| Review: Benefiz-Gala in Oberhausen |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|10:43 pm] |
After three days of Roman angelic overload, I'm finally up to a review of Tuesday's gala.
To get bad things out of the way first: the concert was advertised with posters and annoucements featuring only Jan Ammann and Kevin Tarte, leading me to assume that they'd feature in at least half the concert. Instead, in a three-hour concert Kevin got one solo, Jan two, and there were two duets between the two of them, out of thirty-seven songs. I think that if the poster for a concert features only two stars, one can reasonably expect them to take up more than 13.5% of its duration. (One can also expect, say, drama musicals rather than crossdressing and Disney. One can be wrong.)
( But there was still crack. And Jakub! My favourite Herbert and Phantom is all grown up and playing to audiences of thousands! )
Audio bonus
And to save you from the wall of text up there:
Jan Ammann - Nature Boy
Jan Ammann and Kevin Tarte - Stars (demonic version)
Jakub Wocial, Jan Ammann - Phantom / Rockstar Phantom
Kevin Tarte and Jan Ammann - The Winner Takes It All |
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| Ded of Krolock |
[Nov. 8th, 2009|11:27 pm] |
In Oberhausen. Just saw the git (no, not that git. The other other git. I have a lot of them) play Krolock, finally.
Review upcoming. For now, let it suffice to say that my lifelong ambition to see a Krolock fall into the orchestra pit has finally been realised, at least for values of Krolock-leg, Krolock-cloak, and frantic clutching at the ledge ♥ |
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| Dead on account of dancing vampires |
[Jul. 7th, 2009|08:34 pm] |
So, not only am I in Japan for Tanabata (and I have the Google!Japan logo to prove it), but I just saw my favourite musical in the world, with the one performer that a, I adore in every role on account of his voice making me melt, and b, that I was never expecting to see because, well, Japan.
Yuichirou Yamaguchi, live, is enough to make your brain melt with the first note. For most of the show, he's a Japanese demon, a bunraku puppet, inhuman and only moving when he chooses to. Then came Unstillbare, and the way he came out and leaned on a gravestone, suddenly human, broke my heart even before he sang. And he did sing, and it left me gasping for breath. The stage presence alone, and that voice!
(Yes, I did have my faithful Olympus gadget. And I wasn't the only one melting. We were on the balcony, among an all-female crowd, and we all gasped in unison. As ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) fyrie put it, that voice bypasses the brain altogether to lodge much lower.)
( The rest of the Tokyo version of Tanz der Vampire was also much improved )
We're going back to Osaka tomorrow, via Nagoya and Cirque du Soleil (again, this time for free in 12,000 yen seats). I think I may have trouble sleeping long enough today. Falling asleep at Me and My Girl would be embarrassing. |
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| The whirlwind of shows |
[Jul. 2nd, 2009|11:50 pm] |
Cirque du Soleil Corteo = wonderful. And may have a follow-up.
We only showed up for toujitsuken at 10, but we got B seats at a steal of a price :) BaraAme - not as confusing as people make it out to be. Tani impressed me with her fire, and Micchan's hair was messily adorable, but Tomu stole the show for me. She needs to do more comedy ♥
And then there was the revue, in which Ume-chan rocked the house. You have to respect a musumeyaku who can dance with a stage-ful of otokoyaku and pwn every single one of them. (Also, was Tomu speaking in sign language while singing? It looked that way.)
Also, Takarazuka-An is very dangerous for fans of OGs. I am now the proud owner of an autographed photo of my girl ♥
Next is Tuesday. Tanz der Vampire. With a guy I've been starry-eyed about for over four years.
This is a good trip :D |
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| T minus 2 and packing |
[Jun. 16th, 2009|11:32 am] |
I'm almost entirely packed for Japan. Thank goodness for Google Street View, because I get to shadow-walk my way everywhere as a dry run before actual travel. It's going to be... fun? :)
Internet availability is pretty sure, but due to the sheer amount of stuff to see, I'll be limiting online time to skipping through the f-list. Anything that requires my attention should be emailed. (No texting, please, my roaming plan's extortionate.)
And once I get back from Japan, I may very well be buying a flat and getting a driver's license in the same month. Fun?
