Dance of the Vampires
Dance of the Vampires is the US version of the German-language musical Tanz der Vampire . Due to the numerous dramaturgical changes, this version can also be viewed as an independent musical show.
General
The play ran from October 16, 2002 to January 25, 2003 on Broadway in New York at the Minskoff Theater and was canceled after a total of 117 performances, 61 of which were so-called previews.
The producers wanted a new version of the musical rather than an adaptation of the original, so they hired comedy writer David Ives to come up with a new script that included more humor, slapstick and action. Entire passages of Michael Kunze's original book were deleted or reworked, and in the end Michael Crawford , the leading actor, was to have a dramatic death scene according to his own wishes.
Crawford allegedly had a contract that gave him artistic freedom, so he is probably responsible for a large part of the changes, especially since he did not want to make the figure of Count von Krolock so gloomy, as he after his portrayal as the phantom of the opera didn't want to play a dark cloak character again.
occupation
| Original cast | |
|---|---|
| Count Giovanni von Krolock | Michael Crawford |
| Sarah | Mandy Gonzalez |
| Professor Abronsius | René Auberjonois |
| Alfred | Max von Essen |
| Chagal | Ron Orbach |
| Rebecca | Liz McCartney |
| Magda | Leah Hocking |
| Herbert | Asa Somers |
| Boris | Mark Price |
| Madame von Krolock | Dame Edith Shorthouse |
| Nadja | E. Alyssa Claar |
| Zsa-Zsa | Erin Leigh Peck |
| Count von Krolock (standby) / Prof. Abronsius (standby) | Rob Evan |
content
I. act
Transylvania in 1880, three days before Halloween . Sarah, the pretty landlord's daughter, and her friends Nadja and Zsa-Zsa are collecting mushrooms in a dark forest. In a clearing where there is a church ruin, they take a rest and Sarah agrees, because it is already dawn and her companions are afraid, to start a prayer song.
The song is abruptly interrupted when suddenly a horde of vampires breaks out of the forest, kidnaps Nadja and Zsa-Zsa and performs a wild, initially hectic, but then more and more passionate and evocative dance. At the ecstatic climax of the dance, a huge sarcophagus adorned with iron chains suddenly shoots out of the forest floor. From this rises the charismatic Count Giovanni von Krolock, who introduces Sarah in an extremely charming way and, on the occasion of her upcoming eighteenth birthday, invites her with flattering words to his annual big midnight ball. With the promise to come back, he bites her briefly in the neck and gives her a bath sponge.
In the only inn in the small village of Lower Belabartockowich, the villagers gather around the landlord Chagal, his wife Rebecca and the buxom maid Magda to celebrate the 666th garlic festival. In the midst of the hustle and bustle, the first two strangers in twenty years burst: the international vampirologist Professor Abronsius from Heidelberg and his loyal factotum Alfred. Just as the professor inquires about a castle in the area, a woman notices the sunset, whereupon the other villagers flee in panic to their homes. As if to confirm Abronsius' suspicions, the sinister Madame von Krolock enters the inn to buy red silk for a ball gown. During the short conversation between the Countess and Chagal, Abronsius hears that Sarah recently came back from the forest very late and has been acting very strangely since then. After a brief flirtation with the professor, she disappears and he himself reveals the reason for his presence: the destruction of the last master vampire, Count Giovanni von Krolock. He also demands to see Sarah.
Alfred, who has already gone ahead, bursts into Sarah's room as she is lying naked in the bathtub and falls in love with her on the spot. The professor points out the bite marks on her neck to the dismayed bystanders and immediately prepares a blood transfusion . After this has been successfully carried out, Abronsius distributes various aids against vampires such as garlic, wolfroot , black and orange crepe paper and a jack-o'-lantern to Sarah's parents. Chagal's whimsical waiter Boris, who has since fallen under Krolock's influence, hands over a bag full of silver nails with which the window is to be sealed.
While everyone goes about their business, Alfred stays with the awakening Sarah. They both get along well straight away, but before the budding romance can solidify, Chagal comes in and sends the young student out. As he is about to nail boards in front of the window, someone and Chagal pull it out into the darkness with superhuman strength. Count von Krolock appears and invites Sarah again to her eighteenth birthday, which is exactly at midnight on Halloween, to the ball in his castle and promises her a red silk dress and red velvet boots as a gift.
The next day, some lumberjacks burst into one of Abronsius' fiery anti-vampire speeches and bring Chagal's frozen corpse with them. The professor immediately attests to death from vampirism. Another villager notices the sunset and everyone rushes to safety. While Abronsius and Alfred go into the house to fetch the hammer and stake, Rebecca and Magda stay behind with the dead man who, having become a vampire, wakes up promptly and, howling like a wolf, rams Magda's leg before he disappears into the forest, hooting and laughing . Abronsius immediately takes up the chase while Alfred is supposed to take care of Sarah. She is just considering whether she should really go to the castle or not when Madame von Krolock appears and brings her the promised red velvet boots with best regards from the Count.
