Dal nostro inviato speciale...

Mentre io ero a Bologna a vedere Giò di Tonno e Jekyll & Hyde, la mia amica greca Lora era a Vienna per il concerto delle Vereinigten Bühnen Wien "Musicals Forever".

Si trattava del super concerto di cui avevamo già parlato, che riuniva su un solo palco star come Pia Douwes e Maya Hakvoort, Uwe Kröger e Thomas Borchert, le "nuove leve" Lukas Perman e Marjian Shaki e compagnia bella, con canzoni da tutti i grandi successi delle VBW.

Per farvi (e farmi) venire un po' di sana invidia, vi propongo la recensione che mi ha mandato (© by Lora). Attenzione: per pigrizia la pubblico in inglese - se è un problema o c'è qualcosa che non capite, provvederò alla traduzione. I commenti in rosso invece sono i miei...

ok... I'm terrible in writing reviews, so I'm not even going to try. Still, here is a description of the concert:

Overture: Freudiana by the Orchestra.
Sei hier Gast (Be our guest - Beauty & the beast): the cast appears on stage one by one, dressed in black (Pia, Uwe, Maya, Carin, Lucas, Marjan, Thomas & Susan), each singing a verse of the song. In the middle of the song members of the ensemble come on stage carrying trays with Champaign glasses for the cast.
After the end of the song Uwe talked about the band.
Memory: Pia sang it alone on the stage wearing a long black dress.
Macavity: First members of the ensemble come on stage dressed in black with hats on. Then Pia, in black pants and silver-black top, sings the first half of the song, and Maya, also in black pants and silver-black top, sings the second half. They both dance with the ensemble & sing together the finale. (avevo sentito dire che Pia e Maya non vanno molto d'accordo, ma Lora mi assicura che entrambe sono state molto professionali e non hanno lasciato trasparire niente dei loro sentimenti, qualsiasi essi siano)
Nur fur mich (On my own - Les Mis): Marjan sings it alone
Ich bin Herr im Haus (Master of the house - Les Mis): members of the ensemble dressed with the costumes of the show carry a table on stage & sit around it, while Thomas & Carin, partly in costume too, act out the song. (da quando ho letto questa frase non riesco a togliermi dalla mente Carin Filipcic come Madame Thenadier...)
Phantom der Oper: Pia comes on stage, in a long black dress with white and red details, followed by Uwe in a tux. After the song ends Pia stays on stage for the first couple of verses of Musik der Dunkelheit, which Uwe finishes alone. Uwe missed a note in this song the night I saw the concert, but his voice was fine a couple of nights later when I saw him in Rebecca. (ho avuto modo di sentire il pezzo in questione: si sente proprio bene che Uwe non riesce a prendere la nota finale della canzone. Prende fiato, e poi la voce non esce. Siccome è un problema che ultimamente lo affligge, forse farebbe bene a prendersi una pausa e a riposare la voce. O no? E per aggiungere carne al fuoco, vi confesserò che alcuni fan avrebbero preferito avere Thomas Borchert come Fantasma, anche perché le sue performance non sono mai state registrate su nessun CD, mentre se vogliamo sentire Uwe che canta il fantasma basta prendere la colonna sonora del film. Sembra però che se Thomas avesse cantato anche il PotO, avrebbe avuto un numero di canzoni superiore a quello di Uwe.)
Then Maya come on stage to talk about the orchestra. She was followed by the instrumental Leroy Anderson Medley.
Then come Nimm mich wie ich bin (Take me as I am - J&H) which Thomas and Maya sang facing each other (both dressed in black). In the end Thomas kisses Maya’s hand and she leaves the stage leaving him alone to sing Dies ist die Stunde (This is the Moment - J&H). (probabilmente Maya è la mia Lisa preferita... :-))
Close every door: Lucas comes on stage dressed in white, along with the ensemble in black suits. He sings the song kneeling down in the centre of the stage with the ensemble standing around him. He also starts Any dream will do kneeling down & stands up in the middle of the song. At “I wore my coat” the ensemble starts taking of their coats to reveal T-shirts in bright colours. At “may I return” Marjan joins him on stage, also dressed in white.
Then it was time for Caspar Richter to talk.
Thomas started the “Leonard Bernstein Medley”, alone on the stage, with Lonely town, followed by a very energetic Carin singing I can cook too. In the middle of the song Caspar turns around and dances with her. Then it was Susan’s time to sing Somwhere, alone on the stage, dressed in black. The medley closes with Conga. The orchestra starts shouting the “one, two, three, kick” part, but it doesn’t work well for Caspar, who assigns the task to the audience. So at his signal we would say the “one, two, three, kick” & “Conga” parts.
After that it was time for “Elisabeth”. First Maya, in a long, purple evening dress, sang Nichts, nichts gar nichts. Then Uwe, in the Essen costume, sings Der letzte Tanz, with the ensemble dancing behind him in capes (moving them like the angels’ of death wings). Finally Pia sang Ich gehör nur mir, in a long, black lace evening dress with white lining.
And that was the end of the first part.

The second part started with the instrumental Musical Chairs and then Pia talked about the orchestra.
The “Pop Medley” started with Marjan Singing Somebody to Love, with backup vocals by 4 members of the ensemble, followed by Lucas who sang Just the way you are. The solo saxophone in the middle of the song was also played by Lucas. (WOW! Mi piacciono gli artisti poliedrici!) The medley closed with Susan in a black dress singing All by myself.
Unfortunately there was only one song from “Tanz”. The ensemble, in capes (the same as in letzte tanz), forms a line along the stage and Marjan, wearing a red dress (not the one from the show), started Totale Finsternis standing in front of them. Thomas appears from behind the ensemble, walks towards Marjan and stands right behind her. At the end of the song he bends towards her neck, pauses for a moment, and kisses her on the cheek. (stesso "cast" del Tenth Anniversary Concert di Tanz der Vampire andato in scena a febbraio del 2007. Marjan Shaki è davvero brava, e Graf Von Borchert è sempre un grande interprete.)
Hier in Wien is sung by the ensemble wearing Mozart-like coats. Uwe in Wie kann es möglich sein? missed a note again. (sigh! ) Carin, in a white strapless dress, sung Gold von den Sternen beautifully, followed by Lucas, who sung Warum kannst du mich nicht lieben, wie ich bin? wearing a red coat (again not the one from the show).
For Kuss der Spinnenfrau Maya appeared on stage in a long black dress with feather details on the shoulders.
Then Thomas talked about the orchestra and introduced the instrumental Escapades from the film “Catch me if you can”.
In All that Jazz Pia wore the costume, and danced to the choreography of the show.
Lucas & Marjan sung Liebe standing in the middle of the stage, while the ensemble is split in 2, standing on the right & left of the stage dressed in red & blue respectively. In the end of the song the 2 colours mingle. Marjan & Lucas linger on the stage while Carine starts Siehe da, sie liebt, but they leave before the first chorus.
For You’re the one that I want Lucas & the men of the ensemble are dressed in jeans and leather jackets, while the women wear 60’s-like costumes. Marjan wears a white shirt tied in the waist and a pink skirt, which she removes during the song to reveal a pair of jean shorts. Then it’s time for Marjan & Lucas to talk about the orchestra.
Then Susan, in a black evening dress, sang Rebecca, with the ensemble dressed in black too. (Ma come, solo una canzone dall'ultimo successo Rebecca?? Perché non sfruttarlo per dare un'altra chance a Uwe Kröger con "Verflucht" o "Kein Lächeln war je so kalt"? )
The final song was Wenn ich einmal geh sung by the whole cast and ensemble.
The encore was a medley of Christmas songs.