Pia Douwes - Ein Abend im Dezember
September 22
waterfly89 finds out Pia Douwes is having a solo concert in Vienna. waterfly89 first squees a little, then orders tickets immediately. She's already missed Pia twice (Elisabeth in Berlin 2008 and Chicago in London (with Linzi at that! ToT)) and she's not letting her get away this time.
Vienna, December 28
Twas a glorious day in Vienna. After a day very well spent, I tried finding the Theater Akzent to pick up my tickets (and actually know where I'm supposed to be going later in the evening :p). I did manage to find it, but they told me I had to come later and pick them up at the Abendkassa after 7. Whatever.
Fast-forward to 7:30 pm.
A friend of mine and I reached the theatre and immediately spotted Claus Dam (well, she did, I wouldn't have recognized him without the Franz Joseph beard :P ). We got inside, picked up our tickets and I spotted a CARIN FILIPČIĆ and immediately squee. Incospicuously. (incidentally, I found out the next day that there *was* a Rudolf performance on Monday, so glad to see Carin has priorities and knows Pia > Rudolf xD) After a couple of minutes we went in and made ourselves comfortable in our row 4. <3 My hyperness rose as the announcement started (no filming allowed blahblah) and I was VERY much amused when they asked us not to applaud during the first part of the concert (December Songs/Dezemberlieder) because it was a song cycle and they didn't want it interrupted (?). ANYWAY.
In comes Pia. In a dress that was possibly made by the same tailor as Susan Rigvava-Dumas's dress in Musical Forever, what with the spidery sequins. Except Pia's were all over her dress. But she looked spectacular. <3 She was accompanied by a pianist (Marina Komissartchik) who looked so much like she was playing Mrs. Danvers it's not even funny. All gliding, similar stature to Susan's, slow fluid movements and yes-mortals-clap-for-me-looks. <3 Her page turner was - tumdumdum - KERSTIN IBALD. Quite an amusing combination, if I may say so.
Back to the show. The first part of the concert was Dezemberlieder. It was quite nice, all wintery and calm. It *could* get a bit boring at times, but there were a couple of numbers I quite liked (in particular Wo bist du jetzt? and Großmutters Liebesbriefe), plus, you know, we had Pia sing it. I wouldn't have cared if she'd only held a single note as long as she was singing. :P She was so good, being all heartbroken and sad and then the next minute she'd light up with a huge grin because she was singing a song in which she remembered the good times (or whatever) and the smile made her look like an adorable 5-year-old. ^^ It was quite frustrating not being allowed to clap because she was REALLY good and there was a deafening silence every time she finished a song, but it just added to the atmosphere (you could have heard a fly in there, I didn't even dare MOVE in case I produced some kind of noise with the bag in my lap). After she had finished the whole of Dezemberlieder, the held-back applause roared through the theatre like there was no tomorrow. And it was well-deserved applause, indeed.
Part two
Part two was a collage of various songs from musicals Pia played in during her career. The first song was Milady ist zurück and Pia appeared flicking a fur coat (or rather a fur bolero jacket? Something like that xD) and being a full-blooded diva. <3 She then told the tale of how she once started singing German lines in a Dutch production of Elisabeth (as if any member of this community wouldn't know that xD) and how it sometimes happened to her that she simply switched languages in the middle of a song so she decided she's going to sing a song in three different languages at once - I Dreamed a Dream. That was quite nice, I know she did Les Mis years ago in The Netherlands, but I've never actually listened to her Fantine. Les Mis was followed by Elisabeth (Ich gehör nur mir (as if you doubted it for a second :p) and Nichts, nichts, gar nichts) and various tales about it (the auditions, some mishaps, how the high note in Ich gehör nur mir came to be etc.). Here she was joined by Andy Bieber and they sang Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär. I thought it would have been extremely amusing if Drew was there to sing it with her, but I guess it would've been just too much crack. xD Anyway, Bieber was really OK, funny, you could see he gets along with Pia really well and he could sing, but he just somehow rubbed me the wrong way and I couldn't *quite* be persuaded to love him. I really can't pinpoint it, it's weird. :/ Some other songs were sung (Andy Bieber also had a solo, Bleib noch bis zum Sonntag) AND THEN CAME GREASE. Which was all sorts of amusing. Especially when the lines
I could stay home every night
Wait around for Mr. Right
Take cold showers every day
And throw my life away
On a dream that won't come true
came out as
I could stay home every night
Take cold showers every night
Take cold ... every night?
And throw my life away... whatever
On a dream that won't come true
Trying not to choke from laughing too much was one of the hardest things I've done in my life. xD She got a HUGE applause at the end of the song (and Carin Filipčić acting like a fangirl with screaming and loud clapping honestly made my night. As if my night hadn't been perfect already). In comes Andy Bieber in a Grease!outfit (leather jacket and all that jazz), gives Pia one and the two of them sing You're The One That I Want. Pia flubbed her lines yet again and gave an excuse in the end that she never did this song in the show, "she only sang o-o-ooh". xD <3 We found out Papa Pia filmed her last show in Vienna (and we're not getting the video! ^^) and then we got Andy Bieber singing a love song while having a cold (Beide Dase däuft) and Marina Komissartchik playing a piano solo (damn, the things that woman can do with a piano).