Just as Sarah is about to run away, Alfred comes out to her and confesses his love to her. Torn to and fro, Sarah sends him back into the house under a pretext and, wearing her new red boots and already dreaming of the ball, runs off towards Krolock Castle. When Abronsius returns from an unsuccessful hunt, he can encourage the villagers to show him and Alfred the way to the castle, where Count Sarah welcomes Sarah with sweet declarations of love and leads them inside the eerie building.
II. Act
Sarah wanders restlessly through the huge castle until she meets Count von Krolock in the great hall. They get incredibly close, but he turns away at the last second and saves the longed-for “real bite” for the midnight ball.
In the meantime Abronsius and Alfred have succeeded in penetrating the walls. In the library, where every book ever written can be found, they come across the count, who pretends to be an admirer of the professor and has some ambiguous jokes with Alfred, who does not want to be warmed up for a phallus-shaped bath sponge. He is also more frightened than ecstatic by Herbert's attempts at flirting, the count's homosexual son.
Later, in the pompous guest room that was allocated to the two of them, Alfred is plagued by terrible nightmares in which, after a bitter struggle, he finally loses Sarah to the Count and his blood-sucking hordes.
Abronsius and Alfred use the last hours of the almost completely sleepy day to look for the crypt. After endlessly wandering around, they discover the dark vault, but instead of Krolock, Chagal lies in the count's sarcophagus. Before they can finish him off, Rebecca and Magda burst in. Rebecca, as the wife, insists on driving the stake into his heart herself. Alfred, closely followed by Abronsius, takes the opportunity to look for Sarah, whose voice he believes he has heard. In the meantime, however, Chagal has woken up and sucked Rebecca and Magda out and also turned them into vampires, before he messed with them, a don't-disturb! -Hing up the sign, withdraws back into the coffin.
Alfred followed the voice and ended up in Herbert's room, who was absolutely enraptured and already had wine goblets and handcuffs ready. The young student knows no other way of protecting himself from the advances of the love-mad vampire than shoving a tome between his teeth just as he is about to bite.
Ultimately, Alfred finds Sarah after all. But she refuses to leave, because she is already intoxicated with the thought of being the center of general attention at the ball - and especially that of the count. The professor shows up and calls him outside, where he has made a horrific discovery. The vampires gradually rise from the graves in the castle cemetery and, stretching their stiff limbs, stagger away in the direction of the ballroom. Abronsius is still shaken and tells Alfred the secret of an old prophecy: “ If a virgin voluntarily lets herself be bitten by a vampire on her eighteenth birthday, which happened at midnight on Halloween in 1880, they would from then on too Can bypass days and achieve world domination. “The count appears in person to remove the unwelcome guests, but can be pushed back with the help of a crucifix. After the professor implores him to spare Sarah, Count von Krolock strolls through the cemetery sunk in melancholy and remembers the numerous victims of his "insatiable hunger".
At the ball, Abronsius and Alfred, in disguise, mingle with the guests dancing a minuet . At the high point of the evening, the Count appears and presents Sarah, who, after handing out a few autographs, bites her voluntarily presented neck in an audience-effective manner. Alfred and the professor now rush forward and push the bloodsuckers back with an improvised cross made from two candles. Von Krolock still manages to grab Alfred and push him into the drooling pack, but Abronsius uses this moment of distraction to smash the window at the top of the great staircase. In the rays of the sun, which has now risen, Count von Krolock dissolves into smoke with mad laughter.
The two vampire hunters managed to escape together with Sarah. However, she is very weak and needs a blood transfusion as soon as possible. While the professor runs to the tavern to get his transfusion machine, the young couple sinks into each other's arms. But Alfred's relief turns to horror when Sarah suddenly falls on his neck and bites him.
A hundred years later on New York's Broadway. A group of vampires, including Chagal, Rebecca, Magda, Herbert and Sarah's friends Nadja and Zsa-Zsa, dance across brightly lit Times Square between advertising posters for Webber's Musical Bats and the music group "The Rolling Bones" . The vampires have achieved their goal and are ruling the world.
Songs
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I. act
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II. Act
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Others
- Michael Kunze explained the terrific flop of Dance of The Vampires with the fact that the piece does not allow any transformation into a pure comedy, because Sarah, for example, really has to fall in love with the Count and this is not possible if he is only a comedian.
- Composer Jim Steinman was so upset by the massive changes that he stayed away from the premiere.
- At around ten million US dollars in production costs, Dance of the Vampires is one of the most elaborate and expensive productions on Broadway. Due to the lack of success, it is also the biggest flop in Broadway history with a loss of around 17 million US dollars.
- The elaborate costumes come from Ann Hould-Ward , who had already created the costumes for the musical version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast .
- The detailed stage design is by David Gallo .
- Michael Crawford had several new costumes made for him in the course of the preview because he thought he would look too fat in the others.
- Crawford played a double role in the musical, under the pseudonym " Dame Edith Shorthouse " he also appeared as " Madame von Krolock ".
- Professor Abronsius was portrayed by René Auberjonois .
- The second cast for Count von Krolock and Professor Abronsius was Rob Evan , during the entire season of the musical he only stood in for Michael Crawford once.
- The count's hunchbacked servant, Koukol, was deleted; instead there was a madman named Boris.
