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.

 

Tarzan 19.05.2013

My 4th and last show at the Neue Flora before it moves to Stuttgart in December…and my hopes for it were high, as I was taking my 4 girls with me that day, with three of them not having seen the show before. Damn, was I excited.
First surprise of the day: Rune Hock Moller, who was supposed to be Tarzan, wasn’t on at all – instead, it was Rupert Markthaler, who actually is barely on stage these days, he’s actually almost only Walk-In Cover. It came to me during the first scene where the grown-up Tarzan swings himself on stage; when he turned to the audience to make this gorilla-like sounds, my first thought was: “That’s not Rune. Can’t be. This is Rupert.” You have to know: I had never seen either Rune or Rupert in person before, I only knew them from some short looks on their facebook headshots. And I never had heard any of them speak or sing, but anyways, when Rupert sang his first few notes, I was pretty sure it was him; there was not any accent in his voice, something I know Rune has, as he’s danish. During the interval, I went straight for the Main Hall to check if and why there had been a change in the Cast. Sadly, the woman at the counter didn’t know anything at all about any changes, but thanked me for the information and said she’ll go and check up on it.
Now to the show. WHAT. A. BLAST. I honestly couldn’t have wished for a better Cast that day. As soon as I heard Rupert’s first few notes on “Two Worlds” right at the beginning, I knew this was going to be good; his voice was absolutely MINDBLOWING, just wow. In retrospect, I honestly have to say he was even better than my first Tarzan, David Boyd, because he put many special little things into his acting, like the boy-ish behaviour that none of the other three guys I’ve seen in that role had on them. And the interaction with Jane was just amazing, it was like they actually had been together for years; now, I don’t understand why Rupert had never been the Main Cast for this role (apart from the fact that he is the best looking Tarzan/Musical Actor I’ve probably seen in a very long time!). Oh, and how do I start with Jane, played by Ina Trabesinger again? Holy mother of God, that woman is a GODDESS! I had seen her twice before, but these two times were nothing compared to the show she gave everyone that day, NOTHING. Ina at her best, by far. I even feel like she put some giggles and laughter and moves into her role in that show that she never did before, and everyone must have felt how much she enjoyed her performance. And when she sang…god, it was like an angel was singing, for real. Maybe I’m dramatic right now, but if you’d ever had heard her sing, you’d understand what I mean. I don’t know where she gets all her talent from, but when she came to the high notes, just when I thought I couldn’t get any stronger goosebumps – she did it. She’s simply breathtaking and amazing, and it drives me totally insane that she’s going to leave the Tarzan Cast forever on June, 2nd, 2013.  I actually feel like everyone on stage that day was at his/her best. Melanie Ortner, on again as Kala, Tarzan’s mother, was so emotional and heartbreaking, like I haven’t seen her since my first time, and the boy who played the little Tarzan, Marvin Magg, was bigger than the other boys so far, but still, so effing cute! And of course…my eyes were practically glued to two of the Gorillas, or better, the two guys who were on as Gorillas that day: Emanuele Caserta & Alessio Impedovo.
I have to admit, I didn’t actually have any idea who was who, I just remember three things that just made me helplessly fall in love with them (or one of them *lol*):

1. During that scene where Tarzan brings Jane to his family, one of the Gorillas – either Emanuele or Alessio – pulled Rupert at his loin cloth from behind (which is NOT in the script, trust me). He then started to giggle, and soon he and two or three others of the Gorillas/Actors were almost dying of laughter, they were lying at the edge of the stage, near to the stairs, rolling themselves around on the floor, and everyone on our left side of the stage just HAD to start laughing, too. Me, personally, I couldn’t concentrate on any of the serious, romantic things that were going on on the rest of the stage!

