Tanz Der Vampire review

I saw the show in Berlin and LOVED IT. It bears little resemblance to the mess they created on Broadway. It was a thrilling evening. The finale is really a coda that illustrates that despite the efforts of the Professor, the vampires had been freed to take over the world. I loved every moment from start to finish.

I'm planning on going to Stuttgart in December and catch Rebecca while I'm there.

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Great review! I'm going to Vienna next month and am hoping to catch this. Can I ask how much you paid for a ticket and where you sat?
I want to go but the tickets are so expensive... I really wish they have discounts or student tickets!

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Just to clear a few things up...

1. The 2009 Vienna revival is playing at the RONACHER Theatre. That's where I saw it last May.

2. What you saw WAS the original libretto! The show was heavily rewritten for the BROADWAY PREMIERE, the original premiere was in Vienna, in 1997.

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^ Double-parked, Eugene.

The even more interesting part is that this version has been ready to go for an English-speaking production since 2007. There is a brilliant finished English Tanz, commissioned by Jim Steinman and effected over the course of 22 drafts. Gernot Kranner (the original Abronsius) has seen it and can vouch for its existence and brilliance. There is even a good rough English demo of "Gott ist Tot," now entitled "Hungry for Love" (link below; right-click, Save As...).

The sad part? Because of the political morass and circumstance that surrounds the project, it is just sitting there. The Austrians will have nothing to do with it; they won't answer us, and neither will the lawyers. Steinman finally greenlit a private VIP reading in NYC (we can show the e-mails), and then allegedly got sick and is now incommunicado. We were getting ready to do it in the summer of 2010; we were interviewing people like David Bowie for the part of Krolock, and we were getting ready to ask Daniel Radcliffe to consider doing the reading as Alfred. We were contemplating a cast including Radcliffe for the finished production as well. There were no definite confirmations from anyone we asked, but everyone was enthusiastic when we were in talks.

But... now we can't reach Steinman, so we're not going to do it until we can confirm he's well enough to attend a reading. He stopped answering e-mails after greenlighting the reading last summer, and we're not going to get an investor to put up the 100K required until we know he can attend. We've got money sources, but before we could even talk to them, Jim stopped talking, and he was the one set to bring all the VIPs. It is horribly frustrating.

There have been rumors of a West End production separate from our own effort, but I can confirm from personal knowledge that there is no West End production currently scheduled in real life. If we were able to get this private reading event up in NYC, it is my guess that, at the discretion of the rights holders, should they allow it to go further, our production would be in London.


Hungry for Love

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Updated On: 5/19/11 at 09:13 AM

Thank you very much for your compliments on the demo!

The English lyrics in this version were by NYC-based auteur Richard Haase (the man behind the critically acclaimed all-black adaptation of Godspell which ran in Harlem in the late Nineties, and numerous original musicals as well) and his promising young creative associate Ashton Jaymz. Anyone who compares their rendition to a direct translation of Michael Kunze's German lyrics will find that it is very true to the German material, similar in form, meaning, and spirit, while also having its own unique sense of poetry, language, etc., geared to the sensibilities of an English-speaking audience.

And they managed to accomplish all this without adding even a single sponge of suspect shape.

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My apologies for dragging the thread off-topic with the following reply to emlodik's allegations. I have nothing to say in response to this obvious sock puppet (his three total posts in this thread are from a registration today, and of the three, two are a double post, and exactly one has relevance to the thread at hand) except that Mr. Haase's career is well-documented online and elsewhere.

