Shows you have seen in foreign languages

[Fantod]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 12:27am

Los Miserables in Madrid (Spanish)
Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder in Munich (German)

What about you guys?

Updated On: 1/5/15 at 12:27 AM

[binau]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 12:31am

Does LuPone's Tony performance of Anything Goes count?

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 12:33am

I saw a bootleg of "Das Phantom der Oper" starring Uwe Kröger, if that counts.

It was pretty funny.

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 12:41am

I haven't SEEN any, but I've listened to a bunch of cast albums in different languages:

1) My Fair Lady -- German
2) My Fair Lady -- Hebrew
3) POTO -- German
4) POTO -- Dutch
5) POTO -- Korean
6) POTO -- Spanish
7) POTO (2004 Soundtrack) -- Italian

AND a whole bunch of them in "British English" instead of "American English."

I do not advise seeing a live show in another language unless you already know the book and score -- I'm sure it's much more frustrating than seeing a foreign language opera, because the story itself is not as important in opera.

One thing I found interesting about listening to POTO in Spanish (a language with which I am somewhat familiar): I was able to tell in a few instances where the translation was not literal, in order to fit the rhyme or meter. "Music of the Night" becomes "Music of the Darkness" (Oscuridad), which slightly changes the meaning.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 12:47am

"Angels in America" in Dutch.

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 12:58am

"One thing I found interesting about listening to POTO in Spanish (a language with which I am somewhat familiar): I was able to tell in a few instances where the translation was not literal, in order to fit the rhyme or meter. 'Music of the Night' becomes 'Music of the Darkness' (Oscuridad), which slightly changes the meaning."


Interesting you say that, because the 1989 Vienna production did the exact same thing (Musik der Dunkelheit).

Updated On: 1/5/15 at 12:58 AM

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 2:29am

I saw:

Bronx Bombers in Fanagalo
Soul Doctor in Esperanto
Bonnie and Clyde done by Navajo Code Talkers
And
Holler If Ya Hear Me done entirely in mime (does that count as a language?)


I'm really beginning to think this is all an experiment and Fantod is doing a 10th grade Social Studies paper on how obscure he can make these questions before people just stop responding altogether.

[jo]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 2:51am

Having seen the show on Broadway and the West End, I wanted to see the show in its original language, and went to see LES MISERABLES in Paris in 1992, at the Mogador Theatre. It was not the original musical created by Boublil and Schonberg in 1980( which was performed at Palais des Sports) but a re-translation back to French of the Mackintosh production.

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 3:19am

Jo, I read that, while the Boublil-Schoenberg French version of Les Miz did well in France, the French were not too enamored of the version you saw (a re-translation into French of the English-language version). Apparently, French people did not believe that it was true to French culture.

Audrey

[Fantod]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 3:28am

FishermanBob, I was just curious. This question isn't really all that obscure, and you never know what kind of answers people might give. Your uncalled for rudeness, however, is ridiculous and unbecoming.

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 3:42am

No ruder than someone like you who lacks the maturity to simply say you didn't care for something and has to call things ugly, horrendous etc. You've got a lot of growing up to do, kid.

[helvizz]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 3:48am

I've seen Next to Normal and The Producers in Portuguese, but I speak that language.

And I've listened to a La Cage cast recording in Spanish (the Mexican one, I think), a language I don't understand. Not really my cup of tea (listening to musicals in languages I can't speak), but it was a nice experience.

[Fantod]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 4:05am

So you want me, when I think something is ugly or horrendous, to say "oh, my opinions don't matter because I'm so young and if you disagree with me, you're probably right, but I just had a differing opinion from somebody else, but I'm probably wrong about my opinion because I'm immature and stupid". Ok. Got it. I didn't realize that this was a place where only some peoples' opinions had value, and that I wasn't allowed to personally find something ugly or horrendous.

[Lovinbroadway2]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 4:20am

Anyone can have any opinion for art, like theater...

