(Untitled)

[fwibble]

TITLE: Dance of Death - Elegy
RATING: X :)
FANDOMS: Taniec Vampirow/Elisabeth
SUMMARY: Death has a very unusual encounter with a young man of passing acquaintance.
PAIRINGS: Death/Herbert von Krolock
WORDS: 2616
NOTES: Set in a split-second moment in this fic, this was spawned from the sheer, unbelievable hotness of Death in Elisabeth. And yes,

Comments

[valancystar]

Ah, Steve Barton. One of my favourite musical actors ever, no question. But lucky you, seeing the Warsaw cast! I wish I could. I've never seen Tanz live yet. (A good thing that there exist some *cough* material.) One of my friends was seeing it in the spring and brought to me the Polish cast recording, though, and I love it very much. Oh, what voices they have!

I plan to see the show in Berlin, too, though I don't yet know how I'll find the money. I wish they told us soon who's going to be in the cast!

I manage to be an odd sort of a person who adores both Kröger and Kamarás, hee. (And I also love Pia Douwes and Maya Hakvoort about equally as Elisabeth.) Have been getting more and more obsessive about Kamarás lately, though. He's so hot and not just because of his looks, because of the whole way he performs and has very much his own style of doing things. I wish the official dvd had been made while Jesper Tydén or Lukas Perman was playing Rudolf, because I don't like Fritz Schmid, though. But Máté, yeah - he's also my favourite Herbert ever. :D I also love the Finnish cast a lot, at least the actors playing Elisabeth, Death and Rudolf (Lucheni could be better, but I should be happy enough they're performing the musical in this country, anyway).

I've never yet seen or heard a Takarazuka version, though I'm supposed to get a DVD eventually. They kind of scare me, not because of the all-female cast which I think is a fascinating idea, but because I've heard the translations do horrible things to the text. Oh well, I don't understand Japanese so I can always ignore that. ;-)

I like Phantom, too - though I'm not as obsessed with it as Tanz and Elisabeth, it's definitely there on my list of favourite musicals. Saw it in London last March - one of the best theatrical moments of my life, and there have been lots of good ones.

*stops rambling*

[fyrie]

Berlin's official casting should be out any day now. I really am terribly curious to see who they have cast as Von Krolock. While the other German Von Krolocks have been all right, I'm afraid no one can rival Steve or Lukasz. Steve was elegant charm personified, while Lukasz played the role with such passion and poison. Both of them were amazingly good. (Though never saw Steve live which I regret so much).

The Berlin trip is still a pipe-dream for me. It won't be until next year some time and I dread to think how I'm going to afford it, but it is a big priority. Especially since the Warsaw Herbert is reputed to be cast in the show (rumours say he got 2nd Herbert :D) and he's amazing. The recording didn't do him justice. He just was Herbert.

As for the Takarazuka, they're not all that bad, actually. The sets, costumes and everything are amazing. The voices are stunning, considering it is all girls. As for translations, it all depends - I think they do the same as the Hungarian production, with Death having a much more significant role and several more songs as well. Death apparently sings Milch in the Hungarian and Japanese productions.

I would love to hear the non-Takarazuka production, though, for Yamaguchi. He was a phenomenal Phantom and now, I hear he's playing von Krolock in Tokyo, I think. He would have been a mesmerising Death, I think.

*g* I think the only reason Phantom is my favourite is because it got me first :) The music of Elisabeth surpasses it, I think, because Lloyd Webber isn't a particularly imaginitive composer, but I will always love it the most. Especially since I then fell in love with the books and films as well.

And oh, don't get me started on theatrical experiences :D (Let's just say, I've done the West End, Broadway and German theatre, as well as multitudes of tours and even managed to get backstage a few times with the right contacts :D)

[valancystar]

Especially since the Warsaw Herbert is reputed to be cast in the show (rumours say he got 2nd Herbert :D) and he's amazing. The recording didn't do him justice. He just was Herbert.

