Elisabeth, Budapest, Dec. 28th and 30th.
So, I’ve decided to write an English review for a change, not only to annoy Kati with even more squeeing over certain beautiful Death, but also to know if there’s anything you girls disagree with.
The first thing is, the only way to enjoy this show’s to sit close to the stage and focus on pretty people in the cast. Or do anything else preventing you to see the whole picture and go ‘what the fuck am I watching?’ Because, dear theatre, if you don’t have money to revive a show properly, swallow your pride and don’t revive it at all. Or at least find a way to cut down amount of people in some scenes to a sensible one and make props which don’t look like they were created for a country production back in mid-nineties. Which they were, of course. And hey, you can even save budget that way, conveying gazillion of small salaries into new props.
The broken set is just beyond anything I hold acceptable in a production. It. Is. Not. Okay. To not have fixed the set before the revival. You can’t make a new one, fine. I don’t see a reason to revive the show without any change, but you know, your theatre, your policy. But if you’ve got pieces of set broken during the last run (a stag skull with one anthem broken off, that bloody door that never closes…), I automatically assume something’s terribly wrong’s going on in your theatre. Who wouldn’t think that?
I’ve also really got issues with the amount of people on stage, which makes it look chaotic and overcrowded in several scenes, including the Prologue. Besides, why would you have ensemble members in to just be there for three scenes rather then add a couple of quick costume changes for those who actually participate in the show? There’re at least twice as many people in Budapest then in Vienna; ridiculous.
I’m saying this even though I like quite a lot of ensemble people involved in the production, even though some of them are only in their second year at the Studio, and look about 16, very green and not entirely confident of stage. Others though, are completely brilliant. I love the ballet girl who’s Maria in Mayerling, there’s Kechu, who’s difficult not to look at, and a guy, who had finished my college last year (a huge surprise for me!), Grandpa Guy as one of the Hungarians, lovely Vizi Dávid as one of the ministers and a bunch of new faces, like Batthyáni, generally wonderful PBS Student Lipics Barna.
The Death Dances were a bit disappointing, especially with Adler Judit being there. I mean, obviously it’d be bad, the girl’s not a great dancer. I don’t know why won’t they put anybody else in her place. It’s so annoying to see her season after season being unable to perform properly, and still being put in demanding places. Why ffs? The other Dancer are love, of course. Barta Viki (guh!), Karányi, who always was amazing. I had though he had been planning to leaving the theatre, cool thing he didn’t in the end. Ballet people’re looking good as well, especially the relatively new one, he’s pointy enough to look extra cute in this makeup. But, more importantly, the choreography of Death Dancers is one of the fiew things that doesn’t feel outdated. It’s oldschool, naturally, but, as good chorography’s ought to, is looking brilliant and exciting, especally after Vienna, where they don’t do much on stage.
As for the cast... Surprisingly enough I disliked Fölfödi Aniko as Frau Wolf/Ludovika, even though she used to be my fav during the last run. She can be called fun, is you find this kind of characters fun at all, but her voice is virtually non-existent. It’s always sad when age takes over the performers you used to like. (God, I can’t imagine her in Rebecca now. Is she still playing? That must be bloody terrible). Ottilia, on the other hand, left me with mixed feelings. She’s lovely as Frau Wolf, I mean, it’s Ottilia, she can’t not be good playing big mamma. However, her Ludovika’s bizarre, and very much unlike Archduchess’ sister. She sings well, though. Her vocal ability’s more then enough for these two roles.
Kállay Bori as Sophia. Couldn’t stand her. The thing with this character, you have to be both charismatic and dramatic to hold viewer’s attention. She’s none. If you’ve seen her in Csárdáskirálynő then you know what she does as Sophie, there’s zero difference between the two. Yeah, she can strike a pose, which is supposed to represent power, but she doesn’t do anything with it, and her Bellaria’s ridiculously flat. Voice? None, sorry.
Ugh, I even miss Molnár Piroska. At least, she was tragic enough.
Rudolfs… I generally prefer Budapest interpretation to a Viennese one. At least, they’ve put Hungarians in, with not only extra amount of Death/Rudolf interaction, but the boy himself at least attempting to do something with his life. In original, he whines, whines and whines some more, then betrays his country off-stage, runs to his mom for comfort (and whines even more), killing himself upon not getting it. I just refuse to accept this. Rudolf was a troubled young man with not a lot of willpower, but he attempted to get some of the influence in his last years, not to mention, he was 25 years old!
I also find the fact that Dénes playes Rudolf pretty funny. That’s what I call going in Attila’s footsteps - he’s even cast as Crown-prince for both musicals. The only problem I’ve got with him is the same as in Whildhorn’s Rudolf - or Romeo, for that matter - he really does look and feel like a teenager, despite technically being the right age to play the character(s).
I generally like that he’s desperately trying to do something positive, despite being terrified. It’s really sweet that you can feel him blindly trusting Halál, not seeing his betrayal till the very end, but I still found this Rudolt a tat too hysterical during Bennem mint tükrödben. It’s still touching that you can see how hope for Elisabeth’s help is his last thin wall before complete emotional collapse, rather then her being reluctant to convince the Emperor to firgive his son being the actual reason for suiside, but I wouldn’t have minded if he did a little less. That’s actually connected to him acting/looking/feeling like a teenager.
As for the other guy... Ummm. He’s pretty. He’s got a gorgeous body. And he had a vocal cords inflammation, which means, no voice whatsoever. It also means that whoever lets people go on stage with this stuff is an ass and might be responsible for said actors loosing their ability to sing altogether. I do absolutely not understand how can this be happening in a grown-up theatre. But from viewer’s POV all I could think during his Mirror was how dreadfully the guy sounds, so it’s hard to remember anything else. He’s more grown-up then Dénes, but feels somewhat pathetic at the same time, his Mirror was extremely whiny... Maybe because the scene should have been painful for him as a human being/actor, physically. Shame to not have seen him on a good day, I’ve heard several people prasing every aspect of his performance.
Oh, and since I’ve already remembered it: I think it’s amazing they’ve got such an awesome bunch of kids in PBS currently, and that said kids can get some real practice already. New blood is always good.
FJs. Casting a 50-year old man to play a twenty-something Emperor, who also has flexibility of plastisin in his mother’s hands, are we? Really, Opi? Are we trying to make this show unwatchable? I mean, I love Szomor György, all right? His voice is absolutely stunning, he’s got impressive acting talent and this huge dark presence, which is actually working against him in this role, and he has to tune it down… But generally it’s hard to find a worse candidate for the part. Granted, second act is Gyuri’s chance to shine, I actually cried during Fáradt gályák. This FJ is a tired man who has spent his life being pushed around and doesn’t even get the woman he loves in the end, it’s heartbreaking. However, even if he really tries to act out youth and innocence in the first act, it doesn’t really work to the point of looking somewhat creepy with Detti’s Sissi.
Ádám was pretty much the same I remember him being, he gives us a sweet and somewhat week man, who never really grew out of other women's influences. If he stopped being his mother's puppet, he always remained a bitch for love. Still, there's something mischievous about him. When he first meets Helena and Sissi, it's just so obvious that he doesn't like older sister at all, and only turns to her initially to troll his mother. I mean, it's not even out of character - he's very young, and even while he worships his mother, he must be frustrated by her always pushing him about. I think "sweet" is the general word to describe him. When he plays an older character, he steel keeps that touching sincerity. I mean, even as his son betrays him, he's more hurt then angry. I've honestly no idea how that correlates with the actual historical truth, but as a character, this FJ appeals to me a lot.
His singing is better then it used to be, it has less of Ádám's pop-y sound, and generally feels strong, impressively so.
Luchenis. I'd like to say that I have no comment about the way Kiskero presents a character, mostly because he doesn't. That thing he was doing on stage was hosting a musical gala. Or telling a story. It was not acting, and no, not even fake facial hair can help to create a character if an actor doesn't even try to act. I'm saying this with full admiration to his talent, which he has. Actually, that's the main reason I'm so disappointed - if he tried, he could've been good in this role. As for the technical things, Kiskero sings quite well last couple of seasons, although I'm not sure I like slight alterations he makes to almost all his songs, and, even as he holds viewer's attention, he can't overpower the crowd, like, say, in Téj.
After this, seeing MÀZs felt like a blessing. I was never a big fan of his, even though I loved several of his roles (who oh why oh why did they have to close Szerdán?!), but you can't argue with the fact that this man is a fantastic actor. Not surprisingly, since he went to a spoken theatre course at drama school/Uni, rather then the musical one, if I'm not mistaken.
Anyhow, his Lucheni is unique to both this show and this actor. He's got a very particular personality, sort of a murderous bastard, very distinctively manly and rude. He's not as cheeky, as, say, Vienna revival Luchenis are, and you'd never want to have a drink with this guy, he's fun in an, idk, sort of scary way. He also feels as a person who'd go killing on his own accord, rather then being pushed to insanity by Death. He also appreciates prince of darkness' cause more then has a crush on him himself.
Arpi's voice was weaker then it could've been, but somehow he can act his way around it, sometimes growling if he has too. The presence he's got is great, there's no question about who holds central stage, even when there's an ensemble doing it physically and/or Death holding the strings.
Elisabeth's the only character that underwent little change, with all the old people playing them, and both casts being pretty much the way I remember them. It might be a little bit underwhelming, actually, that not even Janza had any interesting new ideas for the part. What's the point in doing same old tricks again and again? She's also getting a bit old for beginning of the show, when Elisabeth's all fifteen and tomboy-ish. As someone who generally likes younger actresses for the role, I find it hard to believe older women trying to behave childishly. Kata's magnificent in the second act, naturally, and I really enjoyed her chemistry with Dolhai, even though they're not usually paired up on stage. Her voice was somewhat weaker then it had used to be, and she started out sounding really hoarse, but, hopefully, it's not a permanent thing, only Kata's sickness kicking in. She wasn't even supposed to play that day, was she?
Detti... Wasn't as bad as I expected her to be. She sang just fine, apart from the very end of Az már nem én lennék, where she shouted a little. It was worse then three years ago, but alright. Her acting, on the other hand... Come on, Elisabeth was in mid-teens when she met FJ, but she wasn't six! Detti was overdoing being younger so much, my eyes bled. And even later she didn't really become more willful and majestic, not even at the end of first act. It's just the way she continued pitching her voice higher then I thought was necessary and moving around even in that last scene of first act. Elisabeth becomes a status character at that moment, you've got to be static to show this.
She was better in the second act, granted, at least, Detti tried to show something that could've been distinctively Elisabeth, even if it's her age and a shell she uses to hide away from the world. Shemmi de shemmi was quite decent.
Deaths... Oh boy, Dolhai.
No, I'm starting with Zsolt, it'd be faster. He's enjoyable. Not breathtaking, well, not for me at least, but nice to watch. He became somewhat more graceful then he used to be, although he's still too self-concious about his entourage (if it's a right word). There're just those moments when he tries really hard not to step on his cape, strike a correct pose or sit in a right position. The night I've been seeing him, there was something wrong with the platform, and it took Zsolt forever to find a right way to sit at the beginning of Mama, hol vagy. Come on, you can't really change poses in the middle of scene under spots, when the song is already starting! It's just not bloody professional.
What I did love was what he does with his voice, he tries to let go of that classical place he always sings at and make a more musical/jazzy sound. It levels the style of this piece nicely, and I'm generally happy Homonnay's finally doing something about sounding like he's a runaway character from some viennese operetta.
And now, Dolhai.
He was perfect, all right? He was absolutely magnificent every second, his gestures meaningful, his presence breathtaking and his vocals extremely powerful. He had everything to own the role. You can love SzPSz, but it's hard not to admit he lacks in vocal department. Similarly, you can like Zsolt, but his acting, or at least grace, are something to be desired. Dolhai has everything. Or at least, he did that night I was seeing him.
You could see with his Death the way this dark creature suddenly gets to feel all the specter of human emotions, and doesn't find it amusing whatsoever. It's fun first five minutes (= Útvesztö minden út), but starts to get on his nerves shortly after. When Elisabeth sais 'no' to him for the first time, it's almost like he doesn't actually understand what's going on. He clearly hadn't expected to be denied. If he's clumsy in the first act, you can easily read this as a part of the character, even if it's not intended that way. I mean, emotion overflow can make one loose ground, quite literally.
Another moment that I found interesting was during Mama, hol vagy, where you don't have a feeling of Death deliberately arriving to unnerve little Rudolf or get his devotion. It's more like he's been sitting there brooding on his own, when suddenly sees this little boy, who apparently misses Elisabeth as well. Their conversation feels almost like bonding over the same problem.
Halál becomes completely obsessed after Betegség, and generally, it's Sissi's fault, she shouldn't have encouraged him by saying she wants to die! You can't imagine (unless you've seen it, and probably agree with me), how gleeful Death becomes at that moment. He goes all, "Yupee, she wants to go with me!!!" Only she doesn't, which, again is somewhat beyond what his unearthly psychology can handle.
The moment of him completely breaking and going an a murdering spree's after she cock-blocks him during that horse ride right before Shadows. Of course, it's been directed that way, with set moving aroung so that Death gets from standing behind Elisabeth to Rudolf's chamber without leaving audience's sight, but I don't think I've seen a show where Death enjoyed flying off the handle so much. Dolhai's Death doesn't only take people, he gets off on killing (So, a show with him and MÁZs is delightfully creepy).
Technically, everything was amazing, as I've said. Extremely detailed acting. For example, during Betegség, you can see that it's Death impersonating a doctor - him, in character, trying to play another character. Dolhai's immensely graceful and menacing, so that then his inner tempo changes in Haláltánc or Shadows, it's thrilling to watch. He also does those jumps, which I found terrifying with Rudolf, since he's jumping right on the young man, and from high up.
I'm very impressed by his voice as well. It's strong, beautiful, and wonderfully conveys emotion, both during songs and spoken scenes. Attila has enough power to sing over the crowd and other characters like no other Death, which has a fresh sound and works for character's status.
There was a lovely moment during last Sunday's show when Dolhai managed to break a glass he was holding during Haláltánc over on the Dancer's hand, and not only failed to notice this until a certain moment, but also left SM with the problem of broken glass over the stage.
So what does SM do?
Gives Arpi's Lucheni cleaning utensils and sends him on stage for the next scene (the whole court trying to take a peek of FJ and Sissi's first night), to clean it up. Which he does. In character. Interacting with FJ.
I love Opi :)
This is where I think I can't type any more. I'm sure Emma will remember something else, she usually does.
Sorry for all the mistakes, but if I go over this text once more, I'll die.
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