2. At the Curtain Call, every single actor was standing at the edge of the stage, the Gorillas a bit further back, to not steal the Main actors their show. And there was this one Gorilla – Emanuele or Alessio, goddamn it that I have no idea who it was under all this Make-Up! – stared and grinned at me for MINUTES! And normally, I feel really really uncomfortable about this, but in that moment, something happened to me and I just couldn’t stop staring back, smiling like a stupid fool. He seriously looked at me in this “Yes, I know I’m damn hot and good-looking, ya know”-macho-like way, and I actually almost made a sign with my hand to show him I’ll be at the Stage Door after the last applause, and I have no idea how I stoppped myself from it, haha 🙂

3. After the show was done, one of my girls, who had seen this Musical for the very first time, told me that during the last applause, one of the male Gorillas on her side of the stage (she was sitting on the right) was noticing that she was wearing slippers in the theatre (it had rained the entire day before, and on that morning, too, and all of our shoes were SOAKED, so she brought some warm and fuzzy slippers to the show, which was kind of…weird…considering coming from a person who’s 4th Tarzan Show it has been, yeah, I know^^). He stared at her for a couple of minutes, staring at her slippers, back at her, and then, out of nowhere, gave her a huge High Five and shouted at her “What the hell is this?! YOU ARE PHENOMENAL!!!!” He showed one of his Gorilla colleagues the slippers, and they were literally dying of laughter, because they had never seen anything like it before – someone sitting in the theatre with slippers! After that he took the slippers and held them up high into the air while standing on the stage. That turned my friend into a complete theatre geek!

We then literally ran to the Stage Door (well, alright, I was getting really nervous and ran, as I didn’t want to miss Ina AGAIN), only then, I realized that it had been the first show of the day, and normally not everyone of the actors comes out inbetween the shows. There we were standing outside, waiting like fools, being the only ones apart from two guys and their friend waiting for Mel, whom they knew for about 10 years. First one to come out was Peter Stassen, whom I’d finally seen as Porter, and who had been absolutely amazing in that role! He sadly had to rush off for about 30 minutes, to take care of his and Mel’s dog, but promised to be back soon. After that, I saw Ina & Rupert – Jane & Tarzan – standing inside at the reception, when a delivery guy got inside with some chinese food. I was shoving myself to the door further and further, scared of missing out of Ina again, and Rupert, too, who still was kind of in his Tarzan Make-Up (my friends were standing a bit away, mostly because they must’ve felt embarassed by me, haha). As soon as the food delivery guy left, I shouted Ina’s and Rupert’s name, asking them if they had a minute, and if we could take quick pictures. Ina said “Sure”, but also told me that they were quite hungry, and I promised her it won’t take long. I then told her that I had missed her 3 times before and that I really wanted to catch her today, that I absolutely loved her performance and that she was absolutely mindblowing. She thanked me and we took this wonderful picture – god, I really, really love this woman and will deeply miss her!

Then Rupert came to us, and I instantly asked him how it came that he was on that day, and he told me that sadly, Rune had become ill and he, Rupert, had to fill in as Tarzan last-minute. I told him that I was glad he had been on, because he was just amazing, that he had been the best Tarzan I’d ever seen, and he thanked me and we took a picture ( I actually hate that my friend didn’t zoom back before she took the picture, and I hate myself even more that I didn’t check on the pic before Rupert left -.-)

Then Mel came out, looking absolutely beautiful although she was still in her Make-Up, her hairnet and in old and dirty sweatpants. For about 10 minutes, she was talking to her friends, telling them that she was going to get married in Stuttgart to Peter in July 2014, which meant that she would be staying with the Tarzan Cast when they move over. After their conversation was over, I got to talk to her a bit, congratulating her for her marriage, asking her how her and Peter’s holiday on Ibiza had been, and of course, she said “Very nice, but just too short!” (something everyone seems to be saying once in their life). I asked her for a picture, and then let her go upstairs again, as she was almost starving for food 🙂

When my friends almost wanted to go, Peter finally came back. We were kind of blocking the stairs to the underground-carpark where he came out of, and he stared at us shortly, not even remembering me from 30 minutes earlier, but then he recognized me after all, we all asked for a picture, then he left.

Then we said goodbye to one friend of us, who lives in Hamburg, because we had to leave already. This day, this show, will always have a very special place in my heart, because it was definitely the BEST Tarzan Show I have seen so far, and that means a lot!

