"Tanz der Vampire", Wiener Fassung 2009, Ronacher Theater 20.09.2009
I’m very sorry that writing the review took me so much - due to some private issues I had no time to do this earlier. Besides, I needed some time to put all my impressions from musicals and Vienna in correct order. You know, as a fan of musicals and person keen on all things connected with Austria-Hungary I’ve spent three days in the centre of my small, private paradise.
Musical “Tanz der Vampire” Wiener Fassung 2009 wasn’t a big surprise for me. There was a lot of talking about changes in new production, but the truth is that this Viennese production is almost directly imported from Budapest. I say almost, because there are still subtle changes in the show and - sadly - the director didn’t import Hungarian cast together with the whole show. But let’s drop this subject for a while and start from the beginning.
First and foremost, Viennese “Tanz der Vampire” is the most beautiful version I have ever seen. I’ve fallen in love with Kantaur’s stage-design two years ago, when I saw the show in Budapest. My love faded a bit with time, but now it is burning again. First and foremost, Viennese “Tanz der Vampire” is the most beautiful version I have ever seen. I’ve fallen in love with Kantaur’s stage-design two years ago, when I saw the show in Budapest. My love faded a bit with time, but now it is burning again.
Kentaur uses modern technology to create fantastic, gothic set which suits “Tanz der Vampire” perfectly, mainly thanks to creative usage of traditional motives. It’s enough to have a quick look at the castle to know that it belongs to the vampire. The set is so gothic and baroque as it is possible with fussy motives which we associate with vampires, but at the same time a bit grotesque and ironical. It suits the convention of the musical perfectly. Everything is made with care, from Chagal’s hut to the bed from “Carpe Noctem”. I adore the crypt and amazing church-like ballroom with nice rose and pretty turret as well as revolving set imitating interior of the castle, which creates feeling of wandering through the corridors and allows the audience to see for a short while Sarah preparing to the midnight ball.
Viennese stage-design does not differ much from the Budapest one, there are changes of course, but rather in details, the whole concept remains the same. Most people probably won’t notice anything and only the fans can point to some subtle changes. As far as I remember everything is the same in the first act, but there are some differences in the second. Portraits in “Totale Finsternis” have different frames than the ones in Budapest production, the rose seems to be bigger and the walls are of dark-red colour (instead of purple) without any patterns on them . At the end of the song, as Krolock gets closer to Sarah, the big stairs moves back, the side walls toward each other to create one which remains on the stage instead of the grey screen.
As for the Krolock’s crypt, it seems to be smaller because of the amount of cloisters. In Budapest we had only one, in Vienna - about three. The main cloister on which Alfred and Professor walk is lower and closer to the audience. Chagal and Magda’s coffin is in the middle of the stage, between two other coffins, not on the left as usual.
Sarah’s bath in the castle has different pattern than the one from Budapest, is in the red and gold and the sculpture on its wall is different.
In the final dance we have new background; the animation of the city by night. I would say that the animations changed the most. They are in 3-D, so one can have feeling that Krolock’s residence is really somewhere far, far away in high mountains. I really admired that, but on the other hand, some of these animations were blurred. It might be as well technical problem as the result of me being too close to the stage (I had seat in the second row). I didn’t mind this much anyway.
Generally the stage design in Vienna is a bit improved set from Budapest production, it’s visible that Ronacher Theater had bigger budget than Magyar Szinhaz.
There are not many changes in the costumes as well. Awful masks that vampires wear during “Vor dem Schloss” have disappeared, thanks God. Outfits in the final dance are a bit more in punk style with less chains and studs what I like. But Alfred’s clothes there are awful, my mind concentrates on kitschy heart on the belt here. Poor boy, I guess Herbert managed to dress him at last... As for Herbert, his clothes in “Wenn Liebe in dir ist” are a bit different than in Budapest, they do not remind pyjama so much and are in pink. Kentaur made a small gift for all fangirls; Herbert’s shirt is unfastened at the top, so after closer look one can see part of Herbert’s rather attractive body. Well, we all love fanservice, aren’t we? ;)
As I wrote, despite all talking about changes in the new productions, these changes were in reality really subtle. Probably people who had seen the original Vienna production will be surprised, but the fans - no. There are some small changes - changes which make the fan’s heart beat faster. If you are going to Vienna on “Tanz der Vampire” it will be better for you not to read this paragraph because you will lose all surprise. I will describe changes that have been made regarding to the Budapest production.