The whole cycle of musical!songs was interrupted to make way for some Christmas songs - Pia sang Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (alone) and Santa Claus is Coming to Town (with Andy Bieber). Twas very cute.
And then came Memory/Mondlicht. Which is one of the bigger reasons why I love Pia so much. She is the only person I have ever heard sing the song in chest voice. And belt the shit out of it she did. Unbelievable how much control over and power in her voice she has. A lot of people say/think she is overrated and "don't see" why she's so popular in German musicals. Well ladies and gentlemen, there you have it. She is a diva and has the voice to go with it. Not to mention the fact she was extremely laid back during the concert, completely enjoying herself, wanting everyone else to enjoy themselves and that just put everyone in a good mood. <3
And that was it! Everyone got flower bouquets (and then Pia gave one of her roses to Kerstin because she didn't get any, bless) and we obviously had encore *g* - Spamalot (Das Lied, das jeder liebt i.e. The Song That Goes Like This) and Abba's Happy New Year. They didn't have anything else planned but since everyone kept on cheering and applauding, she said she was going to do one more thing and asked the audience what they wanted her to sing. There were tons of suggestions (I know I heard a couple of people scream "Frei und schwerelos" xD) and in the end she said she'd do Rebecca although she didn't plan on doing it in Vienna because "she knew Rebecca was sacred there", haha. However, she sang the English version (the older one, I don't know if/how much they changed it for the London reading) and that's after Kerstin Ibald refused to sing it with her. Boo @you, Kerstin. :P There's a sigh in the air everywhere. Ah, the English version never fails to amuse. *g*
That was finally it. :o) She was extremely nice at the stagedoor, took photos and gave out autographs to everyone. After a while she said she needed to go (she was with a suitcase! <3) and asked for the fans to be fair and let those who don't get to see her very often get closer and take pictures or whatever. That started off OK but soon went back to the usual crowd, I know she was still surrounded by people when I left and that was 10 minutes after she'd said she really needed to go. *hugs Pia* In any case, this was one of the best concerts I've been to in the past couple of years, if not in my entire life (it sounds corny when you say that :/ ). I liked Pia before this, now a day doesn't pass I don't repeat "Pia is awesome", either in my head or out loud. Definitely am going to any other solo concert she'll be having and I'd warmly recommend anyone even remotely interested to do the same. You won't be sorry. :)
waterfly89 finds out Pia Douwes is having a solo concert in Vienna. waterfly89 first squees a little, then orders tickets immediately. She's already missed Pia twice (Elisabeth in Berlin 2008 and Chicago in London (with Linzi at that! ToT)) and she's not letting her get away this time.
Vienna, December 28
Twas a glorious day in Vienna. After a day very well spent, I tried finding the Theater Akzent to pick up my tickets (and actually know where I'm supposed to be going later in the evening :p). I did manage to find it, but they told me I had to come later and pick them up at the Abendkassa after 7. Whatever.
Fast-forward to 7:30 pm.
A friend of mine and I reached the theatre and immediately spotted Claus Dam (well, she did, I wouldn't have recognized him without the Franz Joseph beard :P ). We got inside, picked up our tickets and I spotted a CARIN FILIPČIĆ and immediately squee. Incospicuously. (incidentally, I found out the next day that there *was* a Rudolf performance on Monday, so glad to see Carin has priorities and knows Pia > Rudolf xD) After a couple of minutes we went in and made ourselves comfortable in our row 4. <3 My hyperness rose as the announcement started (no filming allowed blahblah) and I was VERY much amused when they asked us not to applaud during the first part of the concert (December Songs/Dezemberlieder) because it was a song cycle and they didn't want it interrupted (?). ANYWAY.
In comes Pia. In a dress that was possibly made by the same tailor as Susan Rigvava-Dumas's dress in Musical Forever, what with the spidery sequins. Except Pia's were all over her dress. But she looked spectacular. <3 She was accompanied by a pianist (Marina Komissartchik) who looked so much like she was playing Mrs. Danvers it's not even funny. All gliding, similar stature to Susan's, slow fluid movements and yes-mortals-clap-for-me-looks. <3 Her page turner was - tumdumdum - KERSTIN IBALD. Quite an amusing combination, if I may say so.
Back to the show. The first part of the concert was Dezemberlieder. It was quite nice, all wintery and calm. It *could* get a bit boring at times, but there were a couple of numbers I quite liked (in particular Wo bist du jetzt? and Großmutters Liebesbriefe), plus, you know, we had Pia sing it. I wouldn't have cared if she'd only held a single note as long as she was singing. :P She was so good, being all heartbroken and sad and then the next minute she'd light up with a huge grin because she was singing a song in which she remembered the good times (or whatever) and the smile made her look like an adorable 5-year-old. ^^ It was quite frustrating not being allowed to clap because she was REALLY good and there was a deafening silence every time she finished a song, but it just added to the atmosphere (you could have heard a fly in there, I didn't even dare MOVE in case I produced some kind of noise with the bag in my lap). After she had finished the whole of Dezemberlieder, the held-back applause roared through the theatre like there was no tomorrow. And it was well-deserved applause, indeed.
