This post is about Tanz der Vampire.
Apr. 29th, 2009 12:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lesmisloonyOkay, so now I have watched a German version with some really sketch subtitles that I'm pretty sure were just the English translations, but at least they give some clue as to what's going on and a video of the original Broadway cast, and these are the thoughts I had. I basically decided I needed to open a notepad document and just type while I was watching, so these might be disjointed. I tried to go back and make them a little clearer, but the Serious Thoughts I had about the two versions still stand.
And there you have it. Tanz fans, what do you think? Am I missing something about the original production or... or what's going on there?
I am immediately appalled by just how different Broadway is from the real show. I kind of hate it. At first. It takes a moment to adjust yourself to a completely new pace, to a girl getting high on mushrooms and the general scenery-nomming brand of humour after seeing the show as a rather serious one (or is it? I wish I could figure it out.) And then I feel guilty for laughing when Krolock gave Sarah the sponge. I was so confused and a little annoyed by Sarah's sponge thing. I just can't tell if that musical is trying to be funny! So this sponge joke is good. I wonder if someone who hadn't seen the original would be as amused as I am?
When they say "Garlic! Garlic!" I hear "Dalek, Dalek!" which is all kinds of bad. And then I laughed again during the big dance sequence when all the villagers were crowded around one solo-y guy and chanting "Go Boris! Go Boris!"
The town of Lower Bellabartokovitch? I kind of love that.
"His factotum? If that means what I think it does those two can leave right now." Cute.
Oh christy, the bat puppet is pushing it.
"You're a good man. But try to be a little less strange." I like that line a lot, actually.
OH GEEZ. This is completely adorable:
Alfred, writing in his journal: "6:26PM. I am headed upstairs to meet the mysterious Sarah."
He enters the room and sees Sarah in her bathtub. She flirts: "Well, well. Don't you look tasty!"
Alfred, same tone, not missing a beat: "6:27PM. I have fallen in love." Pause. "She is radiant and ravishing and wearing only a sponge."
They took something that was already funny and then they added a sponge joke. I love it.
"Bathing naked? What next?"
"Alfred, get that girl into bed!"
"...I'm sorry?"
"She's acting just like Magda! The Vulgarian slut!"
Oh my gosh, I laughed so hard at that gag. Alfred and Sarah are both hooked up to a blood-changing machine, singing a duet about how much they like each other. All of a sudden, it cuts out and Alfred collapses and everyone freaks out. They finally realise the professor's foot is "on the thingy." (direct quote) He says "Oh!" and lifts his foot. The second he does that Alfred pops up and finishes the duet. Love.
"The moment this girl is by herself he'll be on her like a metaphor."
Uhhh I feel so guilty for genuinely enjoying this musical. And for liking the new orchestration for the I have a pretty daughter song
better than the German orchestration. Am I being wrong here? I like this show. Forty minutes in and I have a permasmile on my face.
Oh no! Now I'm even laughing at Michael Crawford. "Ees-a me!"
"Will you come to my ball? And dance in da red velvet boots?"
"Red velvet boots? I hardly know you."
"I hardly know myself. Sometimes I look in da mirror, and I wonder ...where 'av I gone?"
So, I basically can't write down every joke that makes me laugh because in the time it took me to type this sentence I stopped to laugh three times.
I can see why fans of the original musical are pissed at this version (laugh break). I'm not even saying that it's a really
great musical or anything, just that I'm more able to connect to this version than the original one. The original confused me (laugh)
because (laugh) I could never really decide whether it was trying to be funny or taking itself too seriously or not taking itself
seriously enough. This one, I know exactly where it stands. I think it needs a lot of work, needs to tone down some of its jokes
just a bit and stop chewing at the scenery. Maybe find a nice balance between Mel Brooks and Sondheim, maybe even something
like Urinetown. In which case we'd have more jokes like 1880-something and Lower Bellabartokovitch and less bat puppets
and "Ooh, I'm SCARED." I was thinking when I watched the original version that this show is really basically Little Shop of Horrors
but with vampires instead of Audrey II... the ending, anyway. If they could hit a humour level that was about like LSOH I think they'd
have a pretty good show on their hands. I mean, making any changes at all would upset the fans of the original show (trust me on this,
I'm a member of the LM fandom), but there's absolutely no way that the original show would have had a better chance on Broadway than this
campy kitschy version. I'm speaking as someone who has a weakness for big soaring musicals (I'd say my top four are LM, Elisabeth,
Sweeney Todd, and Wicked) most of which are pretty dang successful amongst the general public, yeah?
