On the musicals front

[winter]

The guy in my icon is the newest - first cast - Abronsius in Berlin. At age 21, without being a German or Austrian, and that's for a role that demands tongue-twisters at breakneck speed O.o

Also, I've spent quite a bit of time happily staring at photos from the new Budapest production of Elisabeth. I am quite frightened by the lengths some people are willing to go to to make this guy look like this guy.

Combined, I would say it means I can look forward to repeat trips to both Berlin and Budapest. Curses :P

Comments

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

And I can't afford going to both Berlin and Budapest, most likely. I think it's going to have to be Budapest for me. More stuff drawing me there.

It amuses me to look at those photos and with Máte!Death, get the feeling that I'm watching a blond version of Sziszi!Death with Máté-ish features. I actually have been getting a feeling for some time that the people in Budapest are under the impression that every Death they have is Szilveszter and consequently try to make them all look like him, whether it works or not. Well, they're still both hot. *ruffles them*

[winter]

Oh, I'm not disputing the hotness :) It's just that Mate's cheekbones and jaw really, really don't work with the slicked-back look.

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it'd work better with the sort of hair he had earlier. Besides, the implied attempt to thus make a blond Szilveszter!Death is scary. :D

Well, at least the Attempt To Make Him Look Like Szilveszter is less disastrous on Máté than on Attila Németh. But they kind of ought to realise there that you don't just put the same hairstyle and make-up on them all no matter what they look like.

[winter]

I'm just trying to see if they also put him in Sziszi's coat. On the 1999 DVDs I have, it looks ridiculous, with Mate afraid to trip all over the place.

(But at least the makeup and clothes fit someone. Let's not comment on Warsaw Tanz, where they compromised on one outfit, wig and makeup style between two Krolocks, one a tall Tartar type and the other a medium-height Slavic guy. And both of them in the same tailored suit.)

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's a good thing they at least fit someone. And it's the person who's in them the most often, so at least they're being economical. :P But I do hope they give Máté a coat of his own now, Sziszi is so much taller than him that it's quite ridiculous if they've got the same one. I also hope the new Elisabeths get their own dresses because Kata Janza is way taller than either of them, I think...

[alice_montrose]

Holy ****, what did they do to Máté?! It's like a whole different person!

[winter]

It's the shading on the face, I think. They tried to make it pointier rather than manly :>

[alice_montrose]

I mean, I get it that they want him to look like a corpse... but that is just... maiming. *shudders*

[winter]

I think they mostly wanted him to look like Sziszi ;)

And gah! They just cancelled Tanz der Vampire there for almost all of August, including one of the dates where I was to see it. Good thing I got two sets of tickets.

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

Really? Why? (referring to TdV being cancelled)

[winter]

No idea :/ I'll see how I manage with transferring my tickets for the 28th to the 30th.

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

Good luck. That's strange... I wonder if one of the main actors got ill or something...

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

*coughs* Or the set broke. That happened in Berlin the previews apparently, wherein big parts of the set just wouldn't move... Having Chagal lying on the floor instead of a table doesn't exactly work, does it? ;)

[winter]

Just got off the phone with the Interticket lady and turns out the ticket distribution/marketing was just bollixed. Which kind of reminds me of the Warsaw situation last June - same thing with playing when all other theatres are closed for the summer, then forgetting to promote the show at all and cancelling a week or more in advance rather than upping marketing efforts for those dates.

(Plus they could have got scared of the heatwave - heard it killed 500 people in Hungary already. Which is also similar to the last week of the vampire run, 35 degrees and no airconditioning in the theatre. Not that it stopped our actors :>)

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

So you mean that because theatres usually don't play at that time, they thought they weren't going to get big enough audiences, and didn't market those dates properly but instead ended up cancelling them when there weren't enough reservations?

Could be the heat wave, too, of course, maybe the Hungarians have stricter regulations for that kind of thing...

[winter]

I think they just didn't take it into account that in August, people would take extra prodding to remember that hey, one theatre IS playing something. Still, I'm very happy they're playing that last leg :)

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd actually been wondering how they'd make enough people notice that... A good thing you didn't decide to go any earlier. :D

[meganphntmgrl.livejournal.com]

Poor Maté!

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I don't think Máté's performing in Tanz in the summer anyway. I guess he'll be in it in the winter.

[b-a-n-s-h-e-e.livejournal.com]

My friend has just returned from Budapest where she attended "Elisabeth" both with Kamaras and Szabo. She is not a fan of Mate, but she thought he was really cool - a very, very funny Death. And sarcastic to boot. Ahhh, I wish I could see him!

BTW, do you know how to pronounce the name "Szabo"? I heard at least two versions and don't know which one is correct.

[winter]

I think it would be "soboo", with the first vowel somewhere between a and o - for English speakers it's usually likened to "law".

And much envy for your friend!

[b-a-n-s-h-e-e.livejournal.com]

Thanks! My confusion is greatly reduced now :)

Yes, envy her too :) She is a great expert in musicals and runs Russian Steve Barton fan-site. http://www.steve-barton.ru/steve1024.htm
If you are interested, the gallery is here http://www.steve-barton.ru/steve1024.htm and the forum in partially in English http://stevebarton.mybb.ru/

[winter]

Thanks, I'll definitely take a look :) Or set my mother on it, she's a Steve fanatic too and her Russian's much better than mine.

