We Will Rock You – Frankfurt 19.-21.12.2014

After over one and a half years since the last time I had seen the show on german soil – and knowing that its Cast was almost the same as it had been when they toured through Basel and Essen in 2013 – I went into it with a lot of excitement and expectations. I was mostly looking forward to see everyone again after such a long time, as there were at least two people among them that I dearly missed and had stayed in touch ever since the closing. And I was also looking forward to how much everyone’s talent had improved since the last time I’ve seen them. And I was NOT disappointed.

19.12. 2014 (Evening/Preview)
I didn’t realize the first two shows that weekend would be previews – I was convinced that that show actually was the Premiere, until I saw some of the Casts posts on facebook. Anyways, despite a few technical difficulties (that, honestly, I didn’t even realize were technical difficulties because I hadn’t seen the show since June 2013 and thought “Oh, well, guess they’ve done a few more changes than usual” to myself, ha-ha), the feeling of being back with this talented bunch covered everything that had gone wrong that night.
Galileo & Scaramouche were played by Christopher Brose & Marjolein Teepen. I know Chris from last year, where he completely blew me away. His voice is incredible, and I was excited about having him as my 1st Galileo on this tour again. And despite the fact that he seemed somewhat sick to me, or tired, he still gave me goosebumps. The way he displays Galileo again was exactly how I thought Galileo must be. He’s that dorky, stupid guy who pulls off the role as a limelight hog at the end as if he’s never done anything else. He shows the audience he loves to be up there, which is, for me, one of the most important things any actor on a stage can do.
I was, however, disappointed about Marjolein. Not because of her talent, no way at all, because she HAS talent, she has proven it more than once to me when I had seen her as Killer Queen – her voice is really stunning. But to me, her display of Scaramouche was lacking  something that I love about that character, although I can’t put a finger on what that is. Maybe it was that she wasn’t as cute-bossy as the lead role, Jeannine Michele Wacker, who, until then, had been my main Scara on last year’s tour, or maybe that the relationship between her and Chris seemed a bit cold to me. But that’s all my personal opinion and is not supposed to diminish anyone’s talent in that Cast!
Markus Neugebauer played Brit once again, and after Anna Lidman last year, Ozzy was played by one of the new Cast members, Linda Holmgren. As usual, Markus‘ talent knocked me off my feet. I knew he was good, I had seen him last year and already thought he was the best Brit I had ever seen, but what he did on stage that night – wow. He has developed SO much since 2013, something I thought wasn’t possible. It was just tiny things, notes, that he did and sung differently, but those changes were truly amazing, especially the even more raspy sound of his voice on the high notes or the “waves” he gave some of his notes in “I Want It All”. And to see Linda was something I was curious about. I love the role of Ozzy, because she sings one of my all-time favourite Queen songs, and therefor I always have very high expectations to the person stepping into that role – and I might be a bit overly critical ever since I first saw Rachel John in that role at the Dominion Theatre in London and especially Andrea Sánchez Del Solar in 2013 in Essen. And Linda did not disappoint me, I even liked her better than Anna last year. Her voice is a lot higher than either Anna’s or Andrea’s, but it was something new to me, and she definitely did that role justice – especially in the high notes. That woman knows how to sing.
Brigitte Oelke & Martin Berger as Killer Queen & Khashoggi – do I need to say more? These two are institutions, have been with the show since 2004, and no matter how often I see them, their talent and amazing stage presence blows me away. Their interactions with each other, their voices, their acting – there’s not much better on german stages nowadays than these two. Brigitte’s voice…well, there is no word for it, you have to hear it for yourself. I’d bet that if she wanted to, she could blow up all the headlights in the theatre hall, and not even with a lot of effort, because her voice is THAT powerful.