Firstly: just after “He, ho, he Professor”, when introduction to “Knoblauch” is being played, the audience see front of the Chagal’s hut and two or three women going inside. The hut revolves as they open the door to show indoor, so I felt as if I went inside with these people. Really nice, but as far as I’m concerned that is the only change made until “Geil zu sein ist komisch” in the second act. When Kukol finally makes Chagal and Magda to get inside their coffin, he sits on it and... starts murmuring the melody of the song to himself what is absolutely cute. He gets angry when both vampires starts to sing again and throws the coffin out then. The third change that I’ve noticed is in the dialogue between Alfred and Abronsius right after “Wenn Liebe in dir ist”. When Alfred says that during dance with Herbert he noticed that the vampire has no reflection in the mirror, Abronsius answered: “I wish I had danced with him!”.
Of course the biggest surprise was in the end of the show because the ending was changed. I knew that there will be a change but did not want to know what was changed, I wanted to have a surprise. And I had it; How the ending looks like? After the introduction to “Tanz der Vampire” sung by Abronsius the music changes and Abronsius discovers that he is alone in the forest; Sarah and Alfred are gone. He searches for them, singing altered version of “He, ho, he Professor!” and disappears in the mountains. In meanwhile, Krolock slowly walks through the path between seats (on the left side), enters the stage, laughs and suddenly goes down, under the stage. Now Magda, Herbert and other vampires enter, singing the rest of “Tanz der Vampire”, some dancers from the ensemble appear on the path between seats. There are Sarah (on the left) and Alfred (on the right) with them, both dressed in gothic clothes. They enter the stage dancing and singing. At the very end, when “Wir trinken Blut...” starts, vampires gather in the centre of the stage and Krolock appears between them; of course dressed in completely new costume. Now everyone make few step towards the audience and the songs ends. This is also the end of the show.
I cannot yet decide if I like the new ending more than the old one. It has both positive and negative sides. Firstly, I like the Professor singing the altered, weird reprise of “He, ho, he Professor” - it is very good idea which works perfectly, making the end more sinister and coherent. But as for the rest... While “Tanz der vampire” is much more funny when everyone sing it I have some complaints. The idea of Alfred appearing as the vampire ruins Polański’s concept from the movie and makes the audience accept Alfred’s new personality - this should not happen. Spectator should feel regret and fright that this adorable, young caricature of a hero turned into the beast. Maybe I exaggerate the whole thing, I’m aware that “Tanz der Vampire” is a comedy, but I still think that there is more to this musical than that.
The other thing is I adore the final dance. Professional dancers can dance it perfectly and it is usually a pleasure to watch them. But neither Marjan nor Lukas are professional dancers. While Marjan has fun, moves nicely and can dance, Lukas seems to feel extremely uncomfortable, has frightened face expression and apparently he can’t dance at all. I dare to say that I, despite my lack of dance abilities, would dance these few simple steps better than Lukas. And Thomas - he seems to be uncomfortable as well, although he has even less to dance than Lukas. He should make just few graceful steps; what he does is by no means graceful. And one look at his face -which expresses disguise and wish to end this as soon as possible - ruins whole pleasure of watching. Really.
These details make me feel dislike for new ending. It makes the show more attractive, yes, but actors’ attitude can be irritating. If I were the director, I would just remove main characters from the stage and it would be much better then.
Now, after description of the set, costumes and changes in libretto I reach the most painful subject: the cast.
While I expected that the cast will be poor, I must have had some unconscious expectations. Or maybe I was spoiled by awesome cast of “Rudolf” in Raimund Theater. But never mind the cause, the sad truth remains: I have never be so disappointed by the cast of any musical.
Let’s start with Sarah, that is - Marjan Shaki. This actress has always irritated me with her uninspired singing and appearance of cute and silly girl. Well, on the show I liked Marjan singing more than on the bootlegs from 10th Concert at least, she must have had a lot of practice since then. She has more control over her voice now and does not shout so much in “Totale Finsternis”, so the song sounds a way more harmonic. I’m still not impressed by Marjan’s voice, but now I can understand that some may actually like it.