Tarzan 19.04.2013

On the day, exactly 1 year after I’ve last seen the Show, I was finally back in the Jungle! And this time, the Cast List was perfect. John Vooijs was going to play Tarzan that night, Ina Trabesinger was going to be Jane, and I was super excited. I’ve only met John outside the Theatre, at the Stage Door, and he was so lovely and nice (and he smelled like heaven, seriously!), and since last year I really hoped to see him just once in that role, as my friend Kim told me he was absolutely faboulous and kind of a “Macho-Tarzan” 🙂 And Ina…well, there’s not much to say about her, really, except that she’s got the best voice in the entire german theatre land, making my eyes overflowing with tears and my skin being full of goosebumps – she’s kind of a german Siobhan Dillon for me, just flawless!
When we came into the hall, I felt the well-known shiver going through all my body, because the Stage Design and the sounds around are just one of the best I’ve ever seen/heard, and it always feels like I’m coming home when I’m there.
Sitting in our seats, me and my friend were waiting for the well-known shot of a cannon that marks the beginning of the Show, and we were both actually squeaking when, for the first time ever, we didn’t get frightened by the loud blow. The first few seconds, when the actor that plays Tarzan – that you don’t see yet – starts singing “Two Worlds”, are ALWAYS my favourite, I always feel like melting in my seat. These first few notes are always sung so powerful and with so many emotions, no matter which actor sings them. Hearing John Vooijs sing them, was so surreal, because I knew his voice from talking to him in person, and it sounded so different, and yet, so good. Then the gorillas started brachiate all through the hall, hanging from lianes, and everywhere were jungle sounds and it all had this amazing green colour – it’s just so indescribable!
The entire show was just wonderful. The little boy who played Young Tarzan, Julius Störmer, was so cute, and his acting was SO good, I was actually quite blown away by him. Even his gorilla sounds were just plain perfect, it was actually as if there was a real gorilla on stage, not a little human being. And his voice had a perfect edge to it that made me really enjoy the few times he sang. Melanie Ortner, who was on as Kala, Tarzan’s mother, was perfect again, too, though I feel like the first two shows I’ve seen her in, she was even better than that. Especially her desperate scenes were the ones she really touched me with her acting and voice. Rommel Singson, playing Terk, Tarzan’s best friend, somehow was even more funny than I remembered him to be, and more than once I felt like there were small parts in his conversations with Tarzan that weren’t used in the first two shows I’ve seen a year ago, but I wouldn’t bet on it 🙂 John Vooijs…The moment he swung himself onto the stage on a liane during “Son Of Man”, wearing nothing more than a brown loincloth made me feel really uncomfortable, and I felt my face becoming quite red almost purple, haha 🙂 I only knew him in his clothes so far, had talked to him for about 15 minutes, and it felt so wrong, seeing him half-naked! Anyways, I loved John’s way of acting, he was even more like a child than the other two actors I’d seen playing Tarzan, he had that special edge that made you forget that he is actually a grown-up man who’s supposed to play a grown-up man! In the scenes where there are so many emotions in Tarzan, where he’s so confused with what’s going on in his heart and head, and in his parents’ head, John’s voice was so powerful that for a moment, you could’ve thought it would break, because it cost him so much effort to put out every word. That really touched me. Oh, and Ina Trabesinger as Jane…god, what a woman, what an actress!! She blew me away the first time I had seen her last year, and her voice was just as perfect as I remembered it, and even better than that. The goosebumps I felt throughout her scenes, I can’t count them. And her acting, holy mother, it was even better than I thought it could become. She was more hilarious than last time, and I couldn’t get enough of her. And she didn’t disappoint me, she brought me to tears all over again, not only by singing, but also by acting, especially in the scene in which she is about to leave the jungle with her father’s expedition team, being torn between her love for Tarzan, the wish to stay with him and going back to her life in England. Everytime I see her standing there, with her little scrapbook in her arms, I just want to rush onto the stage and give her the biggest hugs.
When the show was over, there were standing ovations (in an audience that was somehow really really restrained), and in that moment, I thought for the first time that it will definitely will be a very very sad last show on October, 2nd, when the Show leaves Hamburg forever. It actually almost brought me to tears, just thinking about it again that night.
My friend and I then rushed off to the Stage Door, where, apart from 3 other girls, we were the only ones, feeling really stupid…which was no comparison to how stupid we felt 5 minutes later, when more and more members of the Ensemble were coming out, the three girls were suddenly gone and we were the two only people standing there in the dark. We kept waiting, and a few minutes later, our patience paid out, as David Boyd came out. He had been my very first Tarzan one year ago, and of all three I’ve seen so far, he’s by far my favourite, I loved him to bits and guess I’ll always do – you never forget your first, right? That night, he had been playing one of the gorillas and a plant that “dances” around Jane in her first scene, and whenever he had been on stage, I could do nothing but stare at him. I walked up to him, and me and my friend told him what a great show it had been, that he had been amazing as always. I also told him that he had been my very first Tarzan and that he was really really good, but that he also made a great appearance as “a plant”. Ouch. I don’t even know what happened to me the moment I started talking to him, but I was such a stuttering mess! I didn’t even realize I was saying the plant thing, until after he had left, my friend couldn’t stop laughing at me, reminding me that he hadn’t only been a plant but more, a Gorilla – god, did I feel stupid! Before David left, we asked him when would be a good chance to maybe see him as Tarzan on stage again before he leaves the Cast in June (as he isn’t on that much anymore), but he couldn’t give us an exact answer, so I said it’s always kind of a lucky game to catch him. We both asked him for a pic, and he said “Sure!”, and when it was my turn, I placed myself beside him, grabbing his waist and tilting my head towards him, and I felt his head almost squeezing right into my face, and in my head, I was all like “Oh God, don’t lose your composure now and ruin the pic, just smile and enjoy it!” Well, and I guess I was lucky, because the pic turned out to be absolutely beautiful:

