Ich war noch niemals in New York (Vienna)

Jul 04, 2010 02:21


Ich war noch niemals in New York
July 1st, 2010 - 19:30, Raimund Theater, Vienna

I'm positively surprised. I thought it was going to be horrible but it turned out to be quite fun. Apart from the annoying school girls in front of me. I will never understand why teachers force their students to go see a musical (and then something that is nowhere near to a fine example of musical...) when they clearly want to be somewhere else. This one girl constantly texted someone and when I asked her to stop because the light from her cell phone was distracting, she was annoyed with me! I would have liked to give her a lecture on how to behave in a theatre but that would have disturbed everyone around me and during intermission I caught up with N. and didn't have time to tell her off. Besides I think she wouldn't have cared at all (judged by the fact that she tried to start texting at the beginning of the second act again).

The biggest flaw of the show is definitely the book. The story (I'm not going to give a synopsis 'cause I'm lazy. If you want to know what I'm taking about please look it up) is badly constructed and character development is no real development, it's just personality change. And the message the show conveys is horribly anti-feminist: a woman who cares about her career can't have a satisfying and fulfilled family/love life. Of course she just has to be lonely and alone. Of course this is her mother's fault who just didn't raise her right and taught her not to depend on a man neither economically nor emotionally (hello?! ever heard about not co-dependent relationships?). And naturally a strong guy has to come and rescue her from her loneliness and show her what life really is about and how wonderful it is to give up her dreams (that she has worked for for years) for her family. Because that's just what you do. You give up everything you cared about and all you ever wanted if you want to be a good woman. UARGH! Also, they said it takes just 4 hours to fly to Vienna. Why on earth doesn't she accept the damn prize herself and flies back? They would have been separated for about half a day (4 to Vienna, 5 back if the ship has moved forward, 2 hours award show = 11 hours). Half a day! But nooooooooo, she has to stay and prove how well she has learned her lesson.
Some other things that weren't believable or I have to remark on:
--> In Austria no-one would make such a fuss about a TV-show-host. Yes, some are pretty well-known and will be recognized in the streets but it's plain unrealistic anyone would ever be so crazy about her. Viennese people ware crazy (believe me, I'm one of them) but that was too much.
--> Which father - even if he's only an every-second-weekend-father - would let his 10year-old son run around alone in Triest, where the boy doesn't speak the language and has never been before?
--> Why does she have to push the car? Don't get me wrong. I'm all for strong women but in this case she was wearing heels and he wasn't. I guest, just for effectiveness sake, he should have pushed.
--> What kind of retirement home doesn't allow its inhabitants to go on a trip for a couple of days and reallocates the rooms almost straight away? My grandma lives in one and she's always on holidays for at least one week every summer and that's perfectly normal.
--> Why were they in the retirement home in the first place? They both were mentally fit and could have easily lived on their own. And I can't recall any law that allows people to just get rid of their parents and force them to live elsewhere. The money that was paid to the retirement home could just as well been spent for an apartment. Small apartment are not that expensive and retirement homes actually are!
--> music for certain hours ... Merci chérie ... ahm ... this is a good-bye-song and certainly not a romantic have-sex-with-me-tune...
--> These parents and children had serious problems in their relationships but they make up after a couple of days. No way could you solve such problems that easily. That's a long process and I know they needed the happy end for every character but it would have worked too if they had stated it had been a big step forward even if there still were some issues to be treated...
--> Viennese vocabulary sounded fake sometimes. The words were perfectly normal but it didn't seem natural with most of the actors.

So much for the story. I know you can't always apply logic and common sense to a show like this. But some of the things could have easily been changed without disturbing the show.

