Ralf Schmitz Live 22.04.2012

Ralf Schmitz – a german comedian mostly known because of size (he’s so tiny it’s ridiculous, haha) and the fact that he seems always like he’s on drugs or something. He runs and hops hectically over the stage and everything goes so fast with him. But it was a hilarious night, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much and so hard in my entire life. After the show, he said that who’d like to, could come into the hall and grab an autograph and a pciture with him (of course, something he wouldn’t have to tell me (and Kim again 🙂 ) twice 😀
Sadly, the bodyguard who took my picture wasn’t a good photographer, so the pic turned out to be quite bad, because I’m standing so far behind, but still, it’s a lovely memory.

Tarzan, the 2nd 21./22.04.2012

Only 1 month after I first had seen Tarzan, I felt the urge to see it a second time, as I really wanted to see Alex in his role as Tarzan, and as it turned out, this time I was lucky. You have to know, Alex was the first winner of the german version of “American Idol” in 2001, and so he was a big star here; you might understand why everyone – including me – felt like it was a must to see what progress he had made since the Casting Show win. And I wasn’t disappointed. It was werid, hearing his voice in the theatre, which sounded SO different from the time where he sang Pop songs and all, it sounded so mature and was really not what I had expected. But nevertheless, he blew me away, and it was clear for me that we (Kim and me, as I dragged her along with me again) would have to talk to him and get a picture taken after the show. But I wasn’t lucky that night, because as we stood at the Stage Door, Alex came out, but was so in a hurry, that we didn’t even had the chance to ask him for a pic. I was quite disappointed, and my mood went from blown away to drop dead sad. But it turned out that I would get my chance a night later.
On saturday, we hadn’t booked a Tarzan show, but it was very clear to me that I would not want to drive back home without having seen Alex at the Stage Door. So that day dragged along, Kim and I shuffled around the back almost half the day, listening to the Music during the Matinee Show (which we could clearly hear, coming out from the “basement” at the far end of the building), which gave us goosebumps. And after the last show that day ended at 11pm, we were standing at the exact place we stood one night before, waiting patiently for the actors to come out (though I was sitting on a wall right infront of the door the actors would come out). Suddenly Kim grabbed my arm and whispered “There’s John, oh my god!” And I turned around, saying “WHO?!” because I honestly had no idea of any of the Cast members at all. Kim pointed at the door and told me that John Vooijs was her favourite Tarzan (aka “Macho-Tarzan”) and we both considered asking him for a picture, which was a bit weird, because we weren’t even sure how much german he understood. But when he came out, he smiled at us, and we three started talking like old friends, about the show, about the Netherlands (where he originally is from), about just everything. He asked us if we were coming to the show the day after, and we both said we didn’t know yet (though we hadn’t planned it at all!), and he said he hoped we would come see the show. Just after he started smoking I decided we waited long enough and just asked John straight away if if was okay if we took a picture with him. He said “Of course” and we both got our pic – my very first Stage Door pic!

John left a huge impression in my memory, because he was so nice and normal and oh, he smelled like heaven, having put on an amazing perfume! We also tried to get an autograph, but sadly, he had none on him, but promised that if we would be back the next day before the Matinee Show, he would personally come out for us and give them to us (which he really did, but I come to that later).
After that, it all went quite fast. First of all, Peter Stassen (who played Clayton that night) and his girfriend, Melanie Ortner (Main Cast Kala, Step-Mother of Tarzan) came out, looking at beautiful as I hadn’t expected. They were both so nice and kind and they both took a lot of time to talk to each fan who was standing at the Stage Door. Mel actually would’ve talked with us even longer (though it was already after 12am!), but Peter said “Honey, the dog’s waiting!” which was seriously the cutest thing ever, considering they both had a little puppy called “Hayley” who is just too adorable.
 
Then Rommel Singson came out, the guy who plays the Main Cast of “Terk”, Tarzan’s best friend (who, in the movie, is actually a girl, which was a bit confusing for me at the first time already). And he’s exactly as he’s on stage: just a little sunshine. He’s smiling all the time, and nice and funny…and when I took my picture with him, I felt like standing beside a little kid, because he was so tiny. Also, would you’ve guessed that he’s already 41 years old?! I was shocked when I found out because he looks no day older than 25!
Then it went quiet outside, as almost every actor had come out already – it was already after 1am, it was getting quite chilly outside, and Kim and I slowly got a bit annoyed that Alex still hadn’t even shown his face. Rommel had told us that he was still inside, but that as they were celebrating a bit up there, he had no idea when we’d going to see Alex.
Just when I started to lose hope I’d ever meet and get a picture with him (and with a growing fear that Kim would make me leave because that waiting was senseless), he came out with his girlfriend Nadja, who had played Jane that night. And what can I say: he was absolutely adorable. He laughed a lot, took time to talk to everyone, gave autographs (Kim and I were the only ones who actually got one, along with one other girl, if I remember it correct, because he hadn’t that much on him), and was really, really patient with everyone that wanted a picture. That night, I officially became a real Alexander Klaws fan, and I talked about him the entire night through, couldn’t stop looking at my 2 pictures with him, and wanted that night never to end. It was an unforgettable weekend, and I’m still impressed how normal all the actors had stayed, though their success on stage.

P.S. On sunday, Kim and I went back to the Theatre, as we wanted to see John again, who’d promised to give us our autographs. When we arrived, he just passed us, and of course, he remembered us, saying “I’ll be right back!”…which was actually 45 minutes that we waited for him, mostly because we were too scared to wait at the actual Stage Door this time, feeling like stalkers. When we alreay thought he wouldn’t come back the way he left or forgot about us after all, he peeked around a corner, and when he saw us, came to us, signed his autograph cards as promised and gave them to us. He asked us again if we were going to see the show that night – where he’d play Tarzan, – but we had to disappoint him (and apparently Kim, who for a while considered to cancel our actual plans and go see him on stage). But he said “Maybe next time!”, smiled and left. Which was an amazing end to an amazing Theatre Weekend 🙂

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.