Sadly I can’t say the same about her acting abilities. On one hand, it is not as bad as I expected. Marjan acts a little, tries to show emotions with some success but it doesn’t change the fact that she is a bad actress. My impression is that Marjan has learned the whole libretto by heart, all gestures, moves and expression as the director wanted. But she is unable to go further and improve the character. She is concentrated on herself and on doing what she is ought to do. There are two results of this: she is not convincing and does not interact with other actors. I guess that if on one show Krolock had sung about pretty yellow frogs in “Totale Finsternis” she would go with “Manchmal dachte ich bricht Liebe zum Ban” because of her inability to do anything what the libretto does not require.
It is not that Marjan is completely bad as Sarah; she tries to do her best and she may get better after the year. But, to be honest, I doubt it. Besides, I don’t like the way Marjan interprets the role; Sarah, as played by Marjan, is young, spoiled and arrogant princess who flirts with Alfred because she is bored; she goes to the ball because she does not have anything better to do; she does not care about anyone, does not love neither Alfred nor Krolock, is concentrated on herself only. In most egoistic way. This is simply unbearable. I’ve always identify myself with Sarah, but in Vienna it was impossible...
Lukas Perman is even worse. I expected he will act the way he did and I guess I did not get irritated only because I predicted how it all will look like. I can’t complain much about Lukas’s singing because he has a nice, lyrical voice and I admit it, even though it usually makes me bored because it is not “my” kind of voice. I admit that Lukas did his best in “Für Sarah”, still I have found the bed from “Carpe Noctem” more interesting than Lukas... But the audience seemed to be pleased by the song and no wonder. I was pleased as well by Lukas’s singing but not acting.
Acting-wise, Lukas fails completely. He acts as the piece of wood; stands as straight as possible and makes impression of person who does not possess brain at all. Lukas has two face expressions in his repertoire: one includes widely opened eyes, I guess this should express depth of his feelings toward Sarah because he used it every time Sarah appeared on the stage. The second face includes widely opened eyes as well, but this time accompanied by opened mouth. Lukas used it every time Sarah wasn’t on the stage. After two hours of the show it got really boring...
Lukas did the same as Marjan; learned all director’s advises by heart and is unable to go beyond it. His Alfred is silly, boring and uninspiring character who does not fully realises what is happening around him. He doesn’t interact with others but creates his own small universe where he is concentrated on himself only. Just like Marjan. For me Lukas is the worst Alfred ever.
But the one who made me both furious and desperate was not Lukas; it was a person who was about to be the biggest star of the show: our Magnificence, Herr Thomas Borchert.
While I hadn’t hope that Marjan and Lukas will be good, I expected a lot from Thomas. I’ve always liked him, there was time when I had some complaints about his singing, but they all disappeared after hearing bootleg from “Strictly Musical” concert - I’ve fallen in love with Thomas’s voice. As you can guess, I was really happy to see him live at last. But this happiness did not last long, the reality made me really sad.
On my show Thomas was bored. He made it clear that he is not in mood for singing and acting but wants to end his job as soon as it’s possible. That there is no need to make any effort because the audience loves him anyway. Sadly this was very much true; you know, Thomas is good even in such bad mood. He has good voice and charisma, so he did quite well on my show. But “quite” is very important word here...Because Tomas was unable to put any feeling in his role. He improved a little in “Unstillbare Gier”, but all other songs were so uninspiring that I could not believe my own ears. Thomas’s behaviour reminded Marjan and Lukas’. He was concentrated on himself only, without even slightest try to build relationship with other members of the cast. He acted like lunatic at times.
You know, this is really painful subject for me. I was so sad that I can’t really express it, sad with all possible sadness that only disappointed fangirl can feel. And after this I’m not able to adore Thomas as much as befor. You know, I understand that he is a human being and can have his bad days. But I have heard that this bad days happened definitely too often. A friend of mine, who has seen the show few days earlier has similar impression. I understand that Thomas may be bored with being Krolock for so many years, but why then he takes this role again and again? I understand, that he has very uninspiring company of Marjan and Lukas, but this does not justify such behaviour. I’m really, really disappointed.