* Witness my collection of links on his all-black production of Godspell in this thread, documented in Playbill, Theater World, New York Daily News, and other major periodicals: https://forum.broadwayworld.com/printthread.cfm?thread=1021410&boardid=0. I ask you, would this information exist if the production didn't actually happen?
* Links to information on some of Mr. Haase's original dramatic material, including High Tea (https://bit.ly/mpCwrN), Sirens (https://bit.ly/kufmjX), Millennium Man and its early variant Pericles (first four links at https://bit.ly/kkVujw), Star Crossed Lovers (https://bit.ly/mcRb3u), Excusez Moi (production listings at https://bit.ly/ijcbk8 and https://bit.ly/mrruLa), Cool to Be Earnest (https://bit.ly/jOuBPy), and Frederick Douglass (https://bit.ly/jGKWLU). Whatever else you can say about him, he has a substantial resume borne out by these listings. He is and has been the creator of original and/or adapted material performed on a public stage; of that there is no doubt.
* If Mr. Haase is lying about his work and credentials, then why did international best selling novelist and legendary literary figure Joyce MacIver (https://nyti.ms/lSJ1k9) have no problem working with him? If Mr. Haase is not known and respected in the industry, then why would Johnnie Cochran's office take him seriously and back him in a lawsuit against the authors of Shakespeare in Love for plagiarizing material from his original musical Star Crossed Lovers? (The announcement of the suit can be found in no less respected a source than People Magazine: https://bit.ly/kwuddg.)

Whatever this obvious troll figure claims, one thing he cannot claim is that Mr. Haase is a delusional tool lying about his work and credentials. There is plenty enough to provide evidence that he has in fact worked and does in fact have credentials. My use of this troll figure's first name was not an attempt at intimidation; it was merely an indication of familiarity with the person in question (i.e., I know his name, why shouldn't I call him by it?). For him to take it as anything else is ridiculous. I have never claimed at any time to be a producing genius, though this poster appending that label to me is accepted as a genuine compliment, for which my thanks. As for any allegations of misconduct on Mr. Haase's part toward anybody, it's a case of their word against a recent widower and father of two children who is not by any means ready to get back on the dating scene, much less go out of his way to sexually harass someone. Ashton would be very disappointed to read this assessment of himself from someone he considers a friend. Guess he'll have to re-think that view.

So... I found something to back up his "alleged 'artistry' and 'accomplishments'," Mr. Mlodik. All you had to do was ask.

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Updated On: 5/19/11 at 03:33 PM

Name-calling, belittling, and repetition of allegations as if the repetition will make them stick. Need I say more, folks?

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You seem insistent on reiterating our association with Mr. Jackson and his family. I am proud to be so associated. He was a remarkably successful artist, and is sorely missed around the world. Though I never directly met him myself, it was a privilege to work (through Mr. Haase) with Mr. Jackson and his family.

Are you about done, darling? Or is the name-calling still going to continue? I've got things to do with my day and a dinner to plan for this weekend; I can't keep coming back every hour or so to deal with you. And by the way, which point haven't I disproved exactly?

* Richard Haase is a loser, no one can find anything to back up his alleged "artistry" and "accomplishments"? Well, I gave you a whole list of articles related to various productions with which he was involved. That is a clear indicator at the very least of "accomplishments." No one could find anything? Then how did I? Point one debunked.
* Gibson thinks he can intimidate me by using the English spelling of my name... Okay, whatever.? As I said, we have familiarity with each other. How can you read intimidation tactics into my addressing you by your name? Point two, if you can even call that a point, dismissed.
* little Gibson claims to be a "producing genius" at the tender age of 20? You know as well as I that I have never made that claim to you or anyone else, nor have I ever used those words specifically, so putting them in quotes is a folly. Point three, again if you can call that a point, denied.

And I really had to scour your posts to find those points. You know why? Because you didn't make any. Come back from the sandbox when you've learned how to play.

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Updated On: 5/19/11 at 04:13 PM

Again with the name-calling and belittling language. I believe I've answered accurately and completely in kind with the way I have been treated. I move that these off-topic posts be split to another thread or otherwise removed. I wish for more productive discussion of Tanz der Vampire, a show I know and love, to continue unimpeded by idle accusation.

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Somebody explain on what planet telling someone that they double-posted in a thread is an attack, because I'm sure it's not Earth. "Tired old delusional claims"? If they're delusional, why is there evidence? If they're tired and old, why are you still talking about it?

As for talking crap about its creators, while I do have my disagreements with them from time to time, I have nothing but the utmost respect for the creators of Tanz and the fruit of their work.

Are you running out of steam? To paraphrase Mr. Steinman, "I can go all night. What's it gonna be, boy?"

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^ My sentiments exactly.

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I'll be glad to. Check your inbox (and I don't mean the one here) for a timeline of events and copies of all correspondence indicated in the timeline.

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