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Finally!! Wonderfully filmed Krolocchi. He also does “Sie gehört nur mir”. His eyes rolling when Sarah offers resistance xDD

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I don’t know what Graf von Krolock and Graf von Krolock are looking at, but it surely must be very interesting.

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In addition to being a truly wonderful Alfred in his own right, Thijs has been catering for all the ships recently (all of them!) over on his Instagram :)

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Tanz der Vampire - watercolour portraits, pt. 2: Herbert von Krolock

I really went overboard with the details and the glitter XD. You can see the sparkling goodness in the detail shot. I used silver Finetec Watercolors by Colori to achieve the effect. It was the first time for me mixing it with normal watercolor and the result looks awesome. The sparkle is even more blinding in direct sunlight *haha*

I hope you like it. And I hope you also don’t mind that I’m jumping on his look from the russian production.

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Graf “Why is this peasant still talking, while I am so wonderfully fabulous?” von Krolock

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There was a Broadway version called Dance of the Vampires, but mentioning this is a good way to get hit in the face by fans of the European version.

tvtropes.com, on the topic of Tanz der Vampire

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Tanz der vampire aesthetic I made.

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Totale Finsternis: Costuming “Tanz der Vampire,” Part I

EDITOR’S NOTE: I pride myself on accuracy, so when there’s an error, I’ll do my best to correct it. As such, please see my updated post here!

Welcome back, everyone! As promised, we’re going to be diverging quite a bit from the shows and costumes I’ve looked at in the past in order to try something completely different. There are a lot of costumes here, so I’m going to structure this a little differently and try to look at a whole production in each of the two posts, rather than splitting them up by character. There’s a simple reason for this: the costumes are so detailed and so original, that they either need to be taken as a collective, or else each costume needs a full post…and I don’t think I could manage that!

But what I can manage is to look at the overall Vienna production and give my thoughts on this über-eclectic production with its classic camp, gothic horror, and rock musical elements. I’m really glad to have been turned onto this musical, because as those who follow the main blog know, one of my other hobbies is a vampire-themed RPG. I admit that I had never seen the original Roman Polanski movie upon which the musical is based, but the musical is apparently a pretty good take–and for good reason, since Polanski himself created and directed the original production.

I linked the plot summary Sunday in the preview post, so I’m going to just jump in to some of the amazing costumes that were conceived by Kentaur, a Hungarian costumer who has worked on a number of European productions (many the equivalent of off-Broadway, but quite a few mainstage), as well as the ever-fascinating Sue Blane. Let’s take a look!

Where to even begin with designs like these! To start with, I absolutely love that the 19th century inspirations are on full display: we’ve got hoop skirts, we’ve got riding cloaks, we’ve got morning coats, we’ve got (in the background) large and decorative hats, and on the main character (Graf von Krolok as played by Thomas Borchert) at stage left there is what appears to be a hybrid of leather and brocade on a waistcoat. In fact, let’s take a little closer look at our main character in another scene:

This entire costume is spectacular, and shows the characteristic mixing of styles that makes a Sue Blane production so utterly fascinating to analyze. The waistcoat definitely has a combination of fabric and leather, giving the Graf a hard-edged appearance that even the pale makeup and prosthetic fangs wouldn’t have accomplished on their own. The pants/trousers are leather-esque (I doubt they’re entirely leather; as I’ve mentioned before, stage costumes need to be able to breathe a little bit because of the heat of the stage lights) and give off a very masculine feel. The riding cloak (more commonly a cape, but as I recall, a cape generally doesn’t have as much luxury put into it) is simple in a way, but the rich crimson satin folds and bunches to create a mixture of light and shadow that is absolutely necessary in a dark production like Tanz der Vampire. 

I also love that the color of the cape’s interior is so dark a red; remember that this is a production about vampires first and foremost. The crimson puts one in mind of the blood the creatures are compelled to drink in order to stay alive, and that’s a good choice in costumery; playing on what people expect to see is not always a bad thing, especially when you want your production to have an element of pastiche, that is to say, an element of mix-and-match that you do not necessarily find with traditional theatre. The color also provides a fantastic contrast to the rest of Graf von Krolock’s costume, which is done in shades of black (and black does have shades…try matching a set of black socks for proof!), deep purples, and a few hints of very deep blue on the waistcoat.

