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garlicandnightmares · 7 years ago

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Vámpírok Bálja 10 years anniversary show(s) (6th and 7th of June)

So last Tuesday (and Wednesday as well) I returned to magical fantasy world where everyone sings about their feelings and cuts vegetables to the rhythm of the music. This time in Hungarian. Yes, I went to Budapest for the anniversary show and one "normal" show (both with @phantasmagoricfebruary which made the whole experience ten times better). It was awesome. Worth every penny (also Budapest is a really nice city, if anyone wants, I can write about my trip as well).

While I loved Russian vampires, in Budapest you can really feel that they've been doing this for ten years. And I mean it as a compliment. Actors are great in their roles and the whole cast seems more like a giant family rather than people connected just through work. It was great. I don't have anything more sophisticated to say other than great. Anyway, obviously I'm not going to end it at that, I just have to write like ten pages outlining every single song. I wouldn't be me if I didn't. Like always - all the magic happens under the cut.

First of all - Egyházi Géza. He was the Graf of 7th and let me tell you - he's the best Graf of them all. He might have dethroned Lukasz Dziedzic as my favourite Krolock. He has the posture and it's very obvious that he immensely enjoys being on stage. His Graf constantly smiles sinisterly and he can't keep his mouth shut - always hissing and showing off his fangs. I love that. Apart from Die Unstillbare Gier, his Krolock isn't a tortured soul, but rather a mastermind with a plan on how to get his fancy dinner. It’s probably my favourite interpretation of this character.

(All the photos of cast/show are from Vámpírok Bálja fb page. Also they’re from earlier show on 5h June)

Anniversary show was special (obviously) with cast changing throughout the show (Andrádi Zsanett appeared as Sarah and she stole my heart). There were four Krolocks throughout the show, but I'm not that fluent in Hungarian cast to have recognised them all at all times (apart from Egyházi, ofc). I think in the first act it was mostly Bot Gábor, but I still don’t know who sung Totale Finsternis. Alfred was mostly played by Pásztor Ádám, but Sánta László sung like two songs (Du bist wirklich sehr nett with Andrádi Zsanett and Ein perfekter Tag). Throughout the show Szemenyei János was Herbert, but there was a twist during the ball with Jenei Gábor and Pirgel Dávid appearing onstage. And I will talk about it more later on, because it was such a glorious thing. Also - two Magdas (Kecskés Tímea in act I and Sári Évi in act II).

Before we get to songs - the curtain. Or rather curtains. Because there were two and while the second one was simply red and shiny, the first one looked like iron fence. It was interesting. I wonder if it's simply an aesthetic choice or if there were some attempts at storming the scene and they decided to protect themselves.

Either way, before I form some conspiracy theory about the curtain, Ouverture. It never gets old, does it? It doesn't matter how many times I have heard it already, it always sends chills down my spine and gets me in a right mood. A mood for glorious cheesy vampires. But before we can actually get to the good stuff - Alfred loses Professor in Transylvanian woods. He, Ho, He was... alright. The Professor was as plastic as always and Alfred was as scared as always. I have nothing against this song, but I also don't love it. Likely because I'm simply not Alfred's fan (although I really liked Pásztor Ádám as Alfred, but I'll talk about it more later on). He, Ho, He is a nice opening setting the action, but let’s not dwell here. Do we have Professor loaded onto Alfred's back? Off we go then!

Knoblauch is growing on me. It's still a song I probably wouldn't be playing on repeat, but after Moscow show I did sing it for a week. And I might end up singing it again. It's so damn catchy. And in Hungarian as well. I'm continuously amazed at just how well Hungarian sounds in songs. I remember listening to Hungarian album for the first time and being so surprised that this many syllables can fit into the melody and sound good (mind, I was used to Polish version where Knoblauch is Czosnek, so only two syllables. Fokhagyma sounded like such a long word, I didn’t know if they could squeeze it into the melody. They can. And it sounds great).

