For fans of the musical Elisabeth.
Elisabeth in Berlin
Last week had my first live experience of Elisabeth... twice. This review is copied from my LJ and I'm posting it here because the perormances I saw were wonderful and I want the world to know it :D
I had Annemeike and Uwe both times and loved them both. Funnily enough I had been hoping to avoid Annemaike in favor of Pia/Understudy or 2 understudies after it turned out Pia was to leave. I also had been quite disappointed when it was announced that Uwe was going to be in the cast particularly after I found his performance in Rebecca to not be what I had hoped/expected but he definitely won me over this time round. He was icy, passionate aloof and aggressive in all the right places, I was even able forgive the costume :)
The first night's cast are as follows
9.7.08
Sisi -Annemieke Van Dam
Der Tod - Uwe Kroger
Lucheni - Bruno Grassini
Franz – Marcus Pol
Sophie – Christina Wettstein
Rudolph – Oliver Arno
Max – Dennis Kozeluh
Ludovika/Wolf – Maike Katrin Schmid
I'm not sure if I liked the Sisi projection during the prologue in fact there were a few occasions where the projections seemed pointless but still it didn't dampen my enjoyment of the show and there were a couple, particularly one scene which I thought they worked brilliantly but we'll get to that later
I immediately liked Annemieke . Very mischievous and cute during Wie Du. She and Dennis were sweet and playful together.
During 'Schwarzer Prinz I noticed one of the relatives make the sign of the cross when Sisi says “Ya ich weiß, du bist der tod" I don't know if that's new or not but it was certainly unique to me and I thought it made a nice touch
In the Bad Ischl scene Annemieke runs onstage full of wonder at surroundings but it was painfully obvious (particularly with the shoe incident, which I found amusing) that she is gawky and out of place among other ladies
I was not fond of the Ferris wheel projection during Nichts ist schwer or the bell during the wedding (which is played out with Death on platform pretending to chime a big projection of the bell) I much prefer real thing there but enjoyed it regardless
Uwe was on pretty good form in Der Letzte tanz and it was interesting how Annemieke acted it out. Switching between intoxication and fear, her desire for death was evident and she allowed herself to be overcome with it a few times before snapping back to reality and becoming embarrassed by her loss of control. She was terrified when he started pulling her about, shaking her head willing him to stop
She was desperate during ‘Eine Kaiserin’ but her detestation Sophie was evident when she appealed to Franz. He in turn was very cold towards her, no tenderness at all but then again he was still very much under Sophie’s power at this time so that worked for me
Ich Gehor: She brought the house down, need I say more
I like that Die Shatten act 1 set up is similar to Vienna. The Essen doll creeps me out these days
In 'Elisabeth Mach Auf' the Projection screens acted as doors showing Sisi’s shadow as Franz appealed to her before stage rotates to Sisi’s side. In the end she slides the ultimatum under the door/screen
Deaths boat could have easily looked ridiculous if the scene wasn’t so unearthly. The stage becomes tinted under bluish light with Sisi almost stepping into boat before coming to senses
Ensemble sounded great during Milch, there was no applause for the Ich Gehor reprise and I’m afraid I was to much of a coward to try and start it but the dress is more like the Essen/Suttgart which I loved
Bruno had good presence and was amusing and charismatic during Kitch. In Eijen Uwe standing on the red crest was like an eerily convincing statue, moving only head to watch Sisi move across the stage
Choreography in Wenn Ich Tanzen is similar to Vienna/Stuttgart but better. More aggressive, playful and passionate. It’s like power play with Sisi seemingly taunting him and Death practically throwing her from one hand to the other like a cat playing with a mouse. This has to be my favorite set up for this song in all its existing variations