[b-a-n-s-h-e-e.livejournal.com]

Oh, she'll enjoy it :)
Hehe, my mom loves him too, as von Krolock. Looks like we are lucky, at least among my frineds it is very rare that parents share the passion for musicals.

[winter]

The only thing I have yet to convince Mother to is Takarazuka ;) Or at least watching anything more than Snow Troupe's Elisabeth. Just got Datenshi no Namida, so am hoping to feed her that, because oh, Komu+Rira+Mizu = perfection.

[b-a-n-s-h-e-e.livejournal.com]

My Mom hasn't seen any Takarazuka shows, but I'm planning to send her Phantom. It is so sweet and kawaii :)
But I have already taught Mom to like fanfiction, including slash. She is soooo advanced *swelling with pride*

[winter]

*snickers* Mine still only beta-reads my stories if I promise there's no slash in them. But she calls UST in movies like a slash pro.

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

Oh goodness, I really envy your friend! I hope to go to Budapest in early January and hope that they'll be playing Elisabeth then, but don't know at all yet... I want to see them both!

Pronunciation - pretty much "sabo" with a long "o" and the first sound being something in between a and o. Hungarian pronunciation is extremely difficult to explain writing in English. :P

[b-a-n-s-h-e-e.livejournal.com]

Not only she saw Elisabeth, but also TdV and Phantom! Ahhhh, what an experience!

Oh yes, I am totally confused by Hungarian pronunciation, especially if I run into "z." But I bet Russian is even harder.

What a cute userpic you've got!

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

So much envy! How did she like Tanz in Hungary?

Hungarian pronunciation is pretty complex but once you get a hang of it, it's at least easier than English in the sense that there aren't a hundred different ways to pronounce the same letter. Hey, I can give you a quick guide to the various 's' sounds - 'sz' is the ordinary 's' (so Szilveszter is pronounced Silvester); 's' is pronounced 'sh' (so Kamaras is pronounced Kamarash); 'z' is like in English (e.g. 'zone'); and 'zs' is the 'zh' sound as in 'treasure' in English or 'jour' in French (I'm sure it exists in Russian as well, but I don't know Russian so I can't explain through that).

[b-a-n-s-h-e-e.livejournal.com]

She said it was very funny and witty, also the cast was uneven (I'd assume some sang better than others). If you want, you can ask her yourself, she's m_lle_frollo in lj. She is friendly and sweet.

BTW, here is a discussion of Mate Kamaras as von Krolock:))) Somethign I really want to see!
http://stevebarton.mybb.ru/viewtopic.php?id=26

Thanks for the quick guide, very helpful. Now how do you pronounce "cz" as in "Ferenczy"?
Hope bwinter is not mad at me for starting this offropic.

[winter]

Hey, I'm off to Hungary in a month, need all the pronunciation help I can get :) And after DIF'07 I gotta admit I have a new Krolock muse. Who is, unsurprisingly, Mate's Herbert grown up, mostly ;)

[b-a-n-s-h-e-e.livejournal.com]

Yes, Mate Kamaras is undoubtedly cool :) His Russian fans are having a dicussion about how Herbert should look and act with such a dad.

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

That I'm not entirely sure of... I'd go for "tz" (so first 't' and then a sounded 'z' like in 'zone'), it seems the most logical based on what I know so far of Hungarian pronunciation, but that's one of the combinations we didn't cover in my Hungarian class. Most likely because it only appears in some old surnames and such things.

Máté would be an... interesting Krolock. He's still a bit young (then again, Sándor Nagy is, what, 27, but he's more of an obvious Krolock type than Máté is and has a deeper voice), but I was rather impressed by his DIF performance of Die Unstillbare Gier - I expected it to be a lot scarier. :D

[b-a-n-s-h-e-e.livejournal.com]

Yep, good old Ida Ferenczy threw us a curved ball.

Heh, I'm wondering what the Tanzsaal scene would look like with Mate. I just see him doing something a-la "Der lezte Tanz," with all vampire guests crouching in corners and pretending not to be there. ^)

[winter]

Actually, I think the cz might be a tse/ц. It's an older spelling of the single c.

Have you seen the Tokyo version? I think Mate's behaviour might resemble Yamaguchi with his cloak off ;) Note that Yuichiro would also be an old Death hand...

[b-a-n-s-h-e-e.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

No, I have not seen Tokyo version fully, only in pieces :(

?!

[hotbeast.livejournal.com]

Proszę o wtajemniczenie w sprawę tego nowego Abronsiusa. Brzmi dziwnie.

Re: ?!

[winter]

Zadna tajemnica, wisi juz u niego na stronie :) Wygral casting i od wrzesnia zaczyna grac nowa role, jako pierwsza obsada. Inna sprawa, ze w berlinskiej obsadzie jest najmlodszy... ;)

[meganphntmgrl.livejournal.com]

Oh, my God. 21-year-old Abronsius?

That boy's got some mad skillz, I swear. He's my new idol.