Another thing - ensemble in Hungarian show is absolutely amazing. They work so well together, one might accuse them of using telepathy. And they look like they genuinely have fun onstage which pretty much makes the whole song. Also Hungarian Magdas are incredibly pretty. All three I saw were absolutely charming and very girly in their appearance. Chagal was surprisingly good in his role. It's really hard for Chagals not to feel forced or just plainly gross to me, but Pavletits Béla played the part really well. He played the fiddle in the beginning, jumped around the tables a bit and was a great host to Alfred and Professor, trying to pour pálinka down the latter's throat to warm him up a bit. It was all genuinely funny. Also - the dialogue between the Professor and Chagal was great. I loved the villagers in the background, looking oh-so-genuinely-surprised that anyone would try to look for a castle in this area, when there are absolutely no castles around. The quick come-on-hide-our-garlic-necklaces act and the following relief when Chagal explains that they like garlic because it's healthy - funny as hell, again, mainly because the ensemble plays so freaking well. During the last sung part, when Magda stands behind Abronsius’ and Alfred's chairs, Alfred was practically glued to her cleavage and Professor had to swat him away. These two have a really good chemistry throughout the first act and I have to admit, the thought of why is Alfred chasing after Sarah when Magda is around did cross my mind once or twice. Especially since this Alfred seems much less innocent and unworldly than most Alfred's. And he does look like he's taken straight out of some boyband, which slightly takes away from his i'm-so-sweet-and-unaware-of-women-flirting thing. Not that it's a bad thing, at least not for me, because I was never hooked on sweet and naive Alfred. This one was somewhat innocent at the beginning, but it wasn't overdone (and in Alles ist hell he flirted back when Magda dropped her turnip or whatever it was).

Back to the main story - oh the wonders of modern technology! A bathtub! … With a girl inside? Chagal played it great, but Török Anna seemed slightly off like she was somewhat uncomfortable. It was just this one scene, though. All throughout the rest of the show she was fine. This time, surprisingly enough, Alfred stole the show with his dreamy eyes stuck to Sarah and when Chagal closed the door almost on his face he looked delightfully shocked. It was great. And with Alfred looking the way he looks - I can understand Chagal's concern in Eine schöne Tochter ist ein Segen. Which was a brilliant song. Chagal came across as genuinely worried (and a tad possessive when he was singing about boarding the door with his hammer), but also funny in all the right moments. Pavletits Béla is truly great as Chagal. He has quite the voice too.

Nie geseh'n - again, I was surprised just by how likeable this Alfred is. And he has a really nice voice. Torök Anna makes a decent Sarah. Not my favourite one, but I can't say anything bad about her as well. Her Sarah is dreamy, not overly manipulative and rather genuinely charmed by Alfred. On 6th she sounded slightly off, like she was sick, but on 7th everything was fine, so it was a one time thing. Chagal and Magda had their moment (on 7th Kecskés Tímea almost stabbed Chagal with that needle and if he had stayed few seconds longer be probably would end up being One-Eyed Chagal). I really liked the moment when Rebecca realised that she hit Abronsius and not her unfaithful husband and got all flustered about it.

Well, fun is over, the night in all its glory comes with dark and gloomy vampire. Yup - Gott ist tot. On 6th it was Bot Gábor singing and I have to say I was a little underwhelmed. While he has the voice and he sounds really well, for me he lacks the posture to be the perfect Krolock (although paired with Szemenyei János, who is also the shortest Herbert they make a nice and short von Krolock family, which is kinda adorable). He's simply too short to be intimidating (still taller than me, though, so maybe I shouldn't complain so much) and I love intimidating Krolocks (like Egyházi Géza and Rostislav Kolpakov, for example). Don’t get me wrong - he wasn’t bad. In fact, he is a pretty good Graf. He just isn’t my type of Krolock.

When Egyházi sung Gott ist tot on 7th - that was the performance which made me jump with excitement a little. Every gesture he made, even the smallest one felt very pointed and meaningful, especially when it was magnified by the shadows cast onto the background. Quick change of scenery and we're on Alles ist hell. I like that song. It’s nice and uplifting and Rebecca with that stuffed goose always cracks me up. Up until Koukol shows up, of course. Koukol in Hungarian production is especially gross. But it’s exactly what Koukol is supposed to be. There’s a lot of noises coming from him. I really liked the interaction between Koukol and Chagal. Chagal is a cheeky bastard in general, but Hungarian Chagal takes that to the extreme. It’s great.

And that’s how we arrive at Wahrheit. And here I have to mention Rebecca, because she is probably the cutest Rebecca I've ever seen. Cute may not exactly be the intended way for her to come across, but she was adorable. The face she pulled when the Professor came up to her is golden. Kecskés Tímea and Pásztor Ádám have great chemistry together. When she ‘accidentally’ drops the turnip, Alfred is very quick to help her out.

