Clips from Polanski's Musical, 'Vampire Killers'

[romantico]

Posted: 6/29/08 at 8:35pm

I never knew this actually materialized.




The production numbers look fun and even though its all in German, you can still figure out whats going on. "Fearless
Vampire Killers" is one of my all time favorite movies, so I really got a kick out of seeing this.








Polanski directed this in Vienna I believe.


"Director Roman Polanski, the cast and creative team gathered for the start of rehearsals for a musical spoof on vampire killers, Tanz der Vampire or Dance of the Vampires. The $7 million musical is based on a 1967 film Polanski directed and co-starred in with his wife, the late Sharon Tate.

The stage musical, which will premiere Oct. 4 at Vienna's 1,215-seat Raimund Theatre, has music by rock composer Jim Steinman, who was lyricist to Andrew Lloyd Webber on the aborted American production of Whistle Down the Wind. Book and lyrics are by Michael Kunze, a well-known international writer and lyricist, foreign language adaptor (he is the preferred collaborator of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Sondheim) and TV writer. In addition to numerous Gold and Platinum record awards and Grammys for his songs, Kunze wrote the 1992 musical Elisabeth (about Empress Elisabeth of Austria), still a hit in Vienna. It's also played Tokyo and Budapest."

"This is Polanski's first stage musical. "But I have directed operas (Rigoletto at Munich Opera; Lulu at Italy's Spoleto Festival), plays and plays with lots of music, Amadeus, Master Class."

He first did Amadeus in 1981 in his native Poland, where he also starred in it. He revived the production, two years later in Paris (as director). In 1988, he created the lead role in Stephen Berkoff's Paris stage adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis. In 1996, in Paris he directed film star Fanny Ardant in Terrence McNally's Master Class.

Vampire CostumeFor the new musical, Polanski is surrounded by veteran theatre artists. "It's a multi-national project," Polanski laughed. "We have an American composer, a German lyricist and book writer; an American choreographer, Dennis Callahan; a creative team from England; dancers from Europe and the States; and a Polish director who speaks French, German, and English"

(more here:)


http://www.jimsteinman.com/vpreview.htm





Anyway, the clips are pretty fun! Would love to see this come to Broadway!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w57nDzoHiCc

Updated On: 6/29/08 at 08:35 PM

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 6/29/08 at 10:20pm

Opening up a can of worms here.....

You mean something like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbP_DQW87JM