The waistcoat itself is quite different, and I like it. Rather than a simple, straightforward cloth cut, Ms Blane has added a bit of beadwork that you might not otherwise expect in a male costume. As I’ve mentioned several times, however, that’s…really not unusual for her. Everything about this costume is designed to have a bit of a wow factor; it may not be the most visually appealing costume, but it will be the most visually stunning costume on stage. In that sense, it puts me in mind of Ms Blane’s master production work on The Rocky Horror Picture Show: the idea here is to go for over-the-top camp rather than going for a specific style, as one of Ms Blane’s costume sketches shows:

It would be wrong, however, to say there is no overall theming and that the costumes of the Vienna production are simply a pastiche of vampire tropes. The costumes for the vampires fit that mold, but I think there is a good reason for this: in dealing with a dark subject and trying to make it a bit humorous (this is a Roman Polanski production, after all), it is important to inject that humor into the costumes as well. None of the vampires look ridiculous, as the first still shows, but they are visually different. It’s an effort to make the macabre into the mundane, and it’s done spectacularly well–all the while maintaining the Graf’s look as intimidating and frightening.

The work on the costumes for the human characters is no less impressive and visually appealing. Take, for example, the red dress worn by the female lead, Sarah (Marjan Shaki). It’s a hoop skirt that flows and bends and is in a shade of crimson that is rather similar to the cape worn by her captor, the Graf. It’s not an exact match, however, and I can’t help but wonder if that’s intentional; by making the dress a bit lighter, there’s a slight sense of innocence granted to the character that isn’t present in the vampire holding onto her. There’s a closeup from another perspective, this time of the dress resting on a chair, that lets us look a bit more in-depth (adapted from a still from the production company):

While the stage lighting here gives us a more rust-color, the image from earlier does show that it’s a bright, vibrant red. The dress overall is in satin, which is quite appropriate for the era in which the musical is set, and it has a flowing effect as a result. The bodice/bust is decorated with quite a bit of beadwork, though not much in the way of jewelled adornment; that doesn’t surprise me, because I associate a Sue Blane production with focusing more on beading than jewels (in part because she started out with low-budget productions, and designers tend to remember those lessons their entire career). There’s also a bit of fringing available, which I think is Ms Blane’s way of giving a subtle nod to the stage productions of the era Tanz is set in. Early theatre’s easiest way of making a gown look fancy was to add fringing to the external portions of the dress, and in this case we see a bit of it on the hoop skirt/bell of the dress, as well as earlier on Ms Shaki’s arms where the dress is supported. I’ll have more on the Red Dress when I do the Paris review because it’s an even more spectacular example, but I thought it important to give some attention to the Vienna original as well!

There’s one more group scene I want to take a look at from the Vienna production. This one showcases quite a few of the human characters and it’s interesting to look at for a couple reasons. One, there doesn’t appear to be quite as much pastiche as there is in the costumes for the vampires that started out this review, and two, Ms Blane has done something to the costumes here to give them a very muted appearance:

For those who are familiar with classic 19th century-set musicals like Les Misérables, many of these may look a little bit familiar. The common tropes of underclass clothing are present here, but through her use of color and design, Ms Blane is making quite clear just how ordinary these people are. There is little to no adornment on any of the costumes, and they are presented as they come: there are wrinkles in the barmaid’s apron, the jackets on the men appear to be dusky and dusty at the same time, and everything is just so much more simple than the costumes for the vampires or the Sarah character. That’s by design; when you want to draw a stark contrast, you need to do that through your use of color and fabric choice. Notice I didn’t say any of these costumes look cheap because they absolutely do not. Rather, they look simple by comparison, and that’s a positive. These aren’t designed to be the more memorable pieces, and indeed that helps us to remember the pieces on Sarah and the vampires. The one exception here is the Alfred character (played by Lukas Perman) in the red coat; it’s still a relatively simple, muted design, but it does stand out and ties in to the red theme we saw earlier with Sarah’s dress and the Graf’s cape.

Also, I really dig the strands of garlic that are being worn by about half the ensemble members in this shot. It’s a nice hat-tip to the classic trope of vampires being unable to stand the smell of garlic, and while it may be a part of the book of the musical, for Ms Blane to somehow make them appear even more silly than the idea of garlic as vampire-bane itself is really an accomplishment.

Tanz der Vampire is a campy, raucous musical that has a costume designer and set of costumes to match. I like that the vampiric costumes are a pastiche of different designs, while for the most part the mortal designs are quite a bit more subdued. In some ways, it makes me long for the Austrian production reviewed here to do a national tour in the United States; the English translation of Tanz spectacularly flopped on Broadway, but that had more to do with the timing (it debuted scant months after 9/11 when the theatre was already seeing reduced sales) and the controversy surrounding the casting and design (read a bit on Michael Crawford’s role if you want more detail). 