In the meantime, have a coloratura falsetto Abronsius: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8GKlvByZDI |
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| Eaten by work again |
[May. 12th, 2009|07:07 pm] |
Three weeks until my exam, and I'm nose-deep in studying. (And planning for Japan.)
In the meantime, have Pretty von Krolock:
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| FIC: The end of Summer (Original/Tanz, PG) |
[May. 7th, 2009|05:00 pm] |
Written for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) lgbtfest:
Title: The End of Summer
Author: Beth Winter, bwinter
Fandom: Loosely based on Tanz der Vampire (musical based on the movie Fearless Vampire Killers)
Pairing/characters: Graf von Krolock, Original Character
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Roman Polanski and Michael Kunze have my congratulations. This particular version is based on the original Vienna production.
Prompt: 35. Any fandom, any character(s), In a world that contains vampires one of them is utterly depressed. No matter who he/she loves, be it man or woman, the second her/his bloodlust takes over he/she destroys what he/she loved about them in the first place. How would meeting someone who is immortal (and therefore immune to the vampire's bite) in a completely different way change his/her perspective on (un)life?
Summary: The nature of curses may not be what we believe.
Warnings: Death, angst, religious themes (Catholicism).
Author's Notes: All you need to know about this canon is that it's 1617 in Transylvania, and Graf Stephan von Krolock, scientist and magician, has recently been turned into a vampire.
( The vampire and the stranger )
( And bonus epilogue ) |
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| A really, really good amateur Krolock |
[Apr. 6th, 2009|08:44 pm] |
Unstillbare Gier is the favourite song for amateur musical singers to record on Youtube - probably because it has less hard notes than Music of the Night ;) Imagine my amazement when I found a 20-year-old at a Gymnasium concert who's actually good. And I mean better than some Krolocks I've seen in actual professional productions. I think I've got a newbie to keep an eye on:
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| It's alive |
[Mar. 10th, 2009|02:57 pm] |
Just a quick note to let people know I survived Oberhausen, albeit with a damnable cold. In point form:
- Cologne and Düsseldorf are both pretty. And wet.
- The Roman-German museum in Cologne remains as amazing as ever.
- According to the guy in the theatre box office, Jan Ammann broke his leg.
- However, Kevin Tarte was not in good form on the Hamburg proshot. Now, he is. The difference is dramatic.
- I got to make him snicker onstage and got a picture with him at stagedoor.
- The Oberhausen run of Tanz der Vampire just got extended to January. And it's worth it.
Now, not to fall over at work. It's going to be a challenge. |
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| Krolock squee!!! |
[Sep. 13th, 2008|10:18 am] |
Muahahaha.
Jan Ammann is Graf von Krolock for Oberhausen. This would Mr Yamaguchi-Voice Male Model. And the guy I saw as Beast a year ago and went, "if he doesn't play Krolock I'll kill someone."
And um. There may be a direct train from Warsaw to Oberhausen. I believe I may just go and see how Westphalia looks when covered in snow. |
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| Elisabeth in Budapest, with pictures! |
[Jun. 30th, 2008|05:21 pm] |
Where to start? I saw four excellent shows, two each of Tanz der Vampire (Vámpirok Báljá) and Elisabeth. I saw them with roughly the same casts. In the case of Tanz, it was the first cast, which I've seen many times and have reviewed extensively. In the case of Elisabeth, while comments from the last time still apply, there was one notable exception. One muscular, blond, Hungarian exception with a rockstar voice and a charisma bigger than the stage.
After two years of fangirling the man, I have finally seen Máté Kamarás in person. And now I really understand the Japanese fangirls who travelled all the way to Budapest to see him. The man is that good.
( Elisabeth, or the Death who stole the show )
And on top of all that, I've finally figured out how to get photos of actors in costume. Curtain calls!
( Death (times 4), Elisabeth, Lucheni, plus Krolock and Herbert for good measure ) |
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| Tanz der Vampire / Vampirok Balja: 50th show |
[Jan. 7th, 2008|08:45 am] |
You have to be special to randomly stumble on a 50th show of a musical, and one with a signing to boot. Fortunately, we are special.
( Show )
Before the show, I wandered over to buy the new shiny programme and live CD (even though I accidentally recorded the same show that's on the CD while I was over the last time). I managed to keep my feet when the teller told me that after the show, there would be a signing upstairs.