Great interpretation of Nichts from Annemeike. Emotional and laughing at herself in her madness. I Didn’t like Sophie at all in Bellaria though, neither her voice or her acting. I love the song but unfortunately her interpretation failed to move me in the slightest
Uwe was great in ‘Die Dchatten’ and owned the scene, Cold commanding and aggressive etc. Oliver has nice voice but wasn’t fond of acting, too much seizure like shaking. Maybe he needs to find himself in role? Same goes for Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär. Uwe ruled Mayerling too, very aloof and icy
I Love how Rudolph Wo bist du is played out. Sisi falls’s to the floor after the line ‘Ich hab' versagt... Ich trag die Schuld’ Franz goes to comfort her only for her to wave him away which sums up Elisabeth at this point in her life, Shutting out everyone around her. There is no coffin in scene and Death appears his platform. Sisi looks so lost/alone when he refuses her
For me ‘An Deck der Sinkenden Welt’ is where the projections work. Both Death and Franz are on the platform together and the projections showing remnants of the Hapsburg’s empire falling into a hellfire of sorts meanwhile Sisi appears below grabbing hold of the edge of the platform desperately trying to climb/hold on to no avail. It all looks fantastic
Der Schleier fällt was beautiful. Annekeike's Sisi reacted perfectly to the sound of his voice, her whole body just relaxed and the look on her face showed gladness and relief at the realization that he was finally coming for her. Uwe acts this better than in Vienna and Essen. It’s like Sisi is able to break through his Icy demeanor and when she accepts him he holds her and closes his eyes as if to seems to savor moment before setting her free and then laying her body down with a tenderness only a lover can give. It was lovely and very touching
10.7
Sisi -Annemieke Van Dam
Der Tod - Uwe Kroger
Lucheni – Krisha Dalke
Franz – Peter Stassen
Sophie – Christina Wettstein
Rudolph – Oliver Arno
Max – Dennis Kozeluh
Ludovika/Wolf – Maike Katrin Schmidt
There isn’t much more I can say than I haven’t already mentioned from the first show I saw. The ensemble seemed to have a bit more fire to them in Milch. I Liked Peter’s Franz a little more than Marcus’s in certain places where he gave it a little more passion but still it’s a thankless role
Krisha was ok as Lucheni. Didn’t have Bruno’s voice or charisma but approach to character was reminiscent of Serkan in places which I liked, except for beginning it looked like he was trying to hard to copy him. He also went off pitch a few times during Eijen. I noticed Uwe drop the chain in Maladie then fumble a bit as he tried to picked it up Don't you just love lil bloopers :)
Uwe was especially brilliant during nightmare scene. Getting in Franz’s face shouting “Sie liebt mich!” it was very powerful
Stage doored both evenings but there were a lot of people there so I didn’t stick around for long, just long enough to catch Uwe the first night (He's taller than I'd imagined!) , Annemieke the second night and get a signature from each.
I had Annemeike and Uwe both times and loved them both. Funnily enough I had been hoping to avoid Annemaike in favor of Pia/Understudy or 2 understudies after it turned out Pia was to leave. I also had been quite disappointed when it was announced that Uwe was going to be in the cast particularly after I found his performance in Rebecca to not be what I had hoped/expected but he definitely won me over this time round. He was icy, passionate aloof and aggressive in all the right places, I was even able forgive the costume :)
The first night's cast are as follows
9.7.08
Sisi -Annemieke Van Dam
Der Tod - Uwe Kroger
Lucheni - Bruno Grassini
Franz – Marcus Pol
Sophie – Christina Wettstein
Rudolph – Oliver Arno
Max – Dennis Kozeluh
Ludovika/Wolf – Maike Katrin Schmid
I'm not sure if I liked the Sisi projection during the prologue in fact there were a few occasions where the projections seemed pointless but still it didn't dampen my enjoyment of the show and there were a couple, particularly one scene which I thought they worked brilliantly but we'll get to that later
I immediately liked Annemieke . Very mischievous and cute during Wie Du. She and Dennis were sweet and playful together.
During 'Schwarzer Prinz I noticed one of the relatives make the sign of the cross when Sisi says “Ya ich weiß, du bist der tod" I don't know if that's new or not but it was certainly unique to me and I thought it made a nice touch
In the Bad Ischl scene Annemieke runs onstage full of wonder at surroundings but it was painfully obvious (particularly with the shoe incident, which I found amusing) that she is gawky and out of place among other ladies
I was not fond of the Ferris wheel projection during Nichts ist schwer or the bell during the wedding (which is played out with Death on platform pretending to chime a big projection of the bell) I much prefer real thing there but enjoyed it regardless
Uwe was on pretty good form in Der Letzte tanz and it was interesting how Annemieke acted it out. Switching between intoxication and fear, her desire for death was evident and she allowed herself to be overcome with it a few times before snapping back to reality and becoming embarrassed by her loss of control. She was terrified when he started pulling her about, shaking her head willing him to stop
She was desperate during ‘Eine Kaiserin’ but her detestation Sophie was evident when she appealed to Franz. He in turn was very cold towards her, no tenderness at all but then again he was still very much under Sophie’s power at this time so that worked for me
Ich Gehor: She brought the house down, need I say more
I like that Die Shatten act 1 set up is similar to Vienna. The Essen doll creeps me out these days
In 'Elisabeth Mach Auf' the Projection screens acted as doors showing Sisi’s shadow as Franz appealed to her before stage rotates to Sisi’s side. In the end she slides the ultimatum under the door/screen
Deaths boat could have easily looked ridiculous if the scene wasn’t so unearthly. The stage becomes tinted under bluish light with Sisi almost stepping into boat before coming to senses
Ensemble sounded great during Milch, there was no applause for the Ich Gehor reprise and I’m afraid I was to much of a coward to try and start it but the dress is more like the Essen/Suttgart which I loved
Bruno had good presence and was amusing and charismatic during Kitch. In Eijen Uwe standing on the red crest was like an eerily convincing statue, moving only head to watch Sisi move across the stage
Choreography in Wenn Ich Tanzen is similar to Vienna/Stuttgart but better. More aggressive, playful and passionate. It’s like power play with Sisi seemingly taunting him and Death practically throwing her from one hand to the other like a cat playing with a mouse. This has to be my favorite set up for this song in all its existing variations
Great interpretation of Nichts from Annemeike. Emotional and laughing at herself in her madness. I Didn’t like Sophie at all in Bellaria though, neither her voice or her acting. I love the song but unfortunately her interpretation failed to move me in the slightest
Uwe was great in ‘Die Dchatten’ and owned the scene, Cold commanding and aggressive etc. Oliver has nice voice but wasn’t fond of acting, too much seizure like shaking. Maybe he needs to find himself in role? Same goes for Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär. Uwe ruled Mayerling too, very aloof and icy
I Love how Rudolph Wo bist du is played out. Sisi falls’s to the floor after the line ‘Ich hab' versagt... Ich trag die Schuld’ Franz goes to comfort her only for her to wave him away which sums up Elisabeth at this point in her life, Shutting out everyone around her. There is no coffin in scene and Death appears his platform. Sisi looks so lost/alone when he refuses her
For me ‘An Deck der Sinkenden Welt’ is where the projections work. Both Death and Franz are on the platform together and the projections showing remnants of the Hapsburg’s empire falling into a hellfire of sorts meanwhile Sisi appears below grabbing hold of the edge of the platform desperately trying to climb/hold on to no avail. It all looks fantastic
Der Schleier fällt was beautiful. Annekeike's Sisi reacted perfectly to the sound of his voice, her whole body just relaxed and the look on her face showed gladness and relief at the realization that he was finally coming for her. Uwe acts this better than in Vienna and Essen. It’s like Sisi is able to break through his Icy demeanor and when she accepts him he holds her and closes his eyes as if to seems to savor moment before setting her free and then laying her body down with a tenderness only a lover can give. It was lovely and very touching
10.7
Sisi -Annemieke Van Dam
Der Tod - Uwe Kroger
Lucheni – Krisha Dalke
Franz – Peter Stassen
Sophie – Christina Wettstein
Rudolph – Oliver Arno
Max – Dennis Kozeluh
Ludovika/Wolf – Maike Katrin Schmidt
There isn’t much more I can say than I haven’t already mentioned from the first show I saw. The ensemble seemed to have a bit more fire to them in Milch. I Liked Peter’s Franz a little more than Marcus’s in certain places where he gave it a little more passion but still it’s a thankless role
Krisha was ok as Lucheni. Didn’t have Bruno’s voice or charisma but approach to character was reminiscent of Serkan in places which I liked, except for beginning it looked like he was trying to hard to copy him. He also went off pitch a few times during Eijen. I noticed Uwe drop the chain in Maladie then fumble a bit as he tried to picked it up Don't you just love lil bloopers :)
Uwe was especially brilliant during nightmare scene. Getting in Franz’s face shouting “Sie liebt mich!” it was very powerful
Stage doored both evenings but there were a lot of people there so I didn’t stick around for long, just long enough to catch Uwe the first night (He's taller than I'd imagined!) , Annemieke the second night and get a signature from each.
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