As the result relations between these three main characters don’t exist. Thomas has no chemistry with Marjan, Marjan has no chemistry with Lukas and the other way round, so it’s difficult to believe in Alfred’s love to Sarah as well as Krolock’s desire.
There are two more actors I didn’t like at all. Katharina Dorian was very boring as Rebecca and Anna Thoren (Magda) not sings but shouts. Luckily Anna has some chemistry with Chagal, but I didn’t like her voice at all and found her rather uninteresting Magda.
Luckily the rest of the cast wasn’t so bad as these two and our love triangle. I really liked the whole ensemble. Dancers were amazing in “Knoblauch” and “Rote Stiefel”, they danced with so much enthusiasm and energy that it was impossible not to smile at them. My particular favourite is Gernot Romic - the White Vampire in Carpe Noctem. I’ve never paid much attention to this role, but this time Gernot won it. I liked also Csaba Nagy as Black Vampire, but he has to practice a lot to reach the level of Jarek Derybowski or Akos Tihanyi.
There were two more actor I liked a lot and who - along with the ensemble - made this show watchable and enjoyable.
Firstly, Gernot Kranner, Viennese Professor Abronsius. He was amazing in his role, enjoying every single minute of being on the stage. His false modesty in “Wahrheit” and “Vor dem Schloss”, scientific research in Sarah’s bathroom, despair to free Chagal from turning into the vampire, behaviour in the Krolock’s library, all that made me smile and laugh. Gernot was very convincing, but I suppose he would be even better if he had better Alfred with him.
Apart from Gernot, my particular favourite in the whole show was Marc Leibisch, that is - Herbert. I was surprised myself, I’ve never been very keen on Herberts. The only one I actually liked was Kuba Wocial, but all others made me feel indifferent, even Maté Kamaras. But Marc, oh, Marc was absolutely awesome. He is both good actor and singer. At first he seemed to be a little stressed, but he quickly overcome it and had fun on the stage. He was adorable in “Wenn Liebe in dir ist”, especially at the end of it. He was genuinely afraid of Professor’s umbrella, but when Abronsius turned his back, tried to attack him again. Unsuccessfully of course, so he made a face as if saying “Easy, easy, it is all part of my plan!”, shuddered, said “Phi!” and ran out of the stage (I guess to tell his father what has happened). This was really funny. Marc was so much involved in whole action and had so much enthusiasm that I really regret Herbert appears so rarely in TdV. Marc is definitely my new musical love and right now I would go on any show to see him again.Apart from Gernot, my particular favourite in the whole show was Marc Leibisch, that is - Herbert. I was surprised myself, I’ve never been very keen on Herberts. The only one I actually liked was Kuba Wocial, but all others made me feel indifferent, even Maté Kamaras. But Marc, oh, Marc was absolutely awesome. He is both good actor and singer. At first he seemed to be a little stressed, but he quickly overcome it and had fun on the stage. He was adorable in “Wenn Liebe in dir ist”, especially at the end of it. He was genuinely afraid of Professor’s umbrella, but when Abronsius turned his back, tried to attack him again. Unsuccessfully of course, so he made a face as if saying “Easy, easy, it is all part of my plan!”, shuddered, said “Phi!” and ran out of the stage (I guess to tell his father what has happened). This was really funny. Marc was so much involved in whole action and had so much enthusiasm that I really regret Herbert appears so rarely in TdV. Marc is definitely my new musical love and right now I would go on any show to see him again.
And I guess that’s all. “Tanz der Vampire” Wiener Fassung 2009 is worse than Budapest production. It is amazing musical with surprisingly bad cast. While Gernot Kranner and Marc Leibisch help to make the show funny and enjoyable, they are not able to make it perfect because in TdV so much depends on love triangle Sarah-Alfred-Krolock. Triangle which is by no means “love”.
Of course new production is worth seeing, because even if you are disguised by the cast, you can still admire amazing set and beautifully made scenes, “Rote Stiefel” and “Gebet” are masterpieces. But I doubt I will see “Tanz der Vampire” in Vienna again, and if so, I won’t go there only to see the show (as I usually do) but to enjoy beauty of the city and perhaps buy tickets before the show. So my advice is: if you are considering going to Vienna or Budapest I strongly advise you to visit Budapest. For me “Tanz der Vampire” is always worth travel and money because I love every single minute of this show, but I guess that such fans as I, who love the musical but can be critical, won’t be very keen of Wiener Fassung 2009.