( Signing ) |
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| Tanz der Vampire #28 |
[Jan. 7th, 2008|12:07 am] |
I think I managed to break Von Krolock's brain.
SCORE. |
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| Recommended reading |
[Dec. 30th, 2007|02:17 pm] |
At the seaside, I was purposefully out of my usual reading material, and thus raiding the grandparents' collection of Important Works of Literature. Isaac Singer's The Estate is a very nice insight into Belle Epoque Jews if only one can look past the characters, which are the whiniest bunch I've seen since Neon Genesis Evangelion. The Godfather would be a perfect read if at least three characters in my head weren't ogling Michael Corleone with illicit purposes. Mann's Buddenbrooks faltered a bit in the middle, but the teenage slash at the end redeemed them (okay, the other bits were interesting, too). Doctor Zhivago caused me to facepalm over my Russian ancestry.
All in all, it was a relief to come back to an open yuletide archive.
This year I've been damnably lucky with my gifts - I received two full-length stories and a vignette. No idea yet who they're from, but all are gorgeous:
Ourobos - Tanz der Vampire behind the scenes; a different interpretation than my own, but I can imagine Thomas Borchert and Jakub Wocial in these roles far too easily.
Conversations with the Dead - Elisabeth, the deaths of Sophie, Rudolf and Franz-Joseph: the amount of historical detail is delightful.
And Black And Black And Blacker Still - Elisabeth, a heartbreaking Rudolf moment that reaches to the core of his character.
And from other stories that I've skimmed, four so far had me glued to the screen and exclaiming with delight:
The Invisible City - a sequel to Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere that should damn well be official. It's like turning a page and finding a lost epilogue to the story. This could be Neil writing.
By No Miracle or Majestic Means - for all that I avoid Vorkosigan fanfiction like the plague, this story of a young Miles's caper is perfectly in tune. It suffers a little from rush - I know well the lack of time to balance the plot at the end - but the language is Ivan's, the characters are vividly themselves.
The Sixth Heaven - the Beauty and the Beast TV series has always remained with me, and this AU with Catherine and Vincent meeting as children captures the magic perfectly.
The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down - You've probably seen this Who Framed Roger Rabbit story recced by others. All I'm saying is, hold on to your hats. |
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| Plans of the musical variety |
[Nov. 23rd, 2007|09:02 am] |
Ohdear. They'll be playing Elisabeth in Berlin from April onwards, so I kind of think I'll be there with bells on sometime in May :> Depending on the cast, I guess - my favourite would be Jan Ammann for Death and Jakub Wocial for Rudolf and second Death, but generally, I like most of the possibles. Except Haldor Laegreid.
So that'll be thrice I'll be seeing Elisabeth next year - got two sets of tickets for Budapest already. (And possible plans for... more far-off regions in the autumn, but those are nowhere near being finalised.) And Tanz der Vampire at least once, Budapest again.
Phantom of the Opera in Warsaw, I'm sorry to say, fizzled out completely. My firm favourites were cut down - one for being unable to attend an audition, fair enough, but the other for "lack of acting ability". Which he does have, on top of an operatic baritone that leaves everyone in the dust.
On the other hand, that does leave him free for Beauty and the Beast in Gdynia (also in the spring), which has the potential for being gorgeous if they finally get their act together - they're a decent theatre, but no magic to it so far. I hope it'll end up being something interesting.
And on top of it all I should probably finally drag my carcass to London for Phantom, Les Mis and anything else that happens to be on. And I still haven't seen some of my must-see people live - currently Stanley Burleson tops that list, followed closely by Pia Douwes and Ethan Freeman.
Say what you want about this hobby, you're never out of places to travel to. |
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| How to spend a Saturday |
[Sep. 29th, 2007|07:30 pm] |
Today's shaping up interesting. First I went to a musicals mini-gala at a breast-cancer awareness event. Where I had the singular opportunity of watching Koukol von Krolock. Honestly - the guy singing von Krolock's part of Totale Finsternis would be our regular Koukol.
( Video proof )
Now, off for entertainment of the nocturnal kind. In the last week, I've had coffee with people twice, lunch with people twice, two social phonecalls (including a two-hour-long one, also known as yes, fyrie still doesn't have internet at home), and now a night out. Very soon I'll wake up and it'll all have been a dream. |
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| Last travel notice |
[Sep. 3rd, 2007|08:28 am] |
Just got home :) Budapest yay. Vampires SQUEE. Especially since one Von Krolock is a total fan of the Warsaw production to the point of copying the faces Lukasz made, and the other... the other is a bouncy fluffy baby Von Krolock who looks and sounds like Máté Kamarás's younger cousin.