Updated On: 1/5/15 at 04:20 AM

[jo]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 4:24am

Audrey,

The original French production was commercially successful, having been seen by almost half a million over a short run of over a few months time. The staging was different, though, because it was more like a series of tableaux. The Mackintosh production was not all that different in terms of the musical score - except for some changes in the songs and who sang the songs (such as On My Own was originally L'Air de la Misere and sang by Fantine), new songs ( such as Bring Him Home was originated by Colm Wilkinson and Empty Chairs which was originated by Michael Ball in the London production), more emphasis on Gavroche ( whose songs were eventually truncated in the British version, etc.

But many of the melodies were essentially the same ( except for the new songs and some editing of some of the songs) and Boublil and Schonberg were joined by Herbert Kretzmer.

Also, Valjean was a baritone, as originally composed for the 1980 French production) instead of a tenor.

But I don't know why the Mogador production would be shunned by the French audiences. In the same way, the film adaptation was also not a major hit in France, unlike the UK where it ran massive box office numbers.

Jo



Updated On: 1/5/15 at 04:24 AM

[jo]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 4:24am

Fortunately, they re-released the original concept album based on the original Paris production some ten years later in 1990/1991. There is also a cast recording of the Mogador production. Updated On: 1/5/15 at 04:24 AM

[temms]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 11:26am

Several. "Elisabeth" in Vienna, which was of course, its original language. Also "Tanz Der Vampire" in Berlin which was such a better show than what was at the Minskoff.

I saw a fantastic "Cabaret" at Theater Des Westens in Berlin in 1993 that was done all in German except for the Cabaret songs - "Mein Herr", "Cabaret", "Money" but with the book songs all in German. (And "If You Could See Her", for some reason - I remember it as "Seht Ihr Sie Mit Meinem Augen".) "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" in German is pretty intense, and this production used the movie device of starting the song with a child singing solo.

I also saw a semi-pro "Sweet Charity" on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg where the dialogue was all in German but the songs were in English. It made for a very funny foreign ad lib from the Charity - it was a very elderly audience and they made a lot of noise and dropped a lot of things on the floor throughout the show. During the "Where Am I Going" Reprise, Charity sang the line "Looking inside me, what do I -" and at that moment somebody dropped a hard plastic glass that noisily rolled down the entire length of the auditorium, and she paused for a moment and sang "….hear?" which I thought was quite clever for someone singing in a foreign language.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 11:45am

Dance of the Vampires - German
Nine - German
Hunchback of Notre Dame - German
Saturday Night Fever - Spanish
Man of La Mancha - Spanish
Hoy, No Me Puedo Levantar - Spanish
Art - Spanish

[Fantod]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 11:47am

I bet Man of La Mancha was great in Spanish. Care to share any details of that production?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 11:58am

It was a TERRIBLE production in Madrid (actually, a revival of a 1998 Madrid production). The music was pre-recorded. The staging was horrible using projections and bad lighting where the projections could be seen on the actors themselves. The entire minimalist concept was axed including the choreography. Instead of the horse dance, they wheeled out Quixote and Sancho on a wooden horse and mule in an attempt to mimic a statue in Madrid. There was nothing great about it at all. It was like bad community theatre, but set in one of Madrid's major theatres and billed as a professional production.

Updated On: 1/5/15 at 11:58 AM

[Fantod]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 12:08pm

Oh, that's a bummer. I would eventually like to see the show in Spanish done well, as Don Quixote is so much better in Spanish.

Updated On: 1/5/15 at 12:08 PM

[Paciencia y fe]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 1:15pm

Evita in Spanish (Madrid)

[viola13]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 4:25pm

I saw Les Mis in Prague, done in Czech, and Chicago in Copenhagen, in Danish, both in 2007. Chicago was a replica production of the revival, Les Mis was a non-replica production they've been doing on and off for years. It was the same Valjean as the one who sang during the 10th Anniversary Concert finale.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 5:46pm

Disney's "Der Glöckner von Notre Dame" in Berlin.

[valeposh]

Posted: 1/5/15 at 6:03pm

Grease, Singing in the Rain and Seven Wives for Seven Brothers in Italian. Grease was the best one as far as translations and staging.