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Franz Xaver Winterhalter — Portrait of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. details. 1865

#art

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#aaaaaaaaa #asdfjkl #shakespeare

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SO it’s been SO MUCH time since my esteemed partner in crime (?) @mademoiselleseraph recommended to me this gorgeous Hamlet musical, but I have only now found a way to post it that is aesthetically pleasing me, so at last here are my Opinions about it for all those who may be interested! So, first:

- Made in English (actually both songs and dialogues are Shakespeare’s words, line by line. Incredible how wonderfully suited for music it is, isn’t it? But it’s still very easily understandable - I followed just fine and English isn’t my first language) by a German cast, with various levels of awful accent, but I found that actually this isn’t bothersome at all! For example the singer playing Hamlet is probably the worse, but it only made him sound harsher, more distressed and expressive than I think he would have been singing in his native language - check it out, it’s a very interesting effect

- A semi space opera\post apocalyptic setting with marvelous costumes, including but not limited to Gertrude wearing a dildo-shaped crown, Hamlet in an ankle length leather jacket, R&G clad in plaid from head to toe and Laertes in a golden “”“"armour”“”“ with strategic cutouts

- The music isn’t generally my type, but God does it fit. Especially the extremely angry songs like the one where his father’s ghost appears to Hamlet in fire and smoke - so spectacular.

- Everyone’s characterization is so perfect <3 Hamlet plays a bit heavy on the dramatic emo side, but there are these moments where you can see this really brave and assertive person he might have been in a less confusing situation, and others, like when he’s talking to Horatio or to the players, that show how he used to be a sweet and happy boy before everything, and it’s very touching. Ophelia is a cutie both at the beginning (her making fun of Laertes is precious) and in her "mad” songs, very haunting. Gertrude is weirdly adorable too! You get the feeling she’s really in love with Claudius, and she’s so genuinely distressed at Ophelia’s death :( Horatio, unfortunately, does not get any song, but even as an almost mute character (which fits his unassuming nature, maybe?) he’s very endearing and appropriately heartbreaking at the end. And Polonius (and all his family dynamics especially with poor little Ophelia) is… uhm.. interesting? Different? To say the least.

Really, watch to believe. I loved this so much. Both as a whole show, and the single songs are all terrible bops.

#shakespeare

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Edith Bratt (Edith Tolkien/Luthien) looks a lot like Elisabeth and also a bit like Mary Versetra.

</3

#Tolkien #ramblings #and being free she took up his chain

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This also seems relevant here?

;_;

Some 19th century euro politics rambling…

Keep reading

#history #Austria #Hungary #elisabeth das musical

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Just a reminder that the Hungarian version of Rómeó és Júlia - you can watch here on youtube with English and Russian subtitles!

Act 1

Act 2

#Sparkly Hungarian Fandom #Romeo és Júlia #romeo es julia #romeo and juliet #shakespeare #musicals

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Just a reminder that the Hungarian version of Rómeó és Júlia - you can watch here on youtube with English and Russian subtitles!

Act 1

Act 2

#Sparkly Hungarian Fandom #Romeo és Júlia #hungarian #magyar #musicals

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Ok, I might talk about more than one of these if I have time and energy, but one of my very favorites that not many people seem to know about -

Roméo et Juliette: de la Haine à l'Amour/Romeo and Juliet: from Hate to Love

Perhaps one of the reasons more people don’t know about it is it started out as a French musical, but since then it’s been translated into English and a whooooole bunch of other languages. ( “ Flemish, Italian, Hungarian, Russian, English, German, Spanish, Romanian, Japanese, and Korean“ according to Wikipedia) ...and done in many countries.

In any case, this musical is underrated and fantastic.  I will always love the original play but this musical is fantastic.

Long version:

It doesn’t try to stick absolutely perfectly to the play, but rather accepts that the musical will be a new thing and gets creative.  But it still portrays the heart of the play, Romeo and Juliet’s relationship and their delighted discovery of new ways of being with eachother -  and the violence and hatred (and general fucked up state) of the city.  And does it well.

