#michael kunze

[jareckiworld]

Michael Kunze — The Last Tango in Thule, Rue Jules Verne (V) [oil on canvas, 2020]

[awihog]

Elisabeth Production Bracket Submission Form

Form for submitting productions of the musical Elisabeth for my upcoming tumblr poll bracket! You are allowed to submit any production, incl

Google form for submitting productions of Elisabeth das Musical for my upcoming production bracket!! General rules outlined in the form itself

[postersscreenplays]

Rudolf’s imaginary friend Then vs Now

um this is what I do in my free time I guess after a week with 7 tests

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[gdelgiproducer]

Here's some old research material

Hello, everyone!

This blog isn't used very often these days, but you might recall that I once announced a podcast titled A Good Nightmare Comes So Rarely, intended to further explore the case study I conducted on the issues that arose when Tanz der Vampire became Dance of the Vampires.

Apart from the two episodes that actually saw release, my co-host @ozymegdias and I actually got pretty deep into research, learning a lot in particular about the mysterious April 2001 staged reading before everything went to shit, the one that starred Steve Barton reprising his award-winning performance as the Graf, under the direction of John Caird (Les Mis, Jane Eyre, etc.) Caird was very generous with his time, as was William Youmans (Abronsius in the reading; he went on to become the original Dr. Dillamond in Wicked).

Apart from that, though, it was difficult to break the cone of silence that the final cast and creative team seemed to have entered surrounding DOTV; between that and waning interest on my co-host's part as development dragged on and on, I decided to let it die.

However, the research material won't go to waste. DOTV has been on Wait in the Wings' docket for a long time, and I'm turning everything I have over to them to build an in-depth mini-doc around. (Eventually. They've got a lot of ground to cover on other shows first.)

I've also decided to share a portion of the source work with the general public. (That includes you, @alfredismyson.) Hit the jump!

You see, I (foolishly, as it turned out) anticipated not only that the audience would be large (it wasn't), but that it could include people unfamiliar with the many flavors of Tanz (ultimately hard to tell).

To familiarize them with the successful version, I created a selection of YouTube playlists for viewing and enrichment. They are listed below:

Original Replica -- In other words, a sampling of the most common version of Tanz, with the Bill Dudley/Sue Blane designs. I pulled together everything I could find on YouTube, from 1997 to at least 2019.

Revival Replica -- In 2007, Kentaur began making his design mark with the Hungarian production, and later replicated his efforts in Vienna and Russia. Again, pulled together all the ones I could find on YT.

Non-Replica -- This is the most fun playlist of all, at least for me! It collects the outliers, the productions that may have had recognizable features in common with the other Tanz-es out there but otherwise marched to the beat of their own drum. You'll see videos of Poland, Japan, Slovakia, two from the infamous St Gallen, a handful of clips from the one-night-only concert staging at Operafest Tulchyn in Ukraine (it was sung live in German, and they maneuvered around not being allowed to properly stage it by projecting the 2005 Berlin pro-shot upstage to give a semblance of plot and otherwise distracting the audience at times with admittedly awesome choreography and firework), and even an unauthorized Spanish translation from Mexicali. In the case of at least three of these productions, it will reflect the 1997 version, with apologies to fans of the new "Die Roten Stiefel/Gebet" (like me), so you might even see and hear stuff that has seldom been seen or heard since Tanz's earliest days. Enter with an open mind, and see what a different view may offer!

Hope you enjoy (some of) the fruits of our labors.

[berserkerbarbie]

Nagina Ruumi as Anne Boleyn in Lady Bess (Tōhō Stage 2026)

Making-of Stills

[eridonna]

Why ruin something that was already perfect?

Literally every newer non-german production with a quarter of a budget of VBW has tried to incorporate something new into the source material. I'm not saying every interpretation or costume/staging worked in favour, but at least there's effort and a certain vision.

VBW has no right to keep serving us a watered-down version of a genuinely spectacular and deeply beloved musical.

(Also the audacity to call it the Celebrated Schönbrunn Version 🤔)

The vines in the Heinrich designs were created to represent death and decay. Sissi wore a dirndl in Wie Du as she hailed from Bavaria. The set design incorporated elements inspired by Habsburg carriages/hearses.

So what exactly do the new changes bring to the table?

Der Tod's veil is stripped away and replaced with a meme-worthy toy. He went from having 4 stunning well-crafted outfits to ONE painfully boring fit in the entire show.

Tod and Rudolf's relationship is diminished to the point where it no longer represents its original depth or significance.

Rondo is a misfit and doesn't even appear anywhere else in the show unlike the intended Japanese/Hungarian versions.

There is no glitz, no glamour, and most importantly the storytelling is compromised. Literally everything the musical stood for is reduced to nothing.

Most upsetting of all is the clear disregard VBW shows for the audience, who adore the musical and deserve more than this cheap execution, and for the immensely talented cast, who deserve a production worthy of their skills.

[mabithebard]

[offarawaysnfuturedays-inmydreams]

ANNEMIEKE VAN DAM als Elisabeth und LUKAS MAYER als Der Tod

Elisabeth China Tour 2024 Shanghai Premiere (29.August 2024)