One year on, same set, new cast (partly) and two karten im handen, off we trotted for a little city break. You see, Drew was back as Jesus. Having witnessed this spectacular event last year, we felt our love for all things Vienna reignited around November when an email from the efficient bods at the Ronacher Theatre kindly whispered in our ear that it was all happening again..... farewell Blighty, Guten Morgen Austria!
As fairybreaks go ours started in its usual spectacular fashion; off the aeroplane, straight to the town centre, to our lovely hotel in the centre of all manner of beautiful buildings (these Austrians luuuurve their statues and cherubs) and then via the pub to see an austrian musical. More of that later. But as you will discover we needed a cleansing experience following it, and so 'Jesus Christ Superstar' fit the bill nicely. For soo many reasons, but the main one being the glory that is Mr Sarich. Four days on and we are still wibbly wobbly pieces of jelly, hence sitting here now with a bag of Mozart kugeln and a bottle of Schlumberger sparkly, washing away the post Vienna Drew blues and writing about the experience.
What can we say that hasn`t already been said (by us at least)? Not a lot apparently, but it probably wont stop us banging on for a while at least. We entered the theatre in excitement, and armed with the knowledge (last years miscalcuation) that a small glass of fizzy at the Ronacher costs approximately the same as a small country, we bypassed the bar and headed straight for the CD lady, who was gamely trying to entice punters to buy last years recording (we did of course), the previous one from 2005???? alongside Mischa Mang (Judas) and Drew's solo albums. She had very few takers until after people had witnessed the greatness, at which point she was mobbed as we smugly trotted past, CDs hotly clutched in search of sustainance and a post mortem.
Relaxing in the efficient, shabby comfort of Cafe Pruckel with a grosse bier (Bitte!) and a fag (Gawd Bless Vienna and indoor smoking...) we gazed gormlessly at each other across the table as we searched for the right words. But its hard, you see, because when you have been in the presence of the Sarich-God, it does tend to render you speechless. If not entirely scramble the few braincells we were still desperately clutching on to. See, we were seated in the stalls. Second row. and were subjected to the full Drew Sarich Audience Gaze (patent pending) as well as the force of his incredible vocals and his angst-ridden, tear inducing emoting. Never OTT, and never, ever to be underestimated. He walks on stage and suddenly you can't look at anyone else. We did try, Mischa, really. But as we recently deducted, Drew has the Marilyn Monroe Quality. He can 'switch it on' whenever he needs to. We've seen it so many times now, in Les Mis as well as JCS. Like a little light bulb, that boy.
As this production has had a review from us last year, and the staging has remained unchanged (though the orchestration was better this year) we feel the only option is to pick out a few fairy highlights. And not just Drew - but let's face it, who are we kidding? We adore him and would see him in absolutely anything and exmplified by the fact we are typing this whilst watching 'Rudolf: Affair Mayerling' in German on DVD. We've even noticed we could play the Ladies of the Night in the scene we are currently watching happily. Moving swiftly on. Highlights.
1) Gethsemane.
THE BEST EVER (Thanks to Silivren for You Tubing this, the memory is irreplaceable).
There are no words. Listen to the recording (which doesn't do it full justice) and then imagine it 1000 times better from 10 feet away. Imagine him looking you in the eyes when singing 'But if I die...' (we naturally are aware 1000 people felt he was looking them in the eye...but most wouldn't have still been in their seats 72 hours later with their mouths open and a hypnotised look in their eyes unless they knew they had a plane to catch and sodding work to go to). Btw, we don't do punctuation in full on chat mode, so excuse the long sentences and just remember we do take breaths sometimes. There were big blobby tears. There was a standing ovation, and not just by us. Spectacular.
2) Poor Jerusalem.
Listen without crying if you can.
Beautiful. No Drew rock screams but stunning, right to the moment he stalked off down the aisle and we had to be physically restrained to not stalk off after him. But as stalking doesn't belong in our job description, we pretended to not care where he went. So where did he go??? He only bloody appeared on the scaffolding at the back of the stage in angry mode screaming his head off, telling everyone to get out of his Temple. (Not the right version, but hell, who cares??) Masterful. Quiver.
3) Pontius Pilate was exceptional. Just the right amount of anger and frustration; he really wanted to help this guy Jesus and hated being used as a pawn. Stopped counting the lashes at 30-odd and watched the crowd counting with an incredulous look on his face, until he intervened and put an end to the baying for blood at 39.
4) Herod. Again, our least favourite song, spoilt forever by Christopher Biggins and his comical turn on what is a song about absolute hatred and humiliation. Not supposed to be a funny ha-ha crowd pleaser and should be uncomfortable viewing, not a giggle-fest. This time performed with malice and genuine disgust and sarcasm. Which is the point of the song.
5) Mary Magdalene - great part and performed brilliantly. Slight concerns about her wardrobe though, as she performed dressed in a virtually identical dress to Tamsin, avec the red scarf. Some people just can't make their own style choices...(or appear to have come to the theatre dressed as their favourite character -Karina ;o) )
In summary; we adore this show, and especially the simplicity of the Austrian/Ronacher production. Though not avid church goers, this production packs an emotional and spiritual punch which leaves you questioning and wondering. We also think this production should be recorded on DVD (are you listening, Ronacher bods??? You'd make a fortune!!!!) as Drew Sarich deserves a wider audience and as awesome as he is on CD, witnessing that stage presence and charisma is part of the deal. Andrew Lloyd Webber, stop looking now. Drew Sarich will ALWAYS be the ultimate JC and if you're honest with yourself, you know we're right. It's not like we haven't told you before...
So, a big round of applause from us, witness the curtain call (thanks to spanishgirl1902 , another lovely youtuber)
We challenge you to resist the gorgousness.
Oh Drew.
No comments:
Post a Comment