But one of the things it changes is it also gets a lot more in depth with some of the side characters, especially Mercutio and Tybalt and the Nurse!  The Nurse has such genuine love for Juliet and also has some of the best smart-ass humor I’ve seen in a while! 

And I don’t know how much spoilers I can put in, but with both Mercutio and Tybalt you can see how they each have things they care about and how the fucked up parts of their culture are hurting and twisting them and yet they each find their own way until they can’t anymore.  Mercutio passing off his love for men, and Romeo in particular as theater and jokes for his own safety, and yet at the same time shining in his playacting.  Tybalt growing up disabled and shut out from normal family life until he becomes the cold “Blade of the Capulets” but still having moments of warmth.  It’s tragic as hell. And moving.

The Duel is one of the most intense meetings of three distinct personalities (Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt) I have ever seen.

Some countries even have Death and Love as characters in their own right!

And finally, the music is amazing and powerful, it really emphasizes the emotion of each scene and catches you and whirls through your mind all day.

and if you like fire and pyrotechnics and maybe a bit of glitter and really powerful acting - the Hungarian version has you covered.

TL:DR

This musical is fantastic.

(if you want a better TL:DR because the long version is too much I’ll be happy to do that)

Since it’s been done in so many countries, if you know a little bit of foriegn languages, or are willing to go looking for the subtitled versions (or don’t care and are happy just watching)  you can have fun comparing and seeing how each one has it’s own style!  It’s really many musicals in one! One of my absolute favorites is the Hungarian version -  Rómeó és Júlia which you can watch here on youtube with English and Russian subtitles!

Act 1

Act 2

Other musicals I think are super underrated and have fantastic music but I feel weird about including here because they’ve never been done in english: Elisabeth das Musical and Mozart! das Musical.

Underrated musicals

Hi- I’m working on a feature for my Uni course right now called ‘Underrated musicals you might not have heard of’, based on comments from people online- if anyone could provide me with quotes, it would really help me out!

#Romeo és Júlia #romeo es julia

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I’m feeling really weird and grateful for all the hungarian stuff I have that is free/bootleg/fan created.  Would really like to give something back to the theatre.  So thinking about something….

If any of the Sparklepeople are going to see an actual show in person - a thought is maybe to pick something up in the gift shop and mail it to me?  I could paypal ahead of time?

#Sparkly Hungarian Fandom

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You know it’s bad when you are considering buying stuff online and you see

“Order”

and all you can think of is

#elisabeth das musical #Oder?..... #Lucheni

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EMME week 18: Rómeó és Júlia

This week we’re watching the Hungarian non-replica production of Roméo et Juliette, Rómeó és Júlia.

The show will be on Saturday, 5 August, at 5:00 PM Eastern / 22:00 UK time.

We typically start the livestream itself a little ahead of time, so come hang out with us! The link to the stream will be posted the day of within an hour of the show starting in the tags #moraholics and #emme 2017. Please keep an eye on those tags and this post for any updates.

And here’s our schedule for the next few weeks:

12 August: Elisabeth (Hungarian)

19 August: Tanz der Vampire 2005 (I need a host for this stream! Any volunteers?)

26 August: Tanz der Vampire 2012

Hope to see you there on Saturday! Please reblog to spread the word!! Feel free to message me (on anon or not) if you have any questions!

#In for this! #Saving for then #sparkly hungarian fandom

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Omg!  I got a hand fan!  And it works wonderfully!

Also it is purple & black!

Guess what I’m doing???? <3

#elisabeth das musical #omg!

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Oh gods, we hope this works for us so much.  if it does, we’re so in!

STREAM RESCHEDULED! Elisabeth das Musical stream (with English subs!) July 27, 2017 at 11pm New York time.

Had to reschedule this thanks to Livestream deciding it doesn’t want to let us stream things for free anymore. Screw that, I’m moving to Rabbit!

