Review - Tanz der Vampire Wien, 26.05.2018

And here we are again – I returned from my short weekend trip to Vienna, where I finally had the pleasure to see Tanz at the Ronacher.

Since it’s been only a few days since I saw the German production, I thought I’d write another little review, maybe talk about some differences I have noticed between the shows.

Overall impression and theatre:

First big difference is of course the size and type of building.

While the musical dome in Köln is a huge hall, the Ronacher is a cute little theatre with beautiful balconies. I’m not sure if that was the reason, but the next thing I noticed was that the sound was much better here than in Köln. It was not as loud and it was well balanced with the vocals, so you could hear every word they sang perfectly.

I also quite liked the fact that the theatre was decorated on the outside with huge banners and the almost famous huge fangs, as well as the tiny bats on the ceiling of the foyer.

What really impressed me from the get-go was, apart from the music, the stunning visuals during the Overture. The whole animated part of the show was much more detailed and instead of playing the same clip of the castle back and forth, there was a pretty landscape and a cool 3-dimensional effect.

The only thing I could criticise is the microphone malfunction of Drew’s mic during Tanzsaal – seems gluing a maxi pad under his wig is not enough to stop his sweat from defeating the technicians XD

But since that’s no one’s fault (except global warming), it’s not something I blame on the production team.

Another huge plus is the fact that they had English subtitles playing for non-german speaking audience members!

The ensemble was just as incredible as the one in Köln was, their performances were energetic and you could tell they were really happy acting, singing and dancing their way through Transylvania.

I paid a bit more attention to them than to the ensemble in Köln because I knew some of them from Instagram, and it was fun to recognize some familiar faces. Filippo Strocchi and Abla Alaoui really stood out for me, and the former singing the nightmare solo was really incredible!

I also quite enjoyed the slightly altered ending, the reappearance of the Graf and the modern city background tied up some lose ends and make the finale more powerful and polished.

The costumes:

As predicted in the last Tanz review, I definitely prefer the Vienna costumes to the German ones. The intricate details on them, the sparkly stones on the Krolock cape and Sarah’s dress, but most of all the authenticity. Especially with the Ewigkeit costumes, they looked like real, century old dresses that people ascending from their graves might wear. There is one outfit I prefer in the German production though, and that is Herbert’s bathroom outfit. I love the big shirt with the huge sleeves that are perfect for dramatic gestures!

The Vienna outfit is still gorgeous of course, but it looks more like a modern-day silk pyjama.

The main cast:

Drew Sarich – Graf von Krolock

Ever since I discovered Tanz back in January, I have seen gifs and videos of Drewlock all over tumblr, and he was one of the main reasons I wanted to see the Vienna production live.

And damn, I was not disappointed.

From the aforementioned videos I knew that Drew was very good at the grafly holy trinity: walking, hands and cape swishing. He is a master of all three disciplines and it was so much fun seeing him in his element. He has an enormous presence, stalking through the aisle with a stone cold facial expression. I was having a dopey grin on my face when he walked by and felt like a mouse entranced by a snake – he could’ve bitten me and I would’ve let him 😉

His voice is almost as captive, from the first lines of Gott Ist Tot I was his. He has a way of making each line sound natural and unrehearsed, you can tell he is really trying to tell a story with all the resources he’s got. For example I love how in the moment before Sarah ‘interrupts’ him with her line “ich hör’ eine Stimme, die mich ruft” he inhales and almost starts to speak, only to be ‘startled’ by her voice and turning his head, as you would when hearing an unexpected sound. It’s details like this that make him my absolute favourite Krolock.

He also has a great comedic talent, the few moments where he interacts with the Professor and is supposed to relieve some tension were hilarious and full of funny details that are too many to list them all (a few of them made it to the memorable moments section further down though! 😉).

And of course, one of the most important aspect of the role (at least for me), is his ability to seduce not only Sarah (and Alfred), but also the audience. The Graf has to pull you in and ignite your desire to follow him into the darkness after all. And that is Drews specialty. His tone of voice, his elegant movements and his soft gestures all seem to be designed for this purpose alone. Until he is alone at the graveyard of course, then the mask crumbles and reveals deep longing and despair. We get small moments of that in ToFi as well, and it is incredible how layered Drews performance is. Add to that his inner battle against his vampiric nature and urges (like him baring his fangs every now and then only to try and get back the control, or his fast and aggressive movements only to slow down as if trying to calm his inner beast) and you have the perfect Graf.

Charles Kreische – Herbert von Krolock

Charles is an incredible Herbert. Herbert is one of my favourite roles in this show, and he fits it perfectly. He is playful and flirty with Alfred from the second he sees him, sends him interested looks from the first moment and obviously enjoys the attention unwillingly given by Alfred and very willingly given by the audience. Charles has an amazing voice, and while I loved his softer singing during Wenn Liebe In Dir Ist, I was blown away by his powerful vocals during Carpe Noctem. And what I also quite liked was the fact that even in the nightmare scene he had a few sassy moves that I have never seen any other Herbert do, which was a nice touch. (don’t get me started on what that means since the scene plays in Alfreds head, or we’ll still be here tomorrow :P).

The only thing that was a little bit disappointing was the fact that, due to Charles’ and Raphael’s non-existent height-difference, the dancing didn’t look as smooth and effortless as it did with Christian and Tom in the German production and it seemed much more rehearsed because of that.

But that’s no one’s fault and not due to a lack of talent on their part.

Raphael Groß – Alfred

I am completely in love with Raphi’s portrayal of Alfred. He is such a sweet, loveable guy which makes him a perfect contrast to the dangerous vampire Graf.

He is also very good at putting a lot of details into his performance, for example: he was breathing heavily and chattering with his teeth during He Ho He.

He had great chemistry with Charles as well as Diana, and normally I am not a huge fan of Für Sarah, but he made me aww 😊.

Diana Schnierer – Sarah Chagal

This was another perfectly cast role – Diana is a sweet girl and a great actress. She was very good at playing the naïve girl at first, then being torn between choosing the Graf and doing ‘the right thing’, only to succumb to his charm at the end of ToFi. You could tell that the feelings she had for Alfred during Nie Gesehn’ were pretty much gone in the bathroom scene after Bücher.

I loved her voice, it was beautiful and clear, just a tad frail at times during the belting parts of Die Roten Stiefel. But I can imagine that’s due to her youth and that her voice will only get stronger. She also has a light accent, which is very cute.

Sebastian Brandmeir – Professor Abronsius

Sebastian is a great Professor, there is not much to say about his solid performance.

After playing this role in multiple productions, Sebastian is definitely a pro and matches Victor Petersens talent. The only difference I noticed was that Victor managed to sing the fast parts of Wahrheit and Bücher with even more ease than Sebastian. But Sebastian’s comedic talent is just as great as Victors.

Nicolas Tenerani – Yoine Chagal

What I loved about Nicolas as Chagal was his little gestures and quirks – he made me laugh out loud with silly faces and movements a few times. Also a very good singer!

Memorable moments:

After this show I also managed to wait at the stage door for a bit – I met a few lovely people, including Drew Sarich, Charles Kreische and Abla Alaoui. They were all super nice and it was lovely to talk to them!

That’s all for now, if you guys want I can do another review for the next Vienna show, just let me know if you are interested! <3