(Some more rambling on Vienna and musical - stagedoor soon, but this time in locked entry)
Musical “Tanz der Vampire” Wiener Fassung 2009 wasn’t a big surprise for me. There was a lot of talking about changes in new production, but the truth is that this Viennese production is almost directly imported from Budapest. I say almost, because there are still subtle changes in the show and - sadly - the director didn’t import Hungarian cast together with the whole show. But let’s drop this subject for a while and start from the beginning.
First and foremost, Viennese “Tanz der Vampire” is the most beautiful version I have ever seen. I’ve fallen in love with Kantaur’s stage-design two years ago, when I saw the show in Budapest. My love faded a bit with time, but now it is burning again. First and foremost, Viennese “Tanz der Vampire” is the most beautiful version I have ever seen. I’ve fallen in love with Kantaur’s stage-design two years ago, when I saw the show in Budapest. My love faded a bit with time, but now it is burning again.
Kentaur uses modern technology to create fantastic, gothic set which suits “Tanz der Vampire” perfectly, mainly thanks to creative usage of traditional motives. It’s enough to have a quick look at the castle to know that it belongs to the vampire. The set is so gothic and baroque as it is possible with fussy motives which we associate with vampires, but at the same time a bit grotesque and ironical. It suits the convention of the musical perfectly. Everything is made with care, from Chagal’s hut to the bed from “Carpe Noctem”. I adore the crypt and amazing church-like ballroom with nice rose and pretty turret as well as revolving set imitating interior of the castle, which creates feeling of wandering through the corridors and allows the audience to see for a short while Sarah preparing to the midnight ball.
Viennese stage-design does not differ much from the Budapest one, there are changes of course, but rather in details, the whole concept remains the same. Most people probably won’t notice anything and only the fans can point to some subtle changes. As far as I remember everything is the same in the first act, but there are some differences in the second. Portraits in “Totale Finsternis” have different frames than the ones in Budapest production, the rose seems to be bigger and the walls are of dark-red colour (instead of purple) without any patterns on them . At the end of the song, as Krolock gets closer to Sarah, the big stairs moves back, the side walls toward each other to create one which remains on the stage instead of the grey screen.
As for the Krolock’s crypt, it seems to be smaller because of the amount of cloisters. In Budapest we had only one, in Vienna - about three. The main cloister on which Alfred and Professor walk is lower and closer to the audience. Chagal and Magda’s coffin is in the middle of the stage, between two other coffins, not on the left as usual.
Sarah’s bath in the castle has different pattern than the one from Budapest, is in the red and gold and the sculpture on its wall is different.
In the final dance we have new background; the animation of the city by night. I would say that the animations changed the most. They are in 3-D, so one can have feeling that Krolock’s residence is really somewhere far, far away in high mountains. I really admired that, but on the other hand, some of these animations were blurred. It might be as well technical problem as the result of me being too close to the stage (I had seat in the second row). I didn’t mind this much anyway.
Generally the stage design in Vienna is a bit improved set from Budapest production, it’s visible that Ronacher Theater had bigger budget than Magyar Szinhaz.
There are not many changes in the costumes as well. Awful masks that vampires wear during “Vor dem Schloss” have disappeared, thanks God. Outfits in the final dance are a bit more in punk style with less chains and studs what I like. But Alfred’s clothes there are awful, my mind concentrates on kitschy heart on the belt here. Poor boy, I guess Herbert managed to dress him at last... As for Herbert, his clothes in “Wenn Liebe in dir ist” are a bit different than in Budapest, they do not remind pyjama so much and are in pink. Kentaur made a small gift for all fangirls; Herbert’s shirt is unfastened at the top, so after closer look one can see part of Herbert’s rather attractive body. Well, we all love fanservice, aren’t we? ;)
As I wrote, despite all talking about changes in the new productions, these changes were in reality really subtle. Probably people who had seen the original Vienna production will be surprised, but the fans - no. There are some small changes - changes which make the fan’s heart beat faster. If you are going to Vienna on “Tanz der Vampire” it will be better for you not to read this paragraph because you will lose all surprise. I will describe changes that have been made regarding to the Budapest production.