Fun fact about Wahrheit on 6th - piece of wood fell down too quickly (when Koukol appeared), so when Abronsius sung that high note Chagal threw his saw to the ground and then made incredibly adorably fake ‘it-wasn’t-me face at the Professor.

On 7th the Professor was played by Illés Dániel (I think it was his first performance ever) and he was slightly off when it came to that little walk Professor does with the rhythm of the music, but it’s probably just a matter of practice. And he has surprisingly good voice (he went really high in the part where Chagal drops the piece of wood). Also - he looks really thin in his costume and it makes the whole character feel somewhat… fragile, I suppose. Overall, I really liked his Abronsius.

Andrádi Zsanett and Sánta László sung Du bist wirklich sehr nett on 6th. And while Sánta László’s Alfred okay, but not anything special, Andrádi Zsanett’s Sarah was awesome. She was a perfect mix of cute and wheedling without coming across as calculating and cold. The two of them worked together really well.

Alfred’s out of the bathroom, Sarah’s all cosied up in the bathtub, which means it’s time for wild Krolock to appear! First thing that I notices was that the rooftop Krolock practically hangs down from the roof. It doesn’t look very dignified. I mean, it can be explained with him feeling this overpowering hunger for some blood, so he keeps reaching down, but I’m not sure I can get behind that 100%. I mean, at the end he looked like he was about to tumble down from that roof.

I don’t know who sung Einladung zum Ball on 6th, but it sounded off. It definitely wasn’t Bot Gábor or Egyházi Géza. However, on 7th Egyházi sung it and he winged it. His Krolock was perfectly balanced between hunger and complete self-control. He was so perfectly disdainful when he was inspecting the boarded up door to Sarah’s bedroom. Also he didn’t really seem bothered by being discovered, since he kept leaning over Sarah and ogling her neck even after Alfred started shouting and reluctantly left only when Alfred and Abronsius were practically entering the bathroom already.

Both Alfreds poked the air with their crosses with such conviction as if they were trying to push out every little particle of Krolock from the room.

I also really liked the outrage on Alfred’s face when he was peeking through the keyhole to Sarah’s room.

Anyway, let’s move to the quick rendez-vous in front of the inn - Draußen ist Freiheit. Again Ádám and Anna make for a cute Alfred and Sarah. I liked their bickering, Sarah being all ‘oh you’re scared now?’ and Alfred trying to be reasonable.

And finally we arrive at my second favourite dance of the whole show - Die roten Stiefel. That choreography is insane. The amount of throwing and dragging around which happens there makes my head spin. Sarah is rarely on the floor. I can’t praise the dancers enough. Both dancing and acting on their side was spot on. The dancer who plays Krolock has a very creepy way of staring as he stalks around the stage. And the kiss between Sarah and Krolock at the end was pretty passionate.

I have a soft spot for Das Gebet. It’s probably the most emotional song and it doesn’t have any comedic twist. The golden light shining from behind and beautiful voices get me every time. While on 6th Krolock (Bot Gábor, or at least I think it was him) overpowered the rest of the cast and at the end he practically was the only voice you could hear. And on 7th the delivery of the song was perfect.

Das Gebet came to an end and Sarah was off to the castle. There is one thing that fascinates me about the scene where Chagal and Rebecca find out that their daughter is missing. I mean, Chagal sees Alfred with Sarah’s shoes and immediately jumps into the conclusion that the Graf took her. Which makes me wonder, does Graf makes a habit of giving people new shoes instead of normal invitations? Like whenever there are random shoes left in the village does everyone go ‘Oh, the Graf is throwing a party.’?

Either way, Chagal runs off after Sarah, then we have Wuscha Buscha. Both Professors (Sándor Dávid and Illés Dániel) were delightfully unsympathetic and focusing only on inspecting the body. Horváth Mónika’s Magda seemed stunned to see Chagal’s dead body for the whole duration of Wuscha Buscha.

She got more emotional in Tot zu sein ist komisch. Which was really good on both 6th and 7th. There was the right amount of mixed emotions, some sadness, some anger and then the hilarious scene with “I’m a Jewish vampire.” There seemed to be some mishap with the candle on the 6th because Chagal didn’t manage to put it off, so instead he tucked it away behind the mug so no one would see that it was still lit (but it was perfectly visible from the balcony where I was sitting :D). In general Béla had to improvise a bit on 6th.

While creeping downstairs Abronsius kept shushing both the floorboards and Alfred, who looked so funnily annoyed that the Professor would put all the blame for the noise on him.