20.12.2014 (Matinee & Evening/Premiere)
FINALLY, I would be seeing Jeannine Michele Wacker as Scaramouche again, and I couldn’t have been more excited for it. I had missed everything that I adore about her display of the role, and when she first came on stage, I couldn’t stop the major grin on my face. The thing with her and her Scara is, she’s the cutest, but also bossiest one I had seen so far. You look at her and think “Oh, look how tiny she is, how adorable!”, but then that girl opens her mouth and what comes out of it is too good to be true. Her voice is absolutely BREATHTAKING. It had already been like that last year, but what she did on stage that day was beyond my expectations. I knew she had different engagement over the past couple of months, even during this WWRY tour, she’s working at “Artus” in St. Gallen (Switzerland) every now and then, but you’d never guess the stress she has. Her intonation is crazy, her high vocals are not only high, but as strong as I’ve barely heard any other german singer being capable of. And her way of commanding Galileo about is just something you have to enjoy.
My Galileo that Matinee was Stuart Sumner – something I’ve noticed right away during “Radio GaGa”, when I didn’t spot him in his usual place as a teacher in the background. And although at first I was a bit sceptical – I had only seen him in the lead role once, and to be honest, he hadn’t fully convinced me back then. There were quite a few times he mixed up his text or one time, forgot it for a moment, and although I know it’s normal, they’re all just human and german isn’t his native language, (and I’d be the last person to judge anybody about it!!!) it disappointed me a bit, as I had heard opinions about how amazing he was as Galileo. This time, however, I was more than impressed. His voice had always been amazing, it was the one thing he convinced me with last year, but hearing him again showed me how much it had improved over the past months. And his interaction with Jeannine was adorable. He’s the most “manly” Galileo of all I have seen so far, the most “Rockstar” kind of guy of all of them, and every single time, his long vocals at the end of “We Are The Champions” leave me in complete awe – he knows how damn good his voice is, and he sure knows how to use it to have the audience in the palm of his hand.

Then….Premiere night. My first ever, with – of course – all the main Cast in the lead roles. I only want to say a few words to the (for me) dream pair of Galileo & Scaramouche: Christopher Brose & Jeannine Michele Wacker. Ever since Essen in 2013, I can safely say that I can never get enough of the interaction between those two on stage. They work together so unbelievably well, their voices match SO well, too, and all their movements and vocals are totally geared to each other as if they never did anything else in their life than being up on that WWRY stage together. Jeannine’s cuteness in playing Scara takes Chris’ dorky Galileo-behaviour to new highs, and Chris’ rocking side at the end lets Jeannine turn into a small pile of fangirl – I barely have seen two people who seem so destined to sing and act together – and their duet of “Who Wants To Live Forever” is one of the most beautiful and tear-bringing things I have ever seen on a stage.

21.12.2014 (Matinee & Evening)
Two different Galileo’s, Killer Queen’s & Bap’s – nice. When months before, I had booked my tickets for that weekend, I had only booked the evening show, as my original plan had been to meet up with a friend that day – which turned out to be a fail, so 30 minutes before the show started and after I had overheard a conversation whereby Isabel Trinkaus would be playing Killer Queen that afternoon, I spontaneously purchased another ticket in the middle of the 6th row (which was actually the 3rd row – what exactly the staff at the Old Opera House thought about that confusing seating, only god knows!)
To have Isabel as the evil Killer Queen was something I was absolutely thrilled about. Honestly, you can’t compare her to Brigitte Oelke in any way, and you’d be very wrong to even try to. Whereas Brigitte’s KQ is nothing but evil, loud and the very meaning of a “Diva”, Isabel’s KQ is even more evil, loud, scary – and extraordinarily bitchy. Which is actually a good thing. I love that touch so much that she gives the role, and since the last time I had seen her in it, she has improved so unbelievably much, her voice has become so incredible it was more than a delight to see her in that huge lead again.
Now to that day’s Ozzy, who was – in both shows – played by Andrea Sánchez Del Solar…if you know me well enough, you know what that fact means to me. Ever since I had first seen her Ozzy, and everything that comes with that role, I was done. I don’t even have words for the talent that that girl has inside of her. Her deep voice fits perfectly to “I Want It All”, and the soul in it never fails to make me completely cry my heart out during “(No-One But You) Only The Good Die Young”. She’s the first and only person after Rachel John at the Dominion Theatre in London who ever made me tear up at that song, even BEFORE she has started singing – simply because I know what’s coming, and it’s the most beautiful thing I ever witnessed on stage. Moreover, the harmony between her and Markus Neugebauer is perfect. Their voices are geared to each other, it seems, because they’re both so unbelievably strong and a guarantee for goosebumps. If you ever have the chance to see either of them somewhere on a stage in the world – grab a ticket.