Upside: the songs in general! They are fun and Udo Jürgens has some very good tunes (not necessarily those used for IWNNINY but most generally speaking). The social or religious (Schöne Grüße aus der Hölle) is not conveyed but they put you in a good mood. Some are just not that well placed. Especially Vielen Dank für die Blumen which is triggered by a little girl giving Lisa flowers but has little else to do with the story. It seemed as if they desperately wanted to use the song but didn't know how to better fit it in. I would have liked it if they took the title figuratively as in "thanks for the compliment" (which I'm pretty sure is the way the song was originally meant to be).
Buenos dias, Argentina - known as "the sailor song" for me - was apparently put in as transmission song but one of the worst transmission songs ever (it literally only consisted of uhs, ahs and ohs). I guess I only hate the golf-song (Wir sind britisch) from Rebecca more (that one I detest whole heartedly).
Other than that the songs were great fun and I especially liked Schöne Grüße aus der Hölle (except for how they ended it) and Andreas Bieber did a great job at leading into Griechischer Wein (which reminded me of the challenge that all Fiyeros face with "Ich halt nichts von Schulen...").
Sound quality was surprisingly low, I'm used to better at Raimund theatre. But (especially during the 2nd act) the music was often so loud I could only understand the lyrics if I knew what they were supposed to be singing. A pity!

Choreography was pretty good most of the times. But at times it was ridiculous and not in a good way (the flower waving during Vielen Dank für die Blumen...)

Ann Mandrella as Lisa Wartberg was nice. I've never seen her in anything before so I have nothing to compare but I like her voice (it's just a bit too shrill when she answers her phone) but she sings very well. Andreas Lichtenberger as Axel Staudach was just as nice. He is kinda cute and his singing voice sounds a lot like Boris Pfeifer's which was confusing at times. They both can act and portray the characters as believable as is possible with this book.
Hertha Schell as Maria Warberg probably is the nice old lady she plays. I did like how she went from energetic, to doubting (when she is confronted with the troubled relationship to her daughter) and back again to energetic and self-confident. Peter Fröhlich as Otto Staudach is equally convincing though the relationship to his son remains a bit unclear (not the actor's fault). They both aren't the usual musical actors but come from "regular" theatre. Well, it is noticeable when they are singing. I guess the casting directors went for believable instead of perfect singers and in this case I second this choice.
Andreas Bieber as Fred Hoffmann was a joy (but who put him in those horrible clothes?). He obviously feels at home with these songs and he and Patrick Schenk as his boyfriend Costa Antonidis perform two of the biggest hits of the show: Ehrenwertes Haus (which works with a gay marriage) und Griechischer Wein (a personal Udo Jürgens favourite of mine).
Jakob Leitner as Florian (Axel's son) was a nice kid and quite believable though some of his lines were pseudo-cool teenage slang or rather what the writers thought to be teenage lingo.
I have to mention Steven Seale at this point who is like my favourite ensemble dancer ever (and very strange Tod in Elisabeth). N. and I were uber-happy that he was performing and of course we singled him out in every scene he was in. I still cannot believe that man is about 45 years old. He moves like a 25year-old and certainly doesn't look his age. Can't he come to my home and dance tango with me? He doesn't have to strip afterwards, though I really wouldn't mind...

Cast from July 1st, 2010 (19:30) - Vienna, Raimund Theater
Lisa Wartberg ... Ann Mandrella
Axel Staudach ... Andreas Lichtenberger
Maria Wartberg ... Hertha Schell
Otto Staudach ... Peter Fröhlich
Fred Hoffmann ... Andread Bieber
Costa Antonidis ... Patrick Schenk (u/s)
Florian ... Jakob Leitner
Kapitän ... André Bauer
Getrud Grabsteindl ... Sabine Mayer
Frau Menzel ... Natalya Bogdanis
Steward ... Norbert Kohler
Kellner ... Wolfgang Postlbauer

Conclusively, I had a lot more fun than I expected (to a great deal thanks to Steven Seale) and given the flaws of the story it could have been a lot worse. Still, I probably won't go and see it a second time (maybe before they permanently close in Vienna) ...

people: andreas bieber, review: musical, musical: iwnniny

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