Profile for g.d.e.l.g.i.

Well, to quote a mad scientist from a recent revival, I didn't make him for you.

Okay, I'll bite: what the ****?

As the resident "undead musical" historian around these parts (by which I mean the two major Jesus ones, plus the Jim Steinman brand of fanged fun-seekers), let me do my part to acquaint some of you with the European version of Dance of the Vampires. Poor substitute for the live experience, but hopefully close enough!

This playlist will take you to a collection of pro-shots (okay, and upscaled "slime tutorials," as the kids say) of the original Polanski production. (The first three will give you some hint of its original Vienna vibe, but anything after that is closer to what you would have seen on tour in Germany in recent years, including the extended "Red Boots Ballet"/"Say a Prayer" sequence, to give them their American titles, which replaced what used to be there and is, IMO, a massive improvement. The show itself, besides that major replacement, has been significantly trimmed down over the years, mostly for the better, so I'll forgive you if you restrict yourself to newer videos. And before you start your "BUT IT'S IN GERMAN!" number, the majority of them have English subtitles.)

This one will show you the slightly newer revival version (as seen in Budapest, Russia, and Vienna) that my pal Eric saw, which boasted some new designs by that European wunderkind Kentaur.

(I have another one with non-replica productions from Poland to Slovakia, Japan to Switzerland, even a bootleg Spanish translation in Mexicali, but let's leave it at two for now.)

You'll rapidly discover that it's not necessarily darker than its American counterpart, just better at balancing tone; scary at some points, hilarious at others. If anything, it calls to mind George Abbott's aphorism about how it won't work if you play it for comedy, but it will if you play it for real.

Does it work better? Well, almost 11,000 performances in 13 languages in 15 countries, selling nearly 11 million tickets, over close to 30 years... You do the math!

Yes.

To quote Miss Cratchett, "How long has that been going on?"

I'm gonna laugh if this douchebag causes a spike in ticket sales from sheer curiosity factor.

Alex Kulak2 said: "I used to watch him on YouTube. He's a very talented musician, and some of his videos were pretty funny before he started trying to become the Ben Shapiro of Broadway. It's a shame he decided to throw that all away to become a provocateur."

Oh, it wasn't a sudden decision. He's always been an asshole with a veneer of funny. Ask anyone in the Jersey theater scene who's ever been around him for even a short time.

Me.

shomeika said: "MickeyJo is sooooooooooooooooooo dramatic, and goes on forever. Often what he says is on point, but it's likegurl, wrap this up in 10 mins or less, por favor."

The YouTube algorithm now favors long-form content. You want it concise, try TikTok.

MB124 said: "And now the Shouty Oracle is mopping rumors from BWW for his socials…"

If anything, it's the opposite. He's who I first heard this from.

Well, she's no Jim Bailey, but I suppose she'll have to do.

I wonder if they'll be using the Broadway book or the slightly revised version that the show toured the UK with.

Given the thrust of most of the replies to this thread, it seems like the only way this would work would be if you picked the biggest successes of the Encores! series (like Chicago's level of production values) and ran those, because a concert setting with some light dressing (set or otherwise) is probably the easiest way to pull off an idea like this.