The end of the first act was quite a thing. First - Bot Gábor on 6th. In that scene it was extremely obvious that he is the shortest Krolock. He’s just so tiny. And his costume makes him seem even shorter. Also he makes a lot of hissy and growly noises which combined with his petite posture gave quite hilarious effect. And when Szemenyei János as Herbert appeared, pocket von Krolock family was complete. Don’t get me wrong - I didn’t dislike it. It was actually quite adorable. And funny.

In the part with Alfred - when Gábor whipped out the sponge he also dropped the card from the Professor and then very elegantly covered it with his cape and whenever he moved the card got dragged along. It was hilarious little detail, especially since Gábor’s Krolock looks like he wants to murder everyone all the time.

But my absolute favourite performance was on 7th with Egyházi Géza (and János once more). Also, quick side note - since Géza is rather tall, when János‘ Herbert walked out the height difference between them was ridiculously hilarious. But back to Géza’s Krolock. God almighty, if there’s a limit to just how much fun you can have on stage he has crossed it time after time. It’s delightful to watch. His Krolock knows exactly who appeared at his doorstep and he has so much fun with his melancholic act. He gazes at the moon longingly, makes dramatic gestures and basks in the attention from the Professor and Alfred. The fake smile when he was talking about loving Abronsius’ book was the most fake smile on the planet Earth. And the face he pulls the moment he turns away is golden. His mimics deserve a separate mention on the cast list. And his teeth. Like I’ve said - he simply can’t keep his mouth shut. When he’s not singing or talking, he keeps smiling or pulling faces which include showing his fangs even to last rows. When he was closing the castle door at the very end of act I he gave the audience the widest and the most delighted grin I’ve ever seen. It’s hilarious and I love it.

Okay, act I came to an end. Before I get to act II, I just quickly want to talk about the theatre itself. It’s fairly small, but very cosy (and the seats in the first row are very comfortable). Part of the foyer decoration were small bats hanging from the ceiling - it was brilliant, I loved it.

(Tiny and cute)

Even though the theatre is in the middle of the city, there is small area in front of it where one can go out during the break (and I was lucky enough to arrive to Budapest on a day when it was 34 degrees during the day, the possibility to go outside was truly a blessing).

Anyway, time to return to the performance. On 6th Totale Finsternis did not do anything to me. I’m not sure if it was Zöld Csaba or Langer Soma (I think it was Csaba), but his gestures were very sharp and felt somewhat rushed. Vocally it also wasn’t the best Totale… I’ve heard. It wasn’t bad, but it felt a bit… underdone, I suppose.

No one should be surprised by this point when I say this - Totale Finsternis with Egyházi Géza swept me away. Similarly to Gott ist tot - his gestures felt very deliberate, very calculated. He was like a cat playing with a mouse. Again the amount of fangs shown per minute - exceptionally high. Also, this Sarah seemed ready to be eaten here and now.

But let’s move onto my absolute favourite dance of the whole show - Carpe Noctem. Not as much throwing each other around as in Die roten Stiefel ballet, but with the things they do on those bed poles - I’m still not quite sure if they are actual human beings. I’m amazed that this bed was still standing at the end of the song. The slow descent from the top of the bed that the White Vampire does - amazing.

On 7th I was sitting in the first row and had a very good view on the part where Black Vampire bites the White one. And let me tell you - Túri Lajos Péter is great as the Black Vampire. All throughout the dance he keeps hissing at everyone including the audience (I think he took some lessons from Egyházi Géza in terms of keeping his fangs out all the time). He has his eyes only for the White One and he gets so wonderfully possessive when Sarah tries to come and check on White One after he gets bitten. Overall, I have to say I really liked Túri Lajos Péter and Baranya David together. They both have this very disturbing vibe and great charisma onstage. Oh, and the Black Vampire lost his vest. I’m certainly not going to complain about it. I liked his makeup too - he had his spine accentuated with black, which made him look very skeleton-like.

I have to say - I’m fascinated with the fact that when Alfred dreams about the Graf he imagines him shirtless and with a six-pack and Sarah is in her normal white dress with nothing fancy added. Alfred, your priorities are showing and it looks dangerously like pretty girl is not one of them.

Also Carpe Noctem was the first song where I noticed just how good vocally Szemenyei János is. I might have some issues with his costume and makeup, but I really like his voice a lot.