Over all, that weekend was a wonderful and memorable one. I met wonderful people again – Jeannine & Andrea, who I had massively missed over the past 18 months, Stuart & Brigitte, who recognized me despite my not so memorable face, and seemed genuinely happy to see me again and cared about how I’d been since we’ve last seen each other, Victor Barretto, who had been part of last year’s Cast and who, sitting in the same row as me during the Premiere show, also recognized me and asked how I had been…and not to mention two of the nicest people I have ever met. Martin, one of the band members, who I genuinely came to like, because he was so lovely and funny, and made me look a teeny tiny less stupid and dumb as I was standing all by myself at the Stage Door between and after all (!) of the 5 shows of the weekend, outside, defying cold, wind and rain, and who I sadly never got to say a proper Thank You & Goodbye to. I hope one day I can have another shot at that. And of course that WONDERFUL blond woman of the crew whose name I sadly never learned, but who was the kindest thing I ever came across at a Stage Door – taking care of me, making sure I wouldn’t freeze myself to death after the Premiere, and after two hours of waiting for the ones I was waiting for, dragged me (under my protest) to the premiere party to get out of the cold and right into the fun of it. If you read this: THANK YOU for everything, and I sincerely hope we’ll meet again one day.
And of course the numerous hugs, smiles, winks & waves of the people I genuinely care so much about – not just as actors, but more, as human beings, as people like you and me, – will stay in my memory of that weekend.

 

Any Way The Wind Blows…

May 31st, 2014. The day an era of 12 years at the Dominion Theatre ends, and after that day, neither Tottenham Court Rd. nor London itself will ever be the same.

I have been thinking long about whether I should do this post. I don’t want to sound like my life is ending now that my favourite show of all times is sadly closing. I don’t want to tell anybody out there that it has majorly changed my life or changed it at all, for that matter, because that would be a lie. It’s just going to be my personal way of saying Goodbye to something that means a hell of a lot to me.

I remember the first time ever that I watched the show. It was January, 13th, 2008. Cologne, Germany. Originally, I only went to see this show because I got 2 tickets for a former friend’s birthday 10 days before. She had spoken about it months earlier, and although I always had some kind of soft spot for some of the Queen songs, I never gave it much thought or even planned to go and see it, mainly because at that time, I had nothing to do with musical theatre at all. I was 22 years old, and I couldn’t think of anything more boring than paying to watch people dancing and singing on a stage.

Safe to say that this birthday gift was the best idea I had ever had.

The moment the show started at the Musical Dome, I was sucked inside. “Innuendo” has always had a very special meaning to me since that day, because whenever I hear it, goosebumps are everything I’m made of. I remember when “Radio GaGa” started a few minutes later, and I thought: “I love this shit.” And I do until this day forward. I don’t even know or remember the Cast we had back then, but I know they had a huge impact on the fact I fell in love with this show from the get go (although I was as far away as you could be on your first ever musical from knowing what a “Stage Door” was or that you could actually meet the actors after the show).

Years passed by where I completely forgot about it. My life went on, friends came, friends left. Then I met a certain person online, Kim, who today is one of my best friends. We became friends over the fact that we were both crazy “Supernatural” fans (nothing crazy about that anymore) and went to the same Convention hosting actors of the show in 2011. But what I only discovered later was that Kim was the biggest musical theatre fan I had ever met. I always saw her pictures of shows, “Cats”, “Tarzan”, “Rocky Horror Show”…and I have no idea how it happened, she somehow drew me completely into that musical theatre thing, made me fall head over heels for “Tarzan” (which is until today still one of the best things that could have happened to theatre land), and before I even knew it, I was sitting in Seat C 29 of the Stalls at the Dominion Theatre in London on September, 20th, 2012, on my first ever London trip.

The only thing I regret about that night? That I did not have any device on me to record the show. Yes, I know it’s prohibited, but if I had known back then what I knew today, I would’ve done anything to keep it recorded for eternity. Because that show simply knocked me off my feet. I had both understudies for Galileo & Scaramouche (which I didn’t know until I actually thumbed through the programme), Scott Monello & Emma Hatton. And up to this day, these two will always have a very special place in my heart. I fell head over heels for Scott’s adorable display of Galileo, for his vocals and his small dancing parts, and more than once after the show I thought how it could be that he was “only” the understudy? He was absolutely breathtaking. So was Emma; she sang the roof off the theatre with her insane vocals. Her hight notes gave me goosebumps, and having had the honour and luck to see her perfom one more time exactly one year later, I was more than happy to see and hear how everything in her voice had improved even more. Plus, her Scaramouche was one of the most adorable things I had ever seen on a stage (and note, that was only my 2nd ever musical at that point in my life). That I had also the honour to see Rachel John as Meat that night will probably always be one of the biggest highlights of my life. That woman has a voice that is out of this world, and she was the first and only person until last year who actually made me cry the instant she started singing “(No-One But You) Only The Good Die Young”.