Firstly: just after “He, ho, he Professor”, when introduction to “Knoblauch” is being played, the audience see front of the Chagal’s hut and two or three women going inside. The hut revolves as they open the door to show indoor, so I felt as if I went inside with these people. Really nice, but as far as I’m concerned that is the only change made until “Geil zu sein ist komisch” in the second act. When Kukol finally makes Chagal and Magda to get inside their coffin, he sits on it and... starts murmuring the melody of the song to himself what is absolutely cute. He gets angry when both vampires starts to sing again and throws the coffin out then. The third change that I’ve noticed is in the dialogue between Alfred and Abronsius right after “Wenn Liebe in dir ist”. When Alfred says that during dance with Herbert he noticed that the vampire has no reflection in the mirror, Abronsius answered: “I wish I had danced with him!”.
Of course the biggest surprise was in the end of the show because the ending was changed. I knew that there will be a change but did not want to know what was changed, I wanted to have a surprise. And I had it; How the ending looks like? After the introduction to “Tanz der Vampire” sung by Abronsius the music changes and Abronsius discovers that he is alone in the forest; Sarah and Alfred are gone. He searches for them, singing altered version of “He, ho, he Professor!” and disappears in the mountains. In meanwhile, Krolock slowly walks through the path between seats (on the left side), enters the stage, laughs and suddenly goes down, under the stage. Now Magda, Herbert and other vampires enter, singing the rest of “Tanz der Vampire”, some dancers from the ensemble appear on the path between seats. There are Sarah (on the left) and Alfred (on the right) with them, both dressed in gothic clothes. They enter the stage dancing and singing. At the very end, when “Wir trinken Blut...” starts, vampires gather in the centre of the stage and Krolock appears between them; of course dressed in completely new costume. Now everyone make few step towards the audience and the songs ends. This is also the end of the show.
I cannot yet decide if I like the new ending more than the old one. It has both positive and negative sides. Firstly, I like the Professor singing the altered, weird reprise of “He, ho, he Professor” - it is very good idea which works perfectly, making the end more sinister and coherent. But as for the rest... While “Tanz der vampire” is much more funny when everyone sing it I have some complaints. The idea of Alfred appearing as the vampire ruins Polański’s concept from the movie and makes the audience accept Alfred’s new personality - this should not happen. Spectator should feel regret and fright that this adorable, young caricature of a hero turned into the beast. Maybe I exaggerate the whole thing, I’m aware that “Tanz der Vampire” is a comedy, but I still think that there is more to this musical than that.
The other thing is I adore the final dance. Professional dancers can dance it perfectly and it is usually a pleasure to watch them. But neither Marjan nor Lukas are professional dancers. While Marjan has fun, moves nicely and can dance, Lukas seems to feel extremely uncomfortable, has frightened face expression and apparently he can’t dance at all. I dare to say that I, despite my lack of dance abilities, would dance these few simple steps better than Lukas. And Thomas - he seems to be uncomfortable as well, although he has even less to dance than Lukas. He should make just few graceful steps; what he does is by no means graceful. And one look at his face -which expresses disguise and wish to end this as soon as possible - ruins whole pleasure of watching. Really.
These details make me feel dislike for new ending. It makes the show more attractive, yes, but actors’ attitude can be irritating. If I were the director, I would just remove main characters from the stage and it would be much better then.
Now, after description of the set, costumes and changes in libretto I reach the most painful subject: the cast.
While I expected that the cast will be poor, I must have had some unconscious expectations. Or maybe I was spoiled by awesome cast of “Rudolf” in Raimund Theater. But never mind the cause, the sad truth remains: I have never be so disappointed by the cast of any musical.
Let’s start with Sarah, that is - Marjan Shaki. This actress has always irritated me with her uninspired singing and appearance of cute and silly girl. Well, on the show I liked Marjan singing more than on the bootlegs from 10th Concert at least, she must have had a lot of practice since then. She has more control over her voice now and does not shout so much in “Totale Finsternis”, so the song sounds a way more harmonic. I’m still not impressed by Marjan’s voice, but now I can understand that some may actually like it.