And yes, I have boots. Only second act of the second Von Krolock for some reason, but nice clear boots :> Reviews upcoming. |
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| Vámpírok Bálja |
[Aug. 30th, 2007|11:08 pm] |
Longer review later, once I've seen it again (and maybe a third time) and can type it when not on a rickety kitchen chair wedged onto the patio because it's the only place the net's working. Suffice it to say, I have a very wide grin on my face.
Tanz der Vampire is still magic. Even in Hungarian. |
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| On the musicals front |
[Jul. 26th, 2007|02:08 pm] |
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 |
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| Berlin part 1: The Music |
[Jun. 10th, 2007|11:26 pm] |
My main aim in going to Berlin was to see a "proper" version of Tanz der Vampire. Original costumes and more elaborate sets than the Warsaw symbolism and Vienna anniversary lack of any sets whatsoever had an appeal, and so did fyrie's squee on said sets. I had tickets for 10th row on Thursday and ended up switching to 9th row because there were free places in front of us.
( Very tired vampires )
In the Theater des Westens, everyone I talked to told me to go to Theater am Potsdamer Platz and see Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. I was indifferent to the idea, though I’d wanted to see Yngve Gasoy-Rohmdal in something, and Mother was having doubts, but I shelled out the money for 2 last-row tickets on Friday even though Yngve wasn’t playing. How was it? I was in first row centre the next day, too. I think that tells you a bit.
( Die Schöne und das Biest: sometimes Disney gets it right )
Part two will probably be squee on the various museums I went to, but that’ll wait until I get the photos sorted out ;) I can safely say I’ve hit on a winning mixture for a short vacation with maximum relaxation: run around sightseeing all day and catch a show every night. Next time, I just have to remember to book a hotel with working internet (argh!) and let my guts know they’re not allowed to rebel while I’m away. |
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| Vienna part 1 - Tanz der Vampire anniversary concert |
[Feb. 20th, 2007|03:17 pm] |
It turned out that by a stroke of luck, our hotel was only 4 U-Bahn (underground) stops from the Raimund Theater, no line changing necessary. The theater itself is smaller than I thought - perhaps half the size of our Roma, without the aisles that allowed our vampires to run around the audience, and with a much smaller stage, though they do have a superior revolving/descending platform.
( It has a pretty curtain screen, though )
I was a little surprised by the audience - very few people were in black and I only saw one cosplayer. I'm wondering if the cheaper tickets didn't draw people who just wanted to see any musical at all.
( The show itself )
I can't say I wouldn't have liked an Elisabeth-style anniversary performance, with multiple actors singing each role and a lineup of Von Krolocks, but then they'd probably have to do CPR on at least one after Lukasz and Yamaguchi got into a sing-off. The show was gorgeous, and well worth the trip - and that was just my first day in Vienna. |
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| Vampires everywhere |
[Jan. 22nd, 2007|09:20 pm] |
This picture just made me fall over.
(For the record, the Graf von Krolock next to Christopher Lee, looking like he's about to perform a tackle-glomp worthy of the bounciest fangirl, is Thomas Borchert. AKA the guy I'll be seeing live in Vienna in less than three weeks.) |
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| [FIC] Wanting (NC-17, slash, vampires and Elisabeth) |
[Oct. 6th, 2006|06:06 pm] |
This story is entirely valancystar’s fault. She put up a clip of Jesper Tydén in leather as Rudolf Habsburg in Elisabeth, and my von Krolock decided he wanted to slide his hands around those hips. Then fyrie encouraged him. The rest is – nearly 3000 words of little but kinky crossover smut. All relevant information is given in the story though, except for the historical facts of Rudolf Habsburg and Mary Vetsera in Mayerling lodge.
Fandom: Elisabeth/Tanz der Vampire/Historical
Rating: NC-17 with bells on
Warnings: Dubious consent, bloodplay, mild SM
Pairings: Von Krolock/Rudolf, Death/Rudolf
( Wanting ) |
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dizzy
happy
apathetic
giggly