After that 1st visit, I was not only totally in love with London (coming from someone who always despised the british accent and never cared about anything british at all, I guess that’s saying something), but also helplessly with musical theatre, and it was just natural that I was back at the Dominion only 3 months later. This time, I would be seeing the new Cast doing their thing, forwardmost, Oliver Tompsett as Galileo. I had seen him in the role of Drew Boley in “Rock Of Ages” three months before, and back then, I he knocked me so hard off my feet with his talent that I was beyond happy to see him in my favoure show. And what can I say? He did definitely not disappoint me. He was, and still is up to this day, the most talented person I ever had the pleasure and honour to watch. His vocals, his talent, his acting skills, yes, even his silly little dancing steps during the show, were and are completely out of this world, and I don’t even know of one second that he didn’t give me chills all over my body. I had high hopes and expectations about him as Galileo, since I knew what he was capable of if you let him do his thing on a stage, but what I saw that night was beyond said expectations. The moment I saw him performing “I Want To Break Free” and through every song he performed that night, I knew he was exactly where he belonged. There is one word in Germany for someone on a stage who enjoys every second of it, who is practically overflowing with vitality, gratitude and happiness, all displayed by the biggest grin on their faces during an entire show: limelight hog. And that is what hit me the moment Oliver stepped foot on that Dominion stage, and that special feeling never left me whenever I came back to see him four more times; it was a gift from God he was chosen to play Galileo Figaro.
Rachael Wooding, who played Scaramouche – wow. I have barely seen any woman (apart from Emma Hatton three months earlier who had such a positive energy inside her little body and such mindblowing vocals than her. Plus, her interaction with Oliver was amazing, they seemed like they had done this job together for years instead of months! The chemistry between them was the one thing I will always remember the most about all my Dominion shows, because not only between Galileo and Scaramouche it’s a very important thing, but between all the other characters, too.

Months passed until I went back to the Dominion, but instead, I was part of two crazy months in May/June 2013, when the german Cast of “We Will Rock You” were on tour close to my hometown, in a city called Essen. I have talked about it in certain posts on here, and the fact that I spent a hell of a lot money for 7 shows in 8 weeks says a lot about how much I fell even more in love with the show than I already had. The Cast was the best thing I had ever witnessed on a german stage, and the time I spent watching the show and hanging out at the Stage Door was definitely one of the best times of my life. I made wonderful friends during the tour, including two Cast members, and it was all thanks to them that the show grew even bigger in my admiration than it already had. Even though a few songs were sung in german (which was weird after 5 years and recently having seen the West End Cast two times), I couldn’t help but sing, cheer and clap along with them. Some people say that different versions of the same show might be having different impacts on the fans, and I’ve heard a couple of times that a german Cast can never achieve or do what a West End or Broadway Cast is capable of. But here’s me saying: THEY CAN. And hell, HOW they can. The german Cast has shown me that no matter in what part of the world “We Will Rock You” is performed and no matter how much scepsis you will feel towards it at first, the songs and the feelings you have throughout it will never be different. They will always suck you in, because it’s the show itself that will always provide its inexplicable magic.

The thing that impressed me the most was the Cast Change day at the Dominion on October, 5th, 2013. It was a very emotional day, as it was the last performance of Scott Monello, Emma Hatton, Rachel John & Wayne Robinson (who played Brit), but also because it was the day that Brian May came up in the middle of the stage during “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Safe to say that together with the entire Cast smashing the song and his breathtaking guitar solo he totally blew the roof off the Dominion. It is, up to this day, the most amazing show of that Cast that I have seen, because everyone was on fire and giving it 200% of their talent.

I am gutted to no end to see this wonderful and amazing show leave the West End, because theatre is losing one of its biggest and best pieces today, but although I couldn’t see it more than 6 times, I am beyond grateful for these few times, and each and every one of the shows I was part of I will always cherish deep down in my heart. I am also grateful for every single actor of the Cast that ever took their time to come out and chat with the fans, with me, who were always so patient, kind, funny, caring, and never got tired of us showing up on their doorstep to tell them how amazing they are, or asking for photos or autographs. This goes especially out to the following people that I have met over the past one and a half years and that grew to my heart so much that I will always try and support them in whatever they’ll be doing: Scott Monello, Oliver Tompsett, Katie Paine, Rachael Wooding, Rachel John & Emma Hatton.

Thank You, “We Will Rock You”, for the past one and a half years, for every single amazing show, for every laughter, for every tear I shed, for every beautiful moment at the Stage Door, for all the goosebumps you got me, simply for all the beautiful memories that you brought me and that I will keep in that special place in my heart forever. You will all be massively missed, and it is more than wrong and sad you have to go, but one thing I know for sure: you’ll be going out with a bang, because that’s what you deserve.

THANK YOU.