On a scene of theatre of MDM held an open rehearsal of the cult musical of Roman Polanski “Tanz der Vampire”, in which the international creative team led by Director Cornelius Baltusom revealed the secrets of the new play.

A beautiful Gothic story, irony of the popular stories about vampires, promises to be a loud event of the fall. Premiere will take place on 29 October and midnight 31 October, fans of vampire aesthetics will find an exclusive night show, devoted to Halloween. A cult show with a 20-year history of the staggering worldwide success will be the eleventh staging of the Russian theater company “Stage entertainment”.

Since its premiere in Vienna in 1997 the musical “dance of Vampires” was staged in 12 countries in 11 languages, and it was viewed by 7.5 million people. Several seasons the show was in the St. Petersburg theatre of musical Comedy.

The musical is set in the highlands of the snowy Carpathians, in Transylvania – where, in ancient Gothic castle, for many centuries lived a family of vampires – the mysterious Count von Krolock with his son Herbert and his retinue. The peace of the inhabitants of the castle violate the inquisitive Professor Abronsius and his young assistant Alfred who come to this region to prove the existence of vampires. Meanwhile, the insidious seducer Count von Krolock seduces and lures in your possession the daughter of the owner of the village tavern – lovely Sara. Easily impressed Alfred, who had already managed to fall in love with the languid beauty intended in whatever was to save the girl from evil spirits, and together with Professor Abronsius, he goes to the Count’s castle, not knowing what awaits them inside… Sharp humour and intricate plot with a story of temptation and shocking ending does not give the audience time to recover until the last moment…

The rehearsal was presented to some of the most striking rooms of the show: the ballet “the Red boots”, where Sarah performed in Elena Gusevoj dreams of meeting with Count von Krolikam in his castle. “WUSA-Bush” – a fun situational number with a “fearless vampire hunters” by Professor Abronsius and his young assistant Alfred. The final point, the duet with Count von krolock and Sarah Total Eclipse Of A Heart – a legendary hit for Bonnie Tyler received the award “Grammy”.

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The scenery created by art Director Centauro, amaze incredible detail and scale. He came up with 220 suits, 130 wigs – all this creates a sense of presence in the XIX century. 75 changes of scenery, live interactive animation and a unique light creating a 3D effect instantly immerse the audience in a mystical atmosphere.

“The musical “Tanz der Vampire” is one of the biggest productions in the world, says Centaur. – This is a complex project from the point of view of design, because created by the filmmaker, who got used to the fact that the film installation is pretty straightforward. We literally have to carry the film editing on the theatrical stage: a lot of rapid changes of scenery. We can’t just close the curtain, to make the permutation of scenery, and then again to open it. We must maintain the continuity of the storyline and instantly move the audience in the rustic tavern, in a den of vampires in a remote and mystical forest. We tried working in the style of realism, details to restore the life of a simple village in Transylvania the late nineteenth century, many turned to the source. In the second act the audience sees the Gothic castle, which had to reconstruct almost completely: we