Koukol in the bedroom scene is oddly cute (and gross, but he’s always gross). I really liked that moment when Alfred notices the porridge and he wonders who has made it. Koukol looks so pleased, he’s nearly jumping and pointing to himself. And he gets so disappointed and angry when Alfred jumps into conclusion that it must have been Sarah (btw. on what does he base that conclusion? All she was talking about when he was seeing her was bathing and sponges).

The porridge looks more like alien jelly, I love the face Alfred pulls when he tries to eat it.

Für Sarah was sweet. Adam has a strong voice and although when he holds a longer note he looks like he forgets that he is supposed to act as well and looks like he focuses solely on not choking. But overall, I liked his performance. Like I’ve said, he has this teenage heartthrob vibe and it mixes really well with a song about how he is going to save the girl (even though we all know that he ultimately fails).

Ein perfekter Tag - I love this song. It’s short, but very rhythmical and it makes you just want to jump out of your seat and explore. I think it shows why Alfred tags along with the Professor when he’s mostly treated like an accessory to the tools bag (also, I really like the sound of Hungarian word for a bag - taska). I really like how Alfred and Abronsius sing back and forth. It shows how they student-teacher relationship would look like if the Professor was slightly more of a people person.

Everything that went on in the crypt was truly a comedic gold. First of all - on 6th the Professor nearly jumped off too early when he was reaching his leg to check how high he was. When he didn’t find ground he looked towards the audience with a very funny oh-shit kind of face. And the Professor on 7th was extremely expressive, when he was already hanging down over the crypt. He kept scolding Alfred for every little noise and when Alfred failed to stake the von Krolock family - I did for a moment wonder if maybe he was having an actual heart attack. The disappointment was palpable. He flopped and hung down so much that you could catch a glimpse of the harness keeping him from falling down. Watching him was very entertaining.

Chagal and Magda’s duet was hilarious both on 6th and 7th, although I think I did like the performance on 6th slightly better. Magda is so wonderfully daring and charming and clumsy throughout that song. When she offers her hand to Chagal, she smiles at the audience charmingly. Oh and also - I’m not sure, but I think the beginning of Die Menschliche Geilheit Ist Stärker is slightly faster in Hungarian. It made the whole song feel more lively and playful.

I feel like the Professor channeled my feelings with his awe at the sight of books. Although, the Graf should definitely take more care of his library. I mean, spider webs? On books? Dreadful. I’m continuously amazed at how quickly the Professors are able to sing the string of philosophers names.

Sarah seemed extremely bored with Alfred on both evenings. Her mind was all on Graf, pretty dresses, big sponges and tonight’s ball. And even Pásztor Ádám’s pretty face didn’t make me sympathetic to his case when he ran back to Abronsius with sad, puppy eyes and ‘why doesn’t she want to come with me?’.

But enough about Alfred and Sarah, let’s talk about Alfred and Herbert. On both evenings it was sung by Pásztor Ádám and Szemenyei János (which means I’m definitely coming back to Budapest, because I really want to see Jenei Gábor as Herbert as well). János’ Herbert is very intense. He bounces around like a cheering child, he hisses, he growls and at some point he even snarls like a horse. And while I do like the intensity, but the horse noise was too much for me.

But I have to say - he was great after the chase, when he came up to Alfred. On each evening he his a different thing to get his attention, which I liked a lot, because I love when actors act differently during various performances.

Like I’ve said earlier - János has great voice. Slightly deep for Herbert, but I love deep voices (and he can also sing high as well, there was a moment during Tanzsaal when his vocal range genuinely surprised me).

My biggest problem with this Herbert is his makeup. It’s all wrong, it makes his face seem extremely round and that makes his whole silhouette seem somewhat chubby (and he is a very petite and young looking guy irl). I don’t know who got drunk when coming up with makeup for him, because both Jenei Gábor and Pirgel Dávid have great make up (funnily enough - very different from each other).

There was a small snipped with Alfred and Abronsius going through a low arch with a bat sculpture hanging there in the middle. Professor practically headbuts the bat and only Alfred’s quick reaction saves him from that encounter.

Sie irren Professor - on the 6th Graf’s microphone decided to sing a song of its own and it kept screeching throughout the whole song. But on 7th everything was fine. And I’m going to repeat myself - Egyházi Géza doesn’t play Krolock. He is the Graf. I guess then years in this role will do that. The joy in his voice is almost palpable when he sings about having Alfred’s soul.