One thing I'm probably really going to miss (I just got to the bit where Sarah runs off to the castle and Alfred is all D: for the record)
is Krolock's awesome song that he sings... when he's with all the coffins? About how sucky (hurr hurr) his life is? I liked that.
Character development. Good times. And I can't imagine that song, possibly the most convincing part of the pre-existing musical, won't
be destroyed in this silly version. But this version won my heart with the sponge jokes. Seriously, Sarah, sponges? WTH? I'm also
pleased that Sarah isn't spending this whole dang musical popping naked in and out of bathtubs.
Okay, maybe it's because it's Max von Essen, but Alfred is definitely the one who's making me laugh the most. Magda and that Mrs Chagal
are also pretty hilarious.
ANOTHER SPONGE JOKE. "My house is full of sponges." I LOVE THESE SPONGE JOKES. "I refuse your sponge, sir."
HERBERT! OMGYAY FRIKKITY YAY. LOOK AT HIM IN HIS PRETTY BABY BLUE JACKET. "This must be my lucky decade!"
HERBERT HERBERT HERBERT HOW DID YOU LIGHT UP THIS ENTIRE SHOW JUST IN LIKE THREE LINES I LOVE YOU
Oh ye Gods. Carpe Noctem. What on earth are they going to do? I am terrified.
Oh geez! I like the gargoyles on the bedposts coming to life!
So far Act II is taking a lot more from the original show, I think. They're leaving the comedy to Krolock's ridiculousness and a few
one-liners here and there from poor Alfred. AND THAT ONE SCENE WHERE HERBERT CAME IN AND WAS AMAZING AND LEFT. I've already seen this version's Wenn Liebe in dir ist several times, so I know for sure that it's thoroughly excellent.
For Sarah: Awww Max von Essen I just adore you to itty bitty bits. This might be one of the high points of this show. He sounds just great on this song and the audience go wild afterward. I do too.
Herbert scene!
"Look, I'm straight. I- I'm Lutheran!" Best joke ever.
Okay, so that dance is way cuter in the original and Mate is (surprise!) my favourite Herbert ever, with those precious little head shakes and
that amazing hair and his cute little vest. But I prefer the ending in this version, Alfred running off and Herbert just picking himself up and saying "He wants me." It's great.
Oh, another thing I enjoyed in the original was the bit where Alfred tried to run away and just ran that one big loop like he did in the
film. (That's the only scene of the film I've seen thus far, btw.) Ah yeah, and I also miss the joke Chagal pulled on Magda earlier, the
Jewish vampire joke with the cross. That was cute.
However, I don't like musicals having people wandering through the audience. It seems like a cheap way to try to get the audience more excited about what they're seeing. Like, "Oh snap Krolock is standing right there at my arm eep this is amazing!" Don't like it. I actually think it works in Elisabeth, though, at the beginning of Kitsch, because Lucheni breaks that fourth wall all the time anyway and that song is basically directed AT the audience. It's not as okay to just randomly have Chagal running through the audience looking for Sarah in my mind. Cheap trick to try to make your show more fun for the audience.
Ewigkeit = semi-fashion porn
Uh oh, it's the Krolock solo I was worrying about...
Um... okay. So they're doing it completely straight like in the original. It's an excellent song, pretty good lyrics. But how can they reconcile suddenly having a serious, angsty song from a character who's been nothing but silliness thus far? The audience is nervously chuckling every once in a while. They're looking for him to be funny. This is making them all confused. And Crawford does NOT have the voice for this. And... despite all these issues, I have fallen HARD for this song. I love it a lot now. There's a clip of Máté singing it somewhere on youtube... gotta watch it again now. No, no this song doesn't work at all in this version of the musical. They're cheering because it's a fantastic song, but it's like... it's like suddenly having Trekkie Monster sing Stars...
