Any Elisabeth fans on here? — Page 2

Oh my god

While this show isn't what I'd call bad (it isn't what I'd call good either), I hope it would get a translator who fixes the lyrics. And an orchestrator who banishes the overly synthesizeresque 80ies sound in the orchestrations.

The first thing it needs is an English translation that doesn't suck. ("The Shades of Night are Growing?" Honestly?!)

The 1996 Live, 2004 Highlights and 2005 Live CDs are with Maya Hakvoort who is definitely an acquired taste (and one I can't stand despite being the only one I've seen live). Personally I don't think she pulls off young!Elisabeth well and her style of emoting is painful to listen to at times.

Pia is on the 1992 Vienna, 1999 Netherlands and 2003 Essen CDs. The Essen CD is my favourite, and is really the OMGBIG numbers from the show. The 1992 CD fills in most of the gaps and has a lusher orchestration, but I really don't feel like the show came together until the 1996 revisions (and I prefer the German libretto overall vs. the Austrian one). The Netherlands CD is nice, but not my fave. If you do go for the 2003 CD, it was reissued in 2006 with a few new tracks from the Stuttgart cast featuring Maike Borderam as Elisabeth. A lot of people hate her, but I don't mind her when she's on such as her numbers on the Tenth Anniversary Concert CD (though she can sound like a strangled cat when she's having a bad night).

In terms of Japanese cast recordings (since you didn't ask), everybody has a favourite, everybody has ones they can't stand.

" ("The Shades of Night are Growing?" Honestly?!)"

well, that's the literal translation, but I took it to mean shadows

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Definitely agree with you there about Maike exedore! Sometimes she hits the notes beautifully, but other times she just makes me think WTH? Why did she try to announciate that particular word in that way?! Case in point being 'Ich gehor nur mir' and 'Wenn ich tanzen will' on the Stuttgart cast recording. She makes a very beautiful Elisabeth, and her charisma reminds me a lot of Pia (though somtimes it *seems* as if she's trying to copy Pia in a lot of ways) but lacks a certain dignity in the role, perhaps due to her youthfullness. The best comparison I can make of Maike is of Frances Ruffelle on the Les Miserables OLCR. She sounds incredibly whiny like that, and when she's in the upper-register...

Maya on the other hand; now that's a different story. I hate the Vienna Live Recording, and when I first saw Maya, she just reminded me of a 'feral' being for lack of a better word. It's the way that she held herself, and the way that she sometimes thrust herself around. She just wasn't quite the refined Elisabeth I was used to with Pia. Over the years though, I've quite warmed to her, at least to the way she sings, and the expression she puts into her words. I know she isn't much better (vocally wise) than Maike sometimes, but I think you expect it much more with Maya - it goes hand in hand not just with her actions, but also with her look; she has got these stern and straight facial features which translate well with the way she interprets the role.

I love this musial and seen it several times.

Pia Douwes told me in an interview two years ago that she preferred the Essen version from 2001.

Personally I hate the original Vienna version for as far as it concerns the horrible sets. I guess if you’re from Germany or Austria you’ll ‘get it’, to me it was just awful. They released an official dvd with the complete Vienna show in 2005. It features Maya Hakvoort as Elisabeth (she’s played the part in Vienna since Pia left) and Mate Kamaras as The Death (He’s a hunk, but he's off key a lot!)

I think the 2006 cast recording (red cover, white logo) is the most complete to get. It sounds less dated. The original 1992 cast recording sounds as if it’s 25 years old.

Personally I love the Dutch version, with Pia performing the songs in her own language. But the dutch cast recording is a very flat studio recording. There’s also a Dutch soundboard of the first preview floating around which is very good.

There’s a very good synopsis on this site: http://www.theatre-musical.com/

PS. There’s an English demo of the musical Rebecca with Pia Douwes as Mrs. Danvers, Maike Boerdam as Ich/I and Uwe Kroeger as Maxim de Winter. It gives a good impression of the show.

PPS. Picture of Pia as Elisabeth and Addo Kruizinga as Rudolf in the dutch version of Elisabeth.

Updated On: 3/12/08 at 02:11 PM

Pia Douwes' Elisabeth is absolute perfection. She ages the character so graefully and nails every idiosyncracy. Maya Hakvoort plays the role very straightforward and potently. I prefer Douwes by miles, but Hakvoort certainly has her moments. The only problemis, Douwes is believable as a royal, Hakvoort, not so much.

I feel that the best scenario would be the Essen libretto with the Vienna look (with revisions for the world market). The Essen sets dwarfs its characters, and Vienna always focused a lot more on the politics of the story. With the Vienna set's sharpness, the characters' emotions could be all the more emphasized.

I've thought of how some song titles could be changes. "Die Schatten..." could be anything such as "The Darkness Creeps and Conquers"....or whatever.

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I'm a HUGE fan of this piece. When I got it I spent about 3 months doing my own translation of it. (I took Germen in school) As much as I love it, it would need some revisions to play well on Broadway.

Pia will not play on April 30....

She wasn't Roxie, she played Velma.

i read on her fansite that Pia will play Elisabeth till juli 6.
And April 16,17,18, 23,24,25,30 and Mai 1, she will not play

Okay...so I have tried to digest all of your wonderful analysis of the different recordings AND the various Sissy's, but I remembered a friend had seen it, loved it, and bought the recording. It is indeed the 1996 recording with Maya. Since that one was free, if I like the music, I will get the Essen recording. I'm not sure if I can stop listening to "Rebecca" however. That Rigvava-Dumas does things to me!

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I am SO jealous. Is the staging still the same as the 2005 DVD? SOme of it is kinda hella lame, in my opinion.