Will there ever be a full English-language production of "Elisabeth"?

[musicaltheatrefan3]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 3:41pm

?

Pia's "I Belong To Me" is great, but do you think the show will ever play in the West End or Broadway?

[winston89]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 3:47pm

It was announced a while ago that this show is going to come to Broadway with the full original creative team. This is good because this means that we can't have another mistake like we did with Dance of The Vampires.

[musicaltheatrefan3]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 3:53pm

I think that was "Rebecca" that was announced for Broadway. That is by the same people who wrote "Elisabeth", however "Rebecca" is MUCH newer and "Elisabeth" is far more popular. "Elisabeth" has played in Austria (obviously, that's where it started), Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Hungary, Italy, Sweden, Finland, The Netherlands, and it's coming to Belgium, but there has never been any talk of a full English-language production. I first saw "Elisabeth" this July, when I was in Berlin, and I own 4 Vienna CDs, 1 from the Scheveningen production and one from the Essen production. I have never seen it in Austria, because I have never even been to Austria before.

[A Fleur De Toi]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 7:09pm

I sure hope so. It's long overdue.

Finally a sensible thread, mtf3. :P

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 8:03pm

Right?

I say if Rebecca's a hit, bring Sissi on over here.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 10:56pm

I read somewhere that when the show first opened in 1992, Cameron Mackintosh was invited to the show (obviously to potentially get him to produce it internationally), however he did not like it. Since the original production, the show has improved upon itself...it is now has much more of a thrilling pop/rock arrangement, and the evening is much more fine-tuned and stellar. Critics for the expanded Vienna production in 2003 noted this and were impressed that the show was better with age and change.

Bring this over...I'd love to see either an adaptation of the Vienna production (so it's more accessible to non-Austrian audiences), or a new interpretation.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 11:05pm

Here's a link to the best newer song in the show from the commercially released 2005 DVD of the Vienna re-staging. The subtitles are fan created, but are fairly accurate from what I gather.

ETA: One mistake from the subtitle that should be corrected: It should say "If I want to dance" NOT "When I want to dance".
Wenn ich tanzen will

Updated On: 10/9/08 at 11:05 PM

[caitlinette]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 2:07am

winston, do you have a link to that announcement?

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 7:56am

One person said on this board that the Vienna production and the Essen libretto would be the best bet for Broadway? I personally think whoever said that is right.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 2:34pm

^I've thought of that at the least, so I do not know if I've ever mentioned it here. I firmly believe that the Viennese-based production with an Essen-based libretto would do the trick.

For the most part, the Vienna production would work amazingly on an international level because its abstract and twisted atmosphere would really get people involved. The only scenes that would need some major re-staging would be "Nichts ist schwer" and "The Apokolypse"...could be the same concept, but I think most people would be confused by bumper cars in a coffee house and a song sung on top of a giant Habsburg symbol...