Ball scene! Aw, dang, I miss Alfred's awesome 18th century outfit from the original. Of course I do.
I SEE A ROBE A LA FRIKKIN FRANCAISE! REPRESENT! EEP, THERE'S ANOTHER ONE! WHEE!
Oh no, Sarah's dress is totally not as good as the old one. And this ripoff masquerade set is crap compared to the original.
LOL the audience just all groaned and went "NO!" when Krolock bit Sarah...
Oh no! The candles/cross gag worked way better in the old version!
And WHAT. They daylight'd Krolock?!?
Oh Max von Essen, you are SO precious. I know you aren't Aaron Lazar, but I liked your Enjy just fine. Your voice sounds better
here, though. The way I remember it, the chorus of LM drowned you out half the time when you were trying to lead them. Here you're vocally trouncing upon every one else and it pleases me.
Haha, I like the running journal gag a lot.
Oh shoot. This last song Sarah's singing is... it's hot. Maybe I'm just saying that because she ripped at Max's shirt...
...They may offer you fortune and fame... love and money and instant acclaim... but whatever they offer you, don't feed the... vamps?
Also, this sequence! Ooh, this is great! They're in New York and there's an ad for "Bats" the musical. And I like the costumes here. This finale song is great in general, though.
HERBERT! I SPY HERBERT.
If they had done the "We drink your blood and we eat your soul" line in German I would have shed joy tears, I think. But they didn't.
Wait, why was Michael Crawford conducting?
HERBERT! Hahaha, it's only curtain call. But that's still my reaction to Herbert.
MAX VON ESSEN. YOU ARE SO ADORABLE. I LOVE YOU.
Okay, so that's that. I fear I may have outed myself as a total traitorous plebe, but by God I like what I like and if I liked the "crap" version better then so be it.
When they say "Garlic! Garlic!" I hear "Dalek, Dalek!" which is all kinds of bad. And then I laughed again during the big dance sequence when all the villagers were crowded around one solo-y guy and chanting "Go Boris! Go Boris!"
The town of Lower Bellabartokovitch? I kind of love that.
"His factotum? If that means what I think it does those two can leave right now." Cute.
Oh christy, the bat puppet is pushing it.
"You're a good man. But try to be a little less strange." I like that line a lot, actually.
OH GEEZ. This is completely adorable:
Alfred, writing in his journal: "6:26PM. I am headed upstairs to meet the mysterious Sarah."
He enters the room and sees Sarah in her bathtub. She flirts: "Well, well. Don't you look tasty!"
Alfred, same tone, not missing a beat: "6:27PM. I have fallen in love." Pause. "She is radiant and ravishing and wearing only a sponge."
They took something that was already funny and then they added a sponge joke. I love it.
"Bathing naked? What next?"
"Alfred, get that girl into bed!"
"...I'm sorry?"
"She's acting just like Magda! The Vulgarian slut!"
Oh my gosh, I laughed so hard at that gag. Alfred and Sarah are both hooked up to a blood-changing machine, singing a duet about how much they like each other. All of a sudden, it cuts out and Alfred collapses and everyone freaks out. They finally realise the professor's foot is "on the thingy." (direct quote) He says "Oh!" and lifts his foot. The second he does that Alfred pops up and finishes the duet. Love.
"The moment this girl is by herself he'll be on her like a metaphor."
Uhhh I feel so guilty for genuinely enjoying this musical. And for liking the new orchestration for the I have a pretty daughter song
better than the German orchestration. Am I being wrong here? I like this show. Forty minutes in and I have a permasmile on my face.
Oh no! Now I'm even laughing at Michael Crawford. "Ees-a me!"
"Will you come to my ball? And dance in da red velvet boots?"
"Red velvet boots? I hardly know you."
"I hardly know myself. Sometimes I look in da mirror, and I wonder ...where 'av I gone?"
