Tanz Der Vampire

[chairboys]

Santa very kindly dropped a copy of this down the chimney for me at Christmas. I've just listened to it for the first time. Bloody Hell!!
Not sure what to make of it?
The second half, in particular, is just a medley of Jimmy's (great) tunes through the ages. But sung in a strange tongue.
I think I like it but will have to give it a few more plays.
What do others make of it and is it likely to be performed over here?

[Evil One]

Originally Posted by chairboys

is it likely to be performed over here?

There is a long and complicated answer but in short, unfortunately it's not likely.

[chairboys]

Originally Posted by Evil One

There is a long and complicated answer but in short, unfortunately it's not likely.

A shame. I enjoyed Whistled Down The Wind and would like to see another Steinman show in the West End

[The Flying Mouse]

Originally Posted by chairboys

Santa very kindly dropped a copy of this down the chimney for me at Christmas. I've just listened to it for the first time. Bloody Hell!!
Not sure what to make of it?
The second half, in particular, is just a medley of Jimmy's (great) tunes through the ages. But sung in a strange tongue.
I think I like it but will have to give it a few more plays.
What do others make of it and is it likely to be performed over here?

I take it you have the Steve Barton version?

Tanz is awesome
A real masterpiece.

It's very unlikely that it will be performed in the UK or the US as it played in America and is the biggest financial flop in Broadway history.
And Broadway has seen some pretty expensive flops.

They gave Michael Crawford (who was playing Von Krolock) creative control and he destroyed it.
I believe he didn't want to be typecast after doing Phantom so he changed the elements of what made Tanz so successful.
Von Krolock became a figure of fun.
Crawford decided to make the count Italian (how the hell does an Italian have the German "Von" in his name? ) because he could, and I quote, "do a funnier accent".
The accent was ridiculous. The original demos in English (done by Steve Barton) are stunning. In between songs he talk with a horrible fake Italian accent, but he drops it when he sings and the results are magnificent.

Crawfords versions of the songs are quite frankly, painful.

One song, A Good Nightmare Comes So Rarely, is so bad that I have to listen to it now and again because I start to believe that it really can't be as bad as I remember, and it always turns out that it's worse

Personally, I refer to Dance Of The Vampires as Carry On Tanz.

Shame it never got a chance to be staged the way it was designed to be

[chairboys]

Originally Posted by The Flying Mouse

I take it you have the Steve Barton version?

Tanz is awesome
A real masterpiece.

It's very unlikely that it will be performed in the UK or the US as it played in America and is the biggest financial flop in Broadway history.
And Broadway has seen some pretty expensive flops.

They gave Michael Crawford (who was playing Von Krolock) creative control and he destroyed it.
I believe he didn't want to be typecast after doing Phantom so he changed the elements of what made Tanz so successful.
Von Krolock became a figure of fun.
Crawford decided to make the count Italian (how the hell does an Italian have the German "Von" in his name? ) because he could, and I quote, "do a funnier accent".
The accent was ridiculous. The original demos in English (done by Steve Barton) are stunning. In between songs he talk with a horrible fake Italian accent, but he drops it when he sings and the results are magnificent.

Crawfords versions of the songs are quite frankly, painful.

One song, A Good Nightmare Comes So Rarely, is so bad that I have to listen to it now and again because I start to believe that it really can't be as bad as I remember, and it always turns out that it's worse

Personally, I refer to Dance Of The Vampires as Carry On Tanz.

Shame it never got a chance to be staged the way it was designed to be

Yes, it is the Steve Barton version.
Is there a DECENT english version CD available of the show?

[Evil One]

No, only lots of demos.

[Ankie]

There is an official CD of the dutch version, but it doesnt contain all the songs. Unfortunately there isnt any videomaterial except the short bits that were uploaded on Youtube by the officials of the production.

For me it was a great production; it was translated in a way that served the original lines well. The actors/singers were up to their parts... I loved it and regretted I was able to see it ''only'' twice

[daveake]

Originally Posted by The Flying Mouse

lots of stuff

100% correct; excellent summary

[daveake]

Originally Posted by Ankie

Unfortunately there isnt any videomaterial except the short bits that were uploaded on Youtube by the officials of the production.

<ding> not true. There are <cough> 2 professionally made videos of the complete show <cough cough>.

[chairboys]

Originally Posted by The Flying Mouse

Tanz is awesome
A real masterpiece.

I'm inclined to agree now, even though I can't understand a word of it (bar Sarah).
The fact it's sung in german seems to generate an incredibly more dramatic feel to it. I'm loving it.

[AndyK]

I can barely uinderstand a word of German (apart from zwei bier bitte), but I love Tanz, the German vocals just become another instrument in the wall of sound.

[samurai7]

Originally Posted by AndyK

I can barely uinderstand a word of German (apart from zwei bier bitte), but I love Tanz, the German vocals just become another instrument in the wall of sound.

this

[daveake]

Originally Posted by samurai7

this

that