Sadly I can’t say the same about her acting abilities. On one hand, it is not as bad as I expected. Marjan acts a little, tries to show emotions with some success but it doesn’t change the fact that she is a bad actress. My impression is that Marjan has learned the whole libretto by heart, all gestures, moves and expression as the director wanted. But she is unable to go further and improve the character. She is concentrated on herself and on doing what she is ought to do. There are two results of this: she is not convincing and does not interact with other actors. I guess that if on one show Krolock had sung about pretty yellow frogs in “Totale Finsternis” she would go with “Manchmal dachte ich bricht Liebe zum Ban” because of her inability to do anything what the libretto does not require.
It is not that Marjan is completely bad as Sarah; she tries to do her best and she may get better after the year. But, to be honest, I doubt it. Besides, I don’t like the way Marjan interprets the role; Sarah, as played by Marjan, is young, spoiled and arrogant princess who flirts with Alfred because she is bored; she goes to the ball because she does not have anything better to do; she does not care about anyone, does not love neither Alfred nor Krolock, is concentrated on herself only. In most egoistic way. This is simply unbearable. I’ve always identify myself with Sarah, but in Vienna it was impossible...
Lukas Perman is even worse. I expected he will act the way he did and I guess I did not get irritated only because I predicted how it all will look like. I can’t complain much about Lukas’s singing because he has a nice, lyrical voice and I admit it, even though it usually makes me bored because it is not “my” kind of voice. I admit that Lukas did his best in “Für Sarah”, still I have found the bed from “Carpe Noctem” more interesting than Lukas... But the audience seemed to be pleased by the song and no wonder. I was pleased as well by Lukas’s singing but not acting.
Acting-wise, Lukas fails completely. He acts as the piece of wood; stands as straight as possible and makes impression of person who does not possess brain at all. Lukas has two face expressions in his repertoire: one includes widely opened eyes, I guess this should express depth of his feelings toward Sarah because he used it every time Sarah appeared on the stage. The second face includes widely opened eyes as well, but this time accompanied by opened mouth. Lukas used it every time Sarah wasn’t on the stage. After two hours of the show it got really boring...
Lukas did the same as Marjan; learned all director’s advises by heart and is unable to go beyond it. His Alfred is silly, boring and uninspiring character who does not fully realises what is happening around him. He doesn’t interact with others but creates his own small universe where he is concentrated on himself only. Just like Marjan. For me Lukas is the worst Alfred ever.
But the one who made me both furious and desperate was not Lukas; it was a person who was about to be the biggest star of the show: our Magnificence, Herr Thomas Borchert.
While I hadn’t hope that Marjan and Lukas will be good, I expected a lot from Thomas. I’ve always liked him, there was time when I had some complaints about his singing, but they all disappeared after hearing bootleg from “Strictly Musical” concert - I’ve fallen in love with Thomas’s voice. As you can guess, I was really happy to see him live at last. But this happiness did not last long, the reality made me really sad.
On my show Thomas was bored. He made it clear that he is not in mood for singing and acting but wants to end his job as soon as it’s possible. That there is no need to make any effort because the audience loves him anyway. Sadly this was very much true; you know, Thomas is good even in such bad mood. He has good voice and charisma, so he did quite well on my show. But “quite” is very important word here...Because Tomas was unable to put any feeling in his role. He improved a little in “Unstillbare Gier”, but all other songs were so uninspiring that I could not believe my own ears. Thomas’s behaviour reminded Marjan and Lukas’. He was concentrated on himself only, without even slightest try to build relationship with other members of the cast. He acted like lunatic at times.
You know, this is really painful subject for me. I was so sad that I can’t really express it, sad with all possible sadness that only disappointed fangirl can feel. And after this I’m not able to adore Thomas as much as befor. You know, I understand that he is a human being and can have his bad days. But I have heard that this bad days happened definitely too often. A friend of mine, who has seen the show few days earlier has similar impression. I understand that Thomas may be bored with being Krolock for so many years, but why then he takes this role again and again? I understand, that he has very uninspiring company of Marjan and Lukas, but this does not justify such behaviour. I’m really, really disappointed.
As the result relations between these three main characters don’t exist. Thomas has no chemistry with Marjan, Marjan has no chemistry with Lukas and the other way round, so it’s difficult to believe in Alfred’s love to Sarah as well as Krolock’s desire.