When David had left, we were standing there and waited, Melanie Ortner and her boyfriend, Peter Stassen, were the next one who came out (Peter mostly plays Kerchak or Clayton, sadly not that night), but they were apparently in a hurry. Mel said “Bye!”, smiled, and they rushed off to their car. I was still determined to NOT leave until we talked to Ina and had a pic with her, and when my friend told me that the small, brown-haired woman with the thick red winter jacket and a huge suitcase by her side that was standing by the door was actually her, I didn’t know how to react. When she came out just a few metres away from us, there was this short, very short second, where I almost spoke to her, saying “I didn’t know she has short brown hair, you never told me she did!” to my friend over and over again (in the Show, Ina/Jane has long, blonde hair), but before I could, there was a Taxi stopping beside us, and Ina packed up her suitcase, the Taxi driver put it in the trunk, Ina entered the car and closed the door. I was standing there like: “No, you can’t just let her go like that!” and I was staring at the window of the Taxi where she was sat, and I felt a huge smile appear on my face, and suddenly, she looked at us through the window and gave me a huge smile too. No one knows how stupid I felt in that moment, waiting for her to wave her hand at me. I didn’t allow myself the thought back then, but when the Taxi turned around, for a moment, I actually hoped that she had forgotten something and would step out of the car again, so I’d get my shot to talk to her and get my pic…but then, she drove away – and I deeply, deeply regret it today that I didn’t bring up the courage to just walk up and talk to her! Especially because she’s already leaving in June, too, and I will only have one very last shot next month to see her 😦
I hadn’t really recovered from that when finally, John Vooijs came out as one of the last people. He was focused on his IPhone, but walked straight up to us, and I think that if he wouldn’t have looked up in time he would’ve just bumped into us 🙂 We shortly talked to him, told him that his show had been amazing, and again, somehow, I was such a freaking stuttering mess, I didn’t actually think before I opened my mouth, at one point I thought he wanted to say that he remembered us both from the long conversation we had had last year, and I bursted out “Yeah, we were here last year, but didn’t get the chance to see you, so…we did it now.” God, when did I become such a fangirl with lame answers? I soon realized that his mood wasn’t the best, guess he didn’t have such a good day, so I was kind of glad when my friend asked him if we could take a picture with him. He said yes, and we both got our pictures:

On our way home, we were both still laughing and making fun of my stupid conversation with David, and during that night, the word “Pornoflower” was born, which will always mark this night for me! 🙂

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.