That'd be neat. :D I heard he was great, and I really want to see a good Herbert when I see it. *sits and waits for the news about the cast*

I'm supposed to get stuff from the Hungarian production of Elisabeth soon, so then I'll see how the Death thing is handled there. I know he sings that song which isn't in the other European productions, but I don't know what else goes on there. Of course, I don't understand Hungarian so I can't tell everything, but...

(Let's just say, I've done the West End, Broadway and German theatre, as well as multitudes of tours and even managed to get backstage a few times with the right contacts :D)

Ohh, so jealous. I love musicals - well, these days mostly "dark" ones like Elisabeth, Tanz, Jekyll & Hyde, Phantom etc. But there's fairly little good-quality musical theatre done in my country, Elisabeth being one of the rare exceptions, and it's expensive to travel elsewhere much. Now that I've discovered the goodness that is German musical theatre (I was introduced to it by seeing Elisabeth 11 months ago), I intend to make theatre trips to Central Europe as often as I can, though.

[fyrie]

I haven't seen much of the Hungarian production, though http://www.youtube.com has become one of my favourite websites to look through. I have a ton of international Elisabeth videos in playlists there, if you want to see them. I even have one of the Hungarian videos saved there with Kamaras as Death, when he was about 21 :) First time he played Death and he was so young :D

From what I've seen Hungarian Deaths tend to have a lot more fun during "the Last Dance" sequence, stealing drinks from frozen people and generally getting up to mischief. And as far as I know, they actually give Death a song about how bewildered he is by the feeling he suddenly has for this mortal girl. Its definitely a more even relationship where they both fall for each other from the outset and both make it clear.

Mind you, the Dutch Death is fabulous. Terribly strong and imposing. Plus, dark-haired, which was fantastic. Dark-haired and clad in black and moving like a panther. I think he's my second favourite Death over all.

I've been ridiculously and insanely lucky when it came to musicals. I didn't realise how lucky I was until I was telling a friend stories of what I'd done and she stared at me in disbelief. I mean, surely I'm not the only person in the world to get invited to sit next to the conductor in the orchestra pit of Phantom? Or get taken backstage to watch Cats actors put on make-up? Or get tackled by Herbert in full costume at a promo event?

...

Shutting up now...

[valancystar]

YouTube is amazing for musical videos, hee. I think I've watched most of the videos there, though not all as my computer sucks and so it takes a while.

I don't know what I think about that extra song for Death - as such, I like the song, but I somehow feel like it takes something away from the attractive mysteriousness of the character to have him explain too much of himself, you know? Although I'll have to see how I'll actually like watching a production which has it. Not being used to it may have something to do with it, too.

The Dutch Death - I like him on the videos I've seen (and I'm supposed to get a whole dvd soon), though at first I was unimpressed by him on the CD because it felt like he didn't act much, just sang. But he definitely seems to have been amazing when performing.

Jesper Tydén, my favourite Rudolf, also played Death in Essen. From what I've seen, he seems to be a fabulous actor, but I think I prefer him as Rudolf. There's something a little too nice about his Death, or something. I'm obsessed with his voice, though.

I mean, surely I'm not the only person in the world to get invited to sit next to the conductor in the orchestra pit of Phantom? Or get taken backstage to watch Cats actors put on make-up? Or get tackled by Herbert in full costume at a promo event?

Umm... *stares* You're the only person I know of, at least. Lucky thing - well, at least I'm glad such things happen to someone who really appreciate musicals. I've never yet actually met a musical actor. No stagedoor culture here. Maybe when I start making my theatre trips to Central Europe, I'll get luckier.

[fyrie]

According to a friend who has a copy of a Takarazuka production, apparently both the Hungarian and Japanese production make much more sense narratively, because they use Death more and in more significant ways. And I've only heard the song once, in Japanese with English subtitles, and it's just plain amusing to see Death going "Um... what the frick?"