There are two more actors I didn’t like at all. Katharina Dorian was very boring as Rebecca and Anna Thoren (Magda) not sings but shouts. Luckily Anna has some chemistry with Chagal, but I didn’t like her voice at all and found her rather uninteresting Magda.
Luckily the rest of the cast wasn’t so bad as these two and our love triangle. I really liked the whole ensemble. Dancers were amazing in “Knoblauch” and “Rote Stiefel”, they danced with so much enthusiasm and energy that it was impossible not to smile at them. My particular favourite is Gernot Romic - the White Vampire in Carpe Noctem. I’ve never paid much attention to this role, but this time Gernot won it. I liked also Csaba Nagy as Black Vampire, but he has to practice a lot to reach the level of Jarek Derybowski or Akos Tihanyi.
There were two more actor I liked a lot and who - along with the ensemble - made this show watchable and enjoyable.
Firstly, Gernot Kranner, Viennese Professor Abronsius. He was amazing in his role, enjoying every single minute of being on the stage. His false modesty in “Wahrheit” and “Vor dem Schloss”, scientific research in Sarah’s bathroom, despair to free Chagal from turning into the vampire, behaviour in the Krolock’s library, all that made me smile and laugh. Gernot was very convincing, but I suppose he would be even better if he had better Alfred with him.
Apart from Gernot, my particular favourite in the whole show was Marc Leibisch, that is - Herbert. I was surprised myself, I’ve never been very keen on Herberts. The only one I actually liked was Kuba Wocial, but all others made me feel indifferent, even Maté Kamaras. But Marc, oh, Marc was absolutely awesome. He is both good actor and singer. At first he seemed to be a little stressed, but he quickly overcome it and had fun on the stage. He was adorable in “Wenn Liebe in dir ist”, especially at the end of it. He was genuinely afraid of Professor’s umbrella, but when Abronsius turned his back, tried to attack him again. Unsuccessfully of course, so he made a face as if saying “Easy, easy, it is all part of my plan!”, shuddered, said “Phi!” and ran out of the stage (I guess to tell his father what has happened). This was really funny. Marc was so much involved in whole action and had so much enthusiasm that I really regret Herbert appears so rarely in TdV. Marc is definitely my new musical love and right now I would go on any show to see him again.Apart from Gernot, my particular favourite in the whole show was Marc Leibisch, that is - Herbert. I was surprised myself, I’ve never been very keen on Herberts. The only one I actually liked was Kuba Wocial, but all others made me feel indifferent, even Maté Kamaras. But Marc, oh, Marc was absolutely awesome. He is both good actor and singer. At first he seemed to be a little stressed, but he quickly overcome it and had fun on the stage. He was adorable in “Wenn Liebe in dir ist”, especially at the end of it. He was genuinely afraid of Professor’s umbrella, but when Abronsius turned his back, tried to attack him again. Unsuccessfully of course, so he made a face as if saying “Easy, easy, it is all part of my plan!”, shuddered, said “Phi!” and ran out of the stage (I guess to tell his father what has happened). This was really funny. Marc was so much involved in whole action and had so much enthusiasm that I really regret Herbert appears so rarely in TdV. Marc is definitely my new musical love and right now I would go on any show to see him again.
And I guess that’s all. “Tanz der Vampire” Wiener Fassung 2009 is worse than Budapest production. It is amazing musical with surprisingly bad cast. While Gernot Kranner and Marc Leibisch help to make the show funny and enjoyable, they are not able to make it perfect because in TdV so much depends on love triangle Sarah-Alfred-Krolock. Triangle which is by no means “love”.
Of course new production is worth seeing, because even if you are disguised by the cast, you can still admire amazing set and beautifully made scenes, “Rote Stiefel” and “Gebet” are masterpieces. But I doubt I will see “Tanz der Vampire” in Vienna again, and if so, I won’t go there only to see the show (as I usually do) but to enjoy beauty of the city and perhaps buy tickets before the show. So my advice is: if you are considering going to Vienna or Budapest I strongly advise you to visit Budapest. For me “Tanz der Vampire” is always worth travel and money because I love every single minute of this show, but I guess that such fans as I, who love the musical but can be critical, won’t be very keen of Wiener Fassung 2009.
(Some more rambling on Vienna and musical - stagedoor soon, but this time in locked entry)