-07-03 11:42 am (UTC)Re: Yami ga Hirogaru - Elisabeth
Date: 2007-07-04 05:40 pm (UTC)