I will be streaming my English-subbed proshot of the 2005 Vienna revival with Máté Kamarás and Maya Hakvoort. If Zukabeth is the only Elisabeth you’ve ever seen, tune in to this to see the musical in its original language! To check for when it starts in your time zone, check the Trello post here.

Livestream link will be posted and stream will open 15-20 minutes beforehand in order to make sure everything is set up/running smoothly and that people are there.

Notes: “Hass” will be skipped. This stream has also been posted on the Takarazuka Streaming Trello board for the sake of convenience.

Tagging @captured-moon, @janylate, @lilywilde, @phantasmagoricfebruary, @ivorytowermind, @lost-in-the-land-of-stories, @grey-bard, @shilaray, @marius-pont-de-bercy, @espritpalais, @capitalrforrevolution, @lokeisnotinspace, @osorete (aka everyone who interacted with my previous posts about the stream ^_^).

#elisabeth das musical #Possibly our favorite production? #Certainly in the top 5?

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I desire to live

But I also desire to die.

To meet Death and feel his embrace.   To feel his lips on mine, aching and agonizing and sweet.  To feel my breath catch and falter.  To be broken and overmastered.

And finally Frei sein.

(Death isn’t freedom, but the ache in my chest whispers something.)

The two do not have to be at odds.

~

Ich begehren zu leben

Aber ich begehren auch den Tod treffen und mich umarmen. Um seine Lippen auf meine, schmerzen und quälen und süß zu fühlen. Um meinen Atem zu fangen und zu fälschen. Gebrochen und überwältigt werden.

Und Frei Sein.

(Der Tod ist nicht Freiheit, aber der Schmerz in meiner Brust flüstert etwas.)

Die beiden müssen nicht im Widerspruch stehen.

Immerhin gibt es alle Zeit...

#you could understand what I am not saying | personal #Rudolf #Elisabeth #elisabeth das musical #Not Safe For the Hoffburg

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Love how Julia compliments Romeo in a love song by comparing him to Lucifer! <3

#Romeo és Júlia #romeo es julia #Sparkly Hungarian Fandom #honestly she's the best

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Elisabeth das Musical from Franz Jogurt’s POV:

Elisabeth: *exists and loves liberty*

Franz Josef: IDK why but I feel really good when I’m around you, please help me be free in my emotions.

Elisabeth:  Go sort out things with your shitty mother (and your shitty empire) and tell her to stop hurting your family (and you)!

Franz Josef:  But that’s not what I asked fo...  Oh. Wait.     Fuck.

*tries his best*

*fucks up and backslides a lot*

(Elisabeth and Rudolf end up hurt ;_; wtf FJ)

*finally gets it 2 minutes before the play is over*

#Elisabeth das Musical #Franz Josef #Frans Jogurt

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Elisabeth? Mach auf, mein Engel

For @robhasacoolcloud

Why the song “Elisabeth? Mach auf, mein Engel/ Elisabeth? Open Up the Door, my Angel” is kind of the center of Eilisabeth das Musical.

(Lyrics with English Translations - Video)

I’m not saying it’s the most important song, or the most powerful or anything like that.  Rather, there are many strands in the story that are interwoven, that split away and come back together - and (besides maybe the Prolog and Schlussapplaus)  “Elisabeth? Mach auf, mein Engel” is the one song that *all* the strands pass through and shows all of them at once.

I’m going to try a few different approaches here to describe  all the strands and how they go through.  I hope if find one that works.  I’m starting out by trying to list each one separately.

Franz Joseph:  Has this whole arc going from not really having had the opportunity to understand freedom and liberty, even when it applies to himself... not even having a self separate from Sophie or the Empire (Jedem gibt er das Seine/He Gives himself Away to Everybody), through choosing to spend his life with someone who understands liberty against the wishes of others... to  being able to listen to his emotions and conscience, but still seeing it as a betrayal of himself, “Feelings are forbidden to me/ But when I think of you/ Every calculation falls silent/ I'm disloyal to myself for you” ( Ich will dir nur sagen/I Just Want to Tell You).  To being able to say to Spohie (and through her the Empire) “You hurt Elisabeth and me!” (Streit Mutter und Sohn/Argument between Mother and Son).