Now - vampire dance off, also knows as Ewigkeit. Oh, how much I love this song. The choreography, the music, the costumes. It’s great. And on both evenings the performances were perfect. One thing, though - no lady with a ship on her head! I mean, I’m so disappointed. I feel like lady with a ship on her head should be a part of every TdV performance. When the song ended vampires walked into the audience and scared a few people before disappearing.

As the cemetery emptied, our Graf decided to scold the moon for hiding from him. Die Unstillbare Gier sung by Egyházi Géza is the best version of this song I’ve heard. That man’s voice is magic. I don’t know how he manages to sing the way he does. He walks through the cemetery with such confidence and he really knows how to work the cape. Again - I love just how deliberate his movements and gestures are. He puts the perfect mix of melancholy, anger and nostalgia into his performance. And this might be the only part of the show where he doesn’t constantly show his fangs.

Quick stop for Alfred’s second thoughts and one of my favourite instrumental intros rolls in. Which means we are at the very beginning of the ball. Ball on the 6th was the most awesome ball of all balls ever (I might be exaggerating a little).

We got three Herberts (and I think it should be the standard number of Herberts during every performance). I might have squeaked a little when the three of them marched onto the stage. And they all had so much fun together, they were giving each other little backrubs, whispering and chatting. It was great especially since Hungarian Herberts are very different from one another.

My favourite one, in terms of appearance, posture and behaviour (excluding singing, because I only heard Szemenyei János), is probably Jenei Gábor. He is the tallest one, I think. And he is extremely lean and elegant, very subtle and subdued in his gestures. Also, he has very small head and it looks somewhat odd, but once I got used to it, his Herbert quickly sneaked into my taste. It’s not really that surprising, taking into account, that my absolutely favourite Herbert is Kirill Gordeev and he is definitely of the subtle and lean type. I’d love to see Gábor live for a whole show one day. And I have to mention that he was really nice during the fan meet, which only made me like him more.

Szemenyei János looks even shorter than he is, when he stands next to Gábor and Dávid. But he makes up for his height with the intensity of his performance (fangs were shown a lot).

And of course - Pirgel Dávid. I would place him halfway between János and Gábor. He is elegant, but he isn’t as ethereal as Gábor. He has a somewhat boyish air to me. Very cheeky.

@phantasmagoricfebruary had an interesting comment about those three - that they look like three stages of Herbert’s vampire life with János being the youngest with the least amount of self-control, Dávid being the middle one and Gábor being the oldest and most refined and controlled.

On 6th Tanzsaal was the only song performed by Egyházi Géza and when he appeared on top of the stairs - the whole audience roared and started cheering.

For the culminating point of the ball - Sarah’s appearance both Torök Anna and Andrádi Zsanett walked out and Géza was joined by another Krolock (I am fairly sure that it was Langer Soma). Anyway he caught my attention, because he reminded me of Thomas Borchert a little. He just had this vibe and visually he is slightly similar (not up close, though, only when he’s on stage with the right lighting). They both sung the last part of the song. At the beginning they seemed slightly out of synch, but they quickly harmonized nicely and it was great. The more members of von Krolock family onstage the better.

My favourite little detail from the ball must be when Krolock carries Sarah and shows her off to the rest of the guests. Géza went up to his son(s) with such proud stride almost as if he was saying ‘Look at my nice dinner, isn’t she great?’ and all the Herberts were like ‘Yeah dad, good job. Can we move onto my dinner?’ I loved that.

But nothing lasts forever and mirror reflections gave away the presence of unwanted guests on the ball. Because on 7th I was sitting in the first row, I could hear sounds made by the actors which weren’t picked out by the microphones. And when Alfred ran up to Krolock with the candle-holder, Géza made this tsk, tsk sound looking all amused. That’s why I love first row. Yes, you don’t see the whole stage at once and you have to look up constantly, but you can see the smallest little details.

I’m somewhat happy that Budapest production has the “traditional” ending, so no Krolock in crocodile leather. But that also means no Krolock’s evil laugh and no disappearing through a trap door. But I don’t think I could survive seeing Egyházi Géza in that leather coat and not burst out in laughter.

The Hungarian casts seems to bask in the applause. They came out about four times each night if I remember correctly (it could have been more, though, I wasn’t exactly counting in the moment).

I might write a small supplement about the meeting after the show on 6th if anyone is interested, but for now that’s it. Overall, the Hungarian vampires won my heart. It was phenomenal.

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