But I think that the musical as costumed by Sue Blane could do quite well here if ever given the chance. I know any number of people in the theatre community who got their start doing Rocky Horror midnight showings and paying homage to Ms Blane’s costume designs in the movie and original stage show. There is real potential for this to become a cult classic in the States if it were put on by the right people and used the right costumes–preferably an updated version designed by Ms Blane herself.

That about wraps up my Vienna review. Later on this week, I’ll take a look at another of the successful productions of Tanz, this time the Paris production entitled Le Bal des Vampires. It got mixed reviews from the foreign press, but Paris Match certainly enjoyed it and heaped praise on the costume design, so I’m pretty sure it’s going to be an interesting review!

Stay tuned!

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THE CAST FOR TANZ DER VAMPIRE (Ronacher, 2017)

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Tanz der vampire gifs

I just love this musical oh my god ❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

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Sarah and Alfred - a tragic “love” story?

I know this will get long, but please, I beg you, read the whole thing. Something that I keep seeing is people talking about how Sarah doesn’t care about Alfred, never liked him and could never like him or how actresses can decide how to play the part and I feel like we need to look at the libretto a little bit closer. Or, to be more accurate, for once think of a song that people seem to forget about.

I know that Draußen ist Freiheit is basically the “big” Alfred and Sarah song. It makes sense, it’s only the two of them, it’s a beautiful song etc. A song that happens quite a bit before that, though, and that is incredibly important to the show, is Nie geseh’n, and people tend to forget about that song.

I’m not going to translate the entire song and put the lyrics in here, but let’s talk about the general meaning for a moment: Alfred and Sarah are both singing about how nice and lovely the other is, how they have never seen someone like that. “Since we met, everything I do makes sense”. “Instead of sleeping, I’m wondering if you can guess what I am dreaming”. “Since we met, I only feel you”. “If I ever fall in love then I will surely love someone just like you, or I will never rest”.

Sounds a lot like a crush, doesn’t it? The important thing here is: Sarah is all on her own. She isn’t talking to anyone else, not her mother, not a friend, not Alfred directly. She is talking to herself, which means that everything she says is meant exactly the way she says it. One doesn’t say things they don’t mean when they’re talking to themselves.

I’m not saying that her crush is as strong as Alfred’s is; it is obviously possible that Sarah is so excited about someone being there that she believes her feelings are stronger than they actually are. But that doesn’t change anything about the fact that she does indeed like him and that the crush is there.

That changes later in the show, obviously, and most of what we see of her is Sarah wanting to get away from Alfred. I get that since we mainly see her wanting to get away from him, people ignore these three minutes in which she’s crushing on him, but hear me out, yes?

In Du bist wirklich sehr nett, Sarah uses Alfred to get the bathroom. She really wants that bath. She likes bathing. The thing is: Alfred just happens to be there. Except from her parents, who forbade her to use the bathroom, it could have been literally anyone. Sarah didn’t know it would be Alfred using the bathroom. She only heard someone in there and decided to take a chance. It could have been Magda. Hells, it could have been Abronsius. The only reason why it’s Alfred is because we need them to actually talk to each other so Alfred’s love for her makes sense. Sarah didn’t use Alfred because it’s him, but because he was the one who was there.

Then we have Draußen ist Freiheit. What happens here is actually incredibly important. Sarah has never felt good at home, that’s obvious. She’s been locked in her room for most likely years, and now her father even hit her after using the bathroom. That’s abuse. Sarah is in the situation of feeling so horrible at home that she simply cannot stay there anymore, and she wants to run with the first person who offers her a place to go to because anywhere is better than home. “I can’t handle it anymore”.“In there, I’d suffocate”. She doesn’t say that to be dramatic. She truly wants and needs freedom, because she’s in a toxic home.

The problem? Alfred doesn’t get that. He is nothing but kind and he means well, I’m definitely not denying that, but he doesn’t understand that Sarah’s home is such a horrible place that she needs to leave. Instead of listening to her and trying to find a better solution, he asks her to stay home.

Think of it as if it was you: You’re telling someone you trust that your parents abuse you, that staying at home is no option at all. But instead of trying to help you, the person insists on you staying with your family. That’s not what you want to hear, and, more importantly, it implies that this abuse is okay. If Alfred had offered to take her away, she most likely would have agreed. It’s not that she desperately wants to go to Dark Vampire Dude™; she wants to be free, to get away from her parents. Krolock is just the only option she has, and so she goes for it.