So, I basically can't write down every joke that makes me laugh because in the time it took me to type this sentence I stopped to laugh three times.
I can see why fans of the original musical are pissed at this version (laugh break). I'm not even saying that it's a really
great musical or anything, just that I'm more able to connect to this version than the original one. The original confused me (laugh)
because (laugh) I could never really decide whether it was trying to be funny or taking itself too seriously or not taking itself
seriously enough. This one, I know exactly where it stands. I think it needs a lot of work, needs to tone down some of its jokes
just a bit and stop chewing at the scenery. Maybe find a nice balance between Mel Brooks and Sondheim, maybe even something
like Urinetown. In which case we'd have more jokes like 1880-something and Lower Bellabartokovitch and less bat puppets
and "Ooh, I'm SCARED." I was thinking when I watched the original version that this show is really basically Little Shop of Horrors
but with vampires instead of Audrey II... the ending, anyway. If they could hit a humour level that was about like LSOH I think they'd
have a pretty good show on their hands. I mean, making any changes at all would upset the fans of the original show (trust me on this,
I'm a member of the LM fandom), but there's absolutely no way that the original show would have had a better chance on Broadway than this
campy kitschy version. I'm speaking as someone who has a weakness for big soaring musicals (I'd say my top four are LM, Elisabeth,
Sweeney Todd, and Wicked) most of which are pretty dang successful amongst the general public, yeah?
One thing I'm probably really going to miss (I just got to the bit where Sarah runs off to the castle and Alfred is all D: for the record)
is Krolock's awesome song that he sings... when he's with all the coffins? About how sucky (hurr hurr) his life is? I liked that.
Character development. Good times. And I can't imagine that song, possibly the most convincing part of the pre-existing musical, won't
be destroyed in this silly version. But this version won my heart with the sponge jokes. Seriously, Sarah, sponges? WTH? I'm also
pleased that Sarah isn't spending this whole dang musical popping naked in and out of bathtubs.
Okay, maybe it's because it's Max von Essen, but Alfred is definitely the one who's making me laugh the most. Magda and that Mrs Chagal
are also pretty hilarious.
ANOTHER SPONGE JOKE. "My house is full of sponges." I LOVE THESE SPONGE JOKES. "I refuse your sponge, sir."
HERBERT! OMGYAY FRIKKITY YAY. LOOK AT HIM IN HIS PRETTY BABY BLUE JACKET. "This must be my lucky decade!"
HERBERT HERBERT HERBERT HOW DID YOU LIGHT UP THIS ENTIRE SHOW JUST IN LIKE THREE LINES I LOVE YOU
Oh ye Gods. Carpe Noctem. What on earth are they going to do? I am terrified.
Oh geez! I like the gargoyles on the bedposts coming to life!
So far Act II is taking a lot more from the original show, I think. They're leaving the comedy to Krolock's ridiculousness and a few
one-liners here and there from poor Alfred. AND THAT ONE SCENE WHERE HERBERT CAME IN AND WAS AMAZING AND LEFT. I've already seen this version's Wenn Liebe in dir ist several times, so I know for sure that it's thoroughly excellent.
For Sarah: Awww Max von Essen I just adore you to itty bitty bits. This might be one of the high points of this show. He sounds just great on this song and the audience go wild afterward. I do too.
Herbert scene!
"Look, I'm straight. I- I'm Lutheran!" Best joke ever.
Okay, so that dance is way cuter in the original and Mate is (surprise!) my favourite Herbert ever, with those precious little head shakes and
that amazing hair and his cute little vest. But I prefer the ending in this version, Alfred running off and Herbert just picking himself up and saying "He wants me." It's great.
Oh, another thing I enjoyed in the original was the bit where Alfred tried to run away and just ran that one big loop like he did in the
film. (That's the only scene of the film I've seen thus far, btw.) Ah yeah, and I also miss the joke Chagal pulled on Magda earlier, the
Jewish vampire joke with the cross. That was cute.