Part two
Part two was a collage of various songs from musicals Pia played in during her career. The first song was Milady ist zurück and Pia appeared flicking a fur coat (or rather a fur bolero jacket? Something like that xD) and being a full-blooded diva. <3 She then told the tale of how she once started singing German lines in a Dutch production of Elisabeth (as if any member of this community wouldn't know that xD) and how it sometimes happened to her that she simply switched languages in the middle of a song so she decided she's going to sing a song in three different languages at once - I Dreamed a Dream. That was quite nice, I know she did Les Mis years ago in The Netherlands, but I've never actually listened to her Fantine. Les Mis was followed by Elisabeth (Ich gehör nur mir (as if you doubted it for a second :p) and Nichts, nichts, gar nichts) and various tales about it (the auditions, some mishaps, how the high note in Ich gehör nur mir came to be etc.). Here she was joined by Andy Bieber and they sang Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär. I thought it would have been extremely amusing if Drew was there to sing it with her, but I guess it would've been just too much crack. xD Anyway, Bieber was really OK, funny, you could see he gets along with Pia really well and he could sing, but he just somehow rubbed me the wrong way and I couldn't *quite* be persuaded to love him. I really can't pinpoint it, it's weird. :/ Some other songs were sung (Andy Bieber also had a solo, Bleib noch bis zum Sonntag) AND THEN CAME GREASE. Which was all sorts of amusing. Especially when the lines
I could stay home every night
Wait around for Mr. Right
Take cold showers every day
And throw my life away
On a dream that won't come true
came out as
I could stay home every night
Take cold showers every night
Take cold ... every night?
And throw my life away... whatever
On a dream that won't come true
Trying not to choke from laughing too much was one of the hardest things I've done in my life. xD She got a HUGE applause at the end of the song (and Carin Filipčić acting like a fangirl with screaming and loud clapping honestly made my night. As if my night hadn't been perfect already). In comes Andy Bieber in a Grease!outfit (leather jacket and all that jazz), gives Pia one and the two of them sing You're The One That I Want. Pia flubbed her lines yet again and gave an excuse in the end that she never did this song in the show, "she only sang o-o-ooh". xD <3 We found out Papa Pia filmed her last show in Vienna (and we're not getting the video! ^^) and then we got Andy Bieber singing a love song while having a cold (Beide Dase däuft) and Marina Komissartchik playing a piano solo (damn, the things that woman can do with a piano).
The whole cycle of musical!songs was interrupted to make way for some Christmas songs - Pia sang Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (alone) and Santa Claus is Coming to Town (with Andy Bieber). Twas very cute.
And then came Memory/Mondlicht. Which is one of the bigger reasons why I love Pia so much. She is the only person I have ever heard sing the song in chest voice. And belt the shit out of it she did. Unbelievable how much control over and power in her voice she has. A lot of people say/think she is overrated and "don't see" why she's so popular in German musicals. Well ladies and gentlemen, there you have it. She is a diva and has the voice to go with it. Not to mention the fact she was extremely laid back during the concert, completely enjoying herself, wanting everyone else to enjoy themselves and that just put everyone in a good mood. <3
And that was it! Everyone got flower bouquets (and then Pia gave one of her roses to Kerstin because she didn't get any, bless) and we obviously had encore *g* - Spamalot (Das Lied, das jeder liebt i.e. The Song That Goes Like This) and Abba's Happy New Year. They didn't have anything else planned but since everyone kept on cheering and applauding, she said she was going to do one more thing and asked the audience what they wanted her to sing. There were tons of suggestions (I know I heard a couple of people scream "Frei und schwerelos" xD) and in the end she said she'd do Rebecca although she didn't plan on doing it in Vienna because "she knew Rebecca was sacred there", haha. However, she sang the English version (the older one, I don't know if/how much they changed it for the London reading) and that's after Kerstin Ibald refused to sing it with her. Boo @you, Kerstin. :P There's a sigh in the air everywhere. Ah, the English version never fails to amuse. *g*
That was finally it. :o) She was extremely nice at the stagedoor, took photos and gave out autographs to everyone. After a while she said she needed to go (she was with a suitcase! <3) and asked for the fans to be fair and let those who don't get to see her very often get closer and take pictures or whatever. That started off OK but soon went back to the usual crowd, I know she was still surrounded by people when I left and that was 10 minutes after she'd said she really needed to go. *hugs Pia* In any case, this was one of the best concerts I've been to in the past couple of years, if not in my entire life (it sounds corny when you say that :/ ). I liked Pia before this, now a day doesn't pass I don't repeat "Pia is awesome", either in my head or out loud. Definitely am going to any other solo concert she'll be having and I'd warmly recommend anyone even remotely interested to do the same. You won't be sorry. :)