The next time they meet is in the bathroom in act two. At this point, Krolock has been nothing but kind to Sarah. It doesn’t matter if he means that or if he’s just acting in order to get an easy meal. The point is: Sarah is being treated with respect for the first time in her entire life. She can bathe, she actually gets nice clothes etc. And then Alfred walks by and tells her to leave all of that behind.

Remember Harry Potter who was happy to stay at Hogwarts during the holidays because it meant he didn’t have to see the Dursleys? Yeah. Now imagine forcing him back there during the Christmas holidays. Literally the same.

It’s cruel to ask someone to go back to a place where they only get hurt. Sarah sends him away, not because she dislikes Alfred, but because he’s asking something of her that she could never agree to. He’s asking her to go to a place where she will be locked in again, where her father will hit her again for running away (since Sarah doesn’t know Chagal has been turned).

And those aren’t interpretations, it’s all literally in the libretto. Sarah and Alfred could have worked out, in some way. The tragic thing about them is that they actually care about each other (Nie geseh’n, friends. That song is a thing and yes, you can definitely take it literally because nothing else would make sense); they just don’t understand each other.

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straight up my favourite moment in tanz der vampire

when orlock does his teleportation trick from the top of the house

into the room where sarah is taking a bath

his grand entrance is interrupted for a second as he’s like “oH you’re naked”

but then he just carries on making his case

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VÁMPÍROK BÁLJA 10YEAR ANNIVERSARY

So, the Hungarian Tanz der Vampire production started in 2007, and the anniversary season was/is this year from the 1st of June until the 7th :D I went on the 5th and 6th(with wildlingcorner!) as well. It was fantastic.

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 Szemenyei János’ Herbert von Krolock (2017.06.08) (the photos are from an older show, not mine)

OH MY GOSH. He is one of a kind, that’s for sure xD If I had to describe this Herbert with only a couple of words it would be “crazy, uncontrollable and animalistic”. So I guess many would find him too harsh or too much, maybe not gay enough (he doesn’t have that gay-vibe, only craziness), but he is my favourite one xD 

So in today’s show in “Wenn Liebe in dir ist” he was phenomenal xD Incredibly too much but phenomenal. He was very intense, was snorting like a horse and trembling with excitement, power and desire. He even jumped like a kid on sugar when he started to sing about inviting Alfred to the ball and describing the event xD He was rough, harsh, and batshit crazy. That craziness was quite palpable when he came back after biting into the book. He stood behind Alfred, kept licking between his teeth quite obscenely and looking at poor Alfred like a predator xD And when Alfred turned he said “Helló babám” (Hello, baby!) and started giggling like mad xD And during the rolling on the floor part he was randomly giggling like a madman xD That was the hysterical part. Then ofc the processor came and hit him with the umbrella :”D and he was stroking his aching behind after it, and then he went to the middle of the stage, hissed at the audience and left xD 

(and on Tuesday he even licked Alfred’s face xD)

I don’t think his is a traditional Herbert, but I love the actor, love the character xD And it was wierd meeting the actor himself for an autograph because he looked like a normal guy xD After that performance I wasn’t sure what to think xD But in his other role that I’ve seen him in he was quite intense as well. So he is that kind of guy I guess :D Does the part perfectly *-*

an older video of his Wenn Liebe in dir ist, which isn’t as extra as today’s was (it’s really nothing compared to today’s xD), but still gives an impression of his Herbert :3

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Herbert (Max Meister) with watercolour and fineliner

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Will he ever get bored with pulling strange faces? (I hope not)

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Vámpírok Bálja 10 years anniversary show(s) (6th and 7th of June)

So last Tuesday (and Wednesday as well) I returned to magical fantasy world where everyone sings about their feelings and cuts vegetables to the rhythm of the music. This time in Hungarian. Yes, I went to Budapest for the anniversary show and one “normal” show (both with @phantasmagoricfebruary​ which made the whole experience ten times better). It was awesome. Worth every penny (also Budapest is a really nice city, if anyone wants, I can write about my trip as well).

While I loved Russian vampires, in Budapest you can really feel that they’ve been doing this for ten years. And I mean it as a compliment. Actors are great in their roles and the whole cast seems more like a giant family rather than people connected just through work. It was great. I don’t have anything more sophisticated to say other than great. Anyway, obviously I’m not going to end it at that, I just have to write like ten pages outlining every single song. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t. Like always - all the magic happens under the cut.

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