The Dutch Death is definitely better live. From the video clips I've seen, he has such charisma and presence. Just the way he moves around the stage, even when he's only in the sidelines, are mesmerising. And in "Mama, wo bist du?", his interaction with little Rudolf is perfect and adorable :D

I don't have a favourite Rudolf yet. I don't think I've seen enough, though some of the Takarazuka girls do it fantastically. And oh, one of their Deaths, wearing entirely black leather, made me fangirl so much. Some of the costumes over there are stunning.

Again, this is where I didn't realise how lucky I was. Apparently, since I approached them like they were normal people, unlike everyone else, demanding autographs and their attention and photos and things, they liked it. Its always the best way to go - I've met far, far, far too many scary and pushy fans. And when I say scary, nothing can quite rival the Cats musical fandom.

[valancystar]

I'm supposed to get a bootleg of the Hungarian production soon, so then I'll see how it works out, if it makes more sense narratively. One of the weaknesses of Elisabeth, as much as I adore it, is the typical problem of biographical musicals that it doesn't always make the best sense narratively. Anyway, I like the song - I've got it on the Hungarian cast recording and the 10th anniversary concert recording - but it always feels oddly "not Elisabeth" to me - I always feel like I'm listening to some other musical for a while. Might be partly because I'm not used to it, though.

Some of the costumes over there are stunning.

Hee, yes. I remember watching a video of a Takarazuka Schatten and staring at Death's costume all the time, thinking "I want those boots!"

I can imagine the actors would prefer actually talking to people who don't approach them like screaming fangirls. The fans sometimes seem to be really scary. And I'd be more interested in talking to the actors etc. like normal people who do art that I'm interested in and appreciate. Just like, say, to a good fanfic writer I find online. I'm not really sure what one does with an actor's autograph...

[fyrie]

I was actually introduced to Elisabeth through Takarazuka and that song was actually the first one I ever heard, so I suppose it all depends on where you're introduced to a musical. Of course, then I found the Vienna DVD and have become increasingly smitten with it.

It has actually got to the stage where bwinter and I are expanding our plans for a Tanz der Vampire website to fit an Elisabeth section as well, because we're both head-over-heels for the show :) The fact we've both ficced it means there will be at least a little fic for it anyway :D

The thing I noticed about a lot of the Polish fangirls was that they were so young and so very, very hysterical in many cases. They seemed so excitable about every little thing. At the promo I was at, they were pushing past anyone who wasn't one of them, desperate to be first to get seen/spoken to. Likewise, with the Cats ones, they were horrifically pushy at Broadway. If you're polite and not too pushy, then you'll probably be remembered better for it.

[valancystar]

Oh, if you ever get that website done, be sure to give me a link! :D I'm actually obsessed enough that I'm working for an Elisabeth website myself. In Finnish, though - there's no decent website for it (or for the historical Elisabeth, who I'm also obsessive about) in Finnish, so I figured I should remedy that. A few of my friends have got a Tanz der Vampire website in Finnish and said we could make their forum a common one for both of them. :D

Hee, and I've got some bootlegs of musicals and some of them are last shows of someone in a particular role (Pia Douwes, Steve Barton) and it's frightening how the fans literally scream during the show. A lot. Like all the damn time.

[fyrie]

Oh, you'll hear about it all right :D We'll be spamming it everywhere :D

I was lucky enough to be at Jakub Wocial's final performance as Herbert in Warsaw, and oh, the crowd was wild. His family were in, as were his fans, and he played the crowd like it was his own personal instrument. There were screams, hoots, cheers, everything! The atmosphere was electric :D

[valancystar]

Hee, sounds like fun. :D I intend to get into the last performance of Elisabeth in Finland, but I doubt the atmosphere will be anything like it. No fan culture here whatsoever. But I and my friends intend to make up for at least some of it. ;-)