And Elisabeth, Open Up the Door... is an important step in that arc.  I mean, a lot of people see Franz Joseph coming to Elisabeth that night as being about Getting Laid, which it is.  But it’s also about wanting to have a place where he can be emotionally free.  “ Guarded by your tenderness /And without a wish for one night” “ Be the woman /That understands me”.  And while that is not what Elisabeth’s thinking of - she’s straight-up advocating for Rudolf and herself... it’s kind of interesting that Franz Joseph comes to her asking to be able to be free with his emotions and she basically says “Well, go sort out shit with your controlling mother first, Lol”.  ...Which is exactly the long term solution to that issue. O.o

Elisabeth: So, Elisabeth has this intensity in her (that resonates even with Death) and obviously a lot of deep hurt about how things are run in the Empire and how it’s hurt herself and her family.

And she has this whole arc about harnessing those things and finding a way to express them in the confining forms of Austrian society.  And this is where that really starts.  She’s speaking up in a very personal way for the safety of a child (her son)  who she fears will be hurt in the same way she was, and by the same people.  She says “never again”.  But she’s writing it in a formal letter, and issuing an Ultimatum.  She’s picking up the language of the politics around her and now using it as her own tool in her own hand!  Which sets her up for her whole political arc! All her triumphant championing of Hungary’s freedom! (Eljen and Wenn Ich Tanzen Will/When I Want to Dance)

Death: But this is also one of the places where her relationship with Death really changes.  From curiosity and dark wonder and having a soul that resonates with liberty and Dignity of Risk,... to being straight-up suicidal.  “Flee and you will be free /And all the fighting will be over /I take you out off space and time /To a better reality”  Standing up for herself like that takes a toll on her, and Death speaks of escape.

Which leads to her pushing Death away  more and more because she knows the danger she’s in now, the temptation she now faces.  Which also is a goddamn tragedy in and of itself because Death somehow feeds the spark n her soul and she has so much trouble keeping it alight later. *cries*

Rudolf:  Rudolf - I could write about all day.  But one of the things that is so deep in him, in his soul... that really stands out is his strong sense of Solidarity.  Of reaching out. (Wenn Ich Dein Spiegel War/If I Was Your Mirror)  And you start to wonder where he gets it, because the whole structure of the Empire is based on people tearing eachother down and informing on eachother.  Maybe he got it from meeting with tr Revolutionaries and Hungarian Nationalists?  But no, they might have helped refine it, but he must have had that deep sense in order to reach out to them in the first place. Part of this is just Rudolf being Rudolf, but you still have to wonder where he might have gotten the idea of people standing up for eachother in distress...

Oh...

This is the seed from which he makes a whole garden of flowers bloom in the stone heart of the Hoffburg. *cries*

Politics:  I’ve already laid out how this is the seed for the whole Liberation of Hungary thing in the section on Elisabeth, how this is her stretching her political wings.

But there’s another angle.  In this story, the politics and how you relate to people is intertwined.  How the system traets people is how it treats people, whether that has formal trappings or not.  And we open to a mother begging to the Emperor for the life of her son and his ability to cry out for freedom.  And that same motif is repeated throughout the story - begging and speaking out for freedom, either on our own behalf or on he behalf of others.  And this song is the purest example of that, the purest echo.

Because there will always be sons who cry out for freedom, and mothers that protest... Whether in the greatest houses or the lowest.  And they will keep coming back until they get it right...  Until the World is changed. 

Lass die Welt versinken!

#Elisabeth das Musical #Elisabeth mach auf mein Engel #Elisabeth #Rudolf #Franz Josef #Death #Politics #long post