However, I don't like musicals having people wandering through the audience. It seems like a cheap way to try to get the audience more excited about what they're seeing. Like, "Oh snap Krolock is standing right there at my arm eep this is amazing!" Don't like it. I actually think it works in Elisabeth, though, at the beginning of Kitsch, because Lucheni breaks that fourth wall all the time anyway and that song is basically directed AT the audience. It's not as okay to just randomly have Chagal running through the audience looking for Sarah in my mind. Cheap trick to try to make your show more fun for the audience.
Ewigkeit = semi-fashion porn
Uh oh, it's the Krolock solo I was worrying about...
Um... okay. So they're doing it completely straight like in the original. It's an excellent song, pretty good lyrics. But how can they reconcile suddenly having a serious, angsty song from a character who's been nothing but silliness thus far? The audience is nervously chuckling every once in a while. They're looking for him to be funny. This is making them all confused. And Crawford does NOT have the voice for this. And... despite all these issues, I have fallen HARD for this song. I love it a lot now. There's a clip of Máté singing it somewhere on youtube... gotta watch it again now. No, no this song doesn't work at all in this version of the musical. They're cheering because it's a fantastic song, but it's like... it's like suddenly having Trekkie Monster sing Stars...
Ball scene! Aw, dang, I miss Alfred's awesome 18th century outfit from the original. Of course I do.
I SEE A ROBE A LA FRIKKIN FRANCAISE! REPRESENT! EEP, THERE'S ANOTHER ONE! WHEE!
Oh no, Sarah's dress is totally not as good as the old one. And this ripoff masquerade set is crap compared to the original.
LOL the audience just all groaned and went "NO!" when Krolock bit Sarah...
Oh no! The candles/cross gag worked way better in the old version!
And WHAT. They daylight'd Krolock?!?
Oh Max von Essen, you are SO precious. I know you aren't Aaron Lazar, but I liked your Enjy just fine. Your voice sounds better
here, though. The way I remember it, the chorus of LM drowned you out half the time when you were trying to lead them. Here you're vocally trouncing upon every one else and it pleases me.
Haha, I like the running journal gag a lot.
Oh shoot. This last song Sarah's singing is... it's hot. Maybe I'm just saying that because she ripped at Max's shirt...
...They may offer you fortune and fame... love and money and instant acclaim... but whatever they offer you, don't feed the... vamps?
Also, this sequence! Ooh, this is great! They're in New York and there's an ad for "Bats" the musical. And I like the costumes here. This finale song is great in general, though.
HERBERT! I SPY HERBERT.
If they had done the "We drink your blood and we eat your soul" line in German I would have shed joy tears, I think. But they didn't.
Wait, why was Michael Crawford conducting?
HERBERT! Hahaha, it's only curtain call. But that's still my reaction to Herbert.
MAX VON ESSEN. YOU ARE SO ADORABLE. I LOVE YOU.
Okay, so that's that. I fear I may have outed myself as a total traitorous plebe, but by God I like what I like and if I liked the "crap" version better then so be it.
And there you have it. Tanz fans, what do you think? Am I missing something about the original production or... or what's going on there?
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-30 02:45 pm (UTC)EwigkeitAll the Vampire costumes in this show =semi-fashion pornFixed that for ya. lol
I don't really care for what I've seen of the Broadway version.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-01 12:09 am (UTC)Still I love the music and I love Herbert A LOT, so I don't have any, like, lack of respect for the original or anything. Just... you know. It's more fun for me to watch the ridiculous version.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-30 03:57 pm (UTC)haha sorry, my friend and I have this sick fascination with this show, and we've watched the Total Eclipse video on youtube and insane amount of times. And then we PERFORMED it. Just as Bella and Edward instead, because... idk.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-01 12:07 am (UTC)Also, I was uploading this to megaupload (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CNAIEPP6) and the whole thing finished in, like, half a second! And then when I went to look at the page there was a link that said Watch on Megavideo (http://www.megavideo.com/?d=CNAIEPP6) and when I clicked on it, it all seemed to be there. I'm in shock.
Anyway, yeah, I'm starting to think my love for it is more like a "sick fascination" as well. It's not the kind of obsession I'd try to drag my friends into, but still I can't stop watching it...