watched a 2002.10.21 Vienna multi-language bootleg of the 10th anniversary concert of Elisabeth available here between 7-11/12/25, cast and thoughts you guessed it below the cut!!!
ok so obv this wasn't like a "production" or anything so there's no specific cast list as it's more like twenty or so people and a few musicians hanging out in a room for 1:55, so I will simply be listing the people who are in it. I also won't be like, using the normal metrics I use, and more just writing down things I find interesting.
cast list (sorta, as far as I could find):
pia douwes, uwe kröger, ethan freeman, stanley burleson, maya hakvoort, ichiro maki, szilveszter p szabó, kata janza, jesper tydén, Andreas Bieber, else ludwig, jeroen phaff, felix Martin, victor gernot, Thomas borchert, Carsten lepper, gabriele ramm, maike boerdam, Michael Shawn lewis, Florian feik, cecilie nerfont, Wolfgang pampel, and others including the wiener sängerknaben
I couldn't find a comprehensive song list, but an album of this concert does exist (though it misses some songs) and is on the internet archive if you're looking.
this was concert staging, a lot of the time very little blocking, and when there was it was sometimes repetitive and stilted.
there was an ensemble, a mix of actors who weren't in specific numbers at the moment and people hired specifically for the ensemble. at times it felt like they learned the parts a week before the show (which for all I know they did). they were ok.
songs were cut of course, though some were lengthened (see: everyone getting their own verse of der letzte tanz which was. I mean. I love that song as much as the next guy but cmon)
throughout it the host (I do not know who it was. if someone knows who it was please tell me) came out and did spiels as happens in a concert. I skipped them because they were in German.
the cast was great. I mean obviously they were great but they were just great. they got a lot, almost all of the original cast to come back and a lot of the bigger names from other productions to come as well. provided for a well-rounded experience.
Ethan Freeman grew his hair out. it looks. well. it looks.
there was some audience interaction, not a lot because it was a larger stage, but more than you get in a full staged production.
Andy Bieber made out with the microphone (not complaining) during wenn ich dein spiegal waer. they did all of it but no Elisabeth counterpoint, which sounded really good actually. he sang the hell out of it.
else ludwig was absolutely slaying in her mom dress.
some of the original sie passt nicht choreo
douwes changed costumes 6 times I believe. insane of her. she was wonderful.
it was really interesting to see the orchestra and conductor, I enjoyed it.
douwes had slightly frizzy hair which was just. so very 2001 of them. i liked it.
kröger and bieber were eyefucking the whole time through die schatten. I respect that. I think bieber was holding in a smile. here i write: "uwe honey chill. you're going red". I literally only recognized felix Martin from his voice. i'm not sure why they paired him with tyden, aside from wanting to get the four of them in the number. they traded rudolfs. it was a yaoi-off
I appreciated them getting people who only did the show in one or two prods here. bieber and Martin and the like.
here I write: "victor gernotttttttttttt" I'm not sure what I was referring to, but be warned: victor gernot.
hakvoort was awesome. they used an early version of ich will dir nur sagen (aka the version that existed at the time), so some weird stuff. she wasn't quite in the Elisabeth dress, that came at the end.
a strange sense of serenity came over me when maike boerdam and michael shawn lewis came out and they sang nichts ist schwer. they kissed! this number was moving. maybe it's that it's the recording I have and listen to most frequently of this song, but it was just. god. I almost cried.
It was difficult to take Thomas borchert seriously because a) that's mozart's dad to me and b) he had this ponytail that was so very nineties.
insane high note from carsten lepper in kitsch. the three of them (lepper, borchert, and Freeman) clearly had fun with it. it was fun.
I only write "omg szilveszter" twice in my notes this time, probably because szabó wasn't onstage much. but keep in mind he was wonderful as well. he sang rondo with ichiro maki (who was also stunning and very hot in a suit), and their voices blended well together. they seemed like friends.
you could tell that wenn ich tanzen will is a new addition and they were still getting used to it. I think kröger only broke character once. it was really nice.
everyone got their own verse for der letzte tanz which got more than a little repetitive. they were all in their original death costumes (paralleling the elisabeths coming out in their different Elisabeth costumes for ich gehoer nur mir), which was neat. I note Felix Martin being strange, "strange in 98 but this is another level." not sure what I was talking about. the six of them looked like the most convoluted multilingual polycule ever.
the English lyrics for the first ich gehoer nur mir were… strange at best, but there was a certain intimacy to the number. it was orchestrated completely differently, as a quieter, almost jazzy ballad with a soprano sax solo and guitar backing. I liked it in the end, despite the lyrics.
I didn't have any context for zwischen traum und wirlichkeit so it was just sort of there. she was amazing but I didn't know what was going on. also someone get this woman back in her suit.
this solo little Rudolf had a really solid vibrato. also mama wo bist du before an entire boys choir is iconic. I don't think kröger got any direction on the rest of the number, he just kinda sat there.
the band showed off! there was a lyricless interlude, my guess while everyone did their costumes changes.
the video got off from the audio during nichts nichts gar nichts and only came back around 5 minutes later.
Maike Boerdam was awesome. I love her Elisabeth.
victor gernot looked like lurch from the Addams family and it was pretty distracting. the mixing on boote in der Nacht was really good, but i'm just a sucker for full orchestration.
they were all in different costumes for ich gehoer nur mir and all sang different parts in as many languages as possible (I believe Japanese, swedish, Hungarian, dutch, and German) and then sang the last two lines all together in a line. it was moving. they had pia sing in dutch.
here I write: "Essen coat……. save me Essen coat……." (kröger came out for der schleier fällt in the essen coat). there was a counterpoint sung by hakvoort and martin to the melody (douwes/kröger), which was honestly a little distracting. everyone came out and they paired up as best as possible but it got a little crazy (Burleson and maki. strange and awkward but iconic.) they ended all holding hands.
overall I really liked it, it was a nice cleanser from the standard full staging show. standouts were the cast (!!!) and set list, not great things were the ensemble, weird stuff was mostly seeing the way that people had aged and changed over ten years.