Taniec Vampirow

...aka, The Dance of the Vampires.
I went to see this fun broadway-type musical at the Teatr Roma this week in Warsaw. The singing/speaking was all in Polish, but I still managed to get most of it. The play is an adaptation of a Roman Polanski (The Piano, Oliver Twist) 1960's movie called "The Fearless Vampire Hunters." The musical was apparently an apalling flop on broadway in 2000, but it has had better success in Europe.

The music was interesting, and most of it was not an original score. Things I recognised included Heart, a Meatloaf song, and "Total Eclipse of the Heart." Since it was in Polish, I really couldn't tell if the songs were merely translated or if they'd had new words. I think "forever's gonna start tonight" would be perfect for a Vampire musical, so I'm betting the songs were just translated.

I had two favorite scenes: In one, the main female character is singing about how odd the count's castle is. In the background, there appear to be many portraits hanging on the castle wall of past ancestors. The portraits were actually costumed actors posing, and they would shift positions, reaching out to grab her while she sang. It was really well done.

The other favorite scene was where the vampires rise up from the grave to go to the Vampire ball. The costumes were from various eras, and they were all decaying. There was an Elizabethan drumwheel hoop, a 1770's panier, a bustle, knight in armor, and many other great outfits. Check out this amazing picture (it's from the play's website):The best part was we had amazing center front seats for about $25. The actors frequently come out into the audience during the production, and they would walk right by our seats (we were only 2 rows back). I got great views of the costumes!