It all began with a Tarzan…23.03.2012

I have to admit: it wasn’t my 1st Theatre experience. I once saw “We Will Rock You” in January 2007 with a former friend, and I was blown away. But as life goes, for over 5 years it was my first and last Theatre visit. Then in September 2010, I met Kim, who became a very close friend as from that day, and it happened that she is supposed to be the biggest Theatre Addict I know. And soon enough, she made me want to visit her and see “Tarzan” at the Neue Flora Hamburg (Germany). I used to watch that movie as a child and decided to give it a go (as I really didn’t call myself a Theatre Person at that moment).
When I first entered the room with the stage, I was honestly speechless. There was a huge screen with a picture of an old map of Africa, and the sounds blaring into my ears – ship sounds, waves hitting against fore and aft, – gave me the first goosebumps that evening.

Then the show started, and although at first I was a bit disappointed that the Main Cast Tarzan I wanted to see became sick last minute – Alexander Klaws,- it  turned out to be an even better experience with David Boyd in that role. His voice made me shiver from the first moment, and the woman who played Jane – Ina Trabesinger – still leaves me speechless after almost one year. Plus, I heard that, during the show, the people who played the gorillas, were hanging down from lianes inside the audience, so you could actually touch them if you sat in the middle and reached high enough with your hands. What I did NOT expect was that I was going to lose my show for a while in the middle of the show!
You see, I was sitting right in the front row and as it was quite warm in Hamburg that weekend, I only wore ballerinas that easily slipped off my feet – which was a bad idea, because at one moment in the show, me and Kim saw two “Gorillas” checking me out from the stage for about a minute, and then, before I knew what was happening, they stormed off the stage, placed themselves right infront of me and grabbed one of my ballerinas that was hanging losely from my feet! Of course, Kim right beside me was shaking with laughter, but all I could think about was: “My shoe! How do I get back my shoe?!” As it turned out, the Gorillas make stuff like that as a part of the show, stealing shoes, handbags, etc. and after a few minutes (whilst the two thiefs examined my shoe on stage), I finally got it thrown back at me.
That was all that was needed to make this evening my best experience so far. After the final applause, I still stood there, thinking it was the best show I had ever seen, with such detailed costumes, amazing voices and a huge package of laughter. Kim and I went round the back to the Stage Door (which was the first time I ever heard of sth like that!), but sadly, we didn’t catch any of the actors.
Nevertheless, that mindblowing night at the Neue Flora changed my life, and I decided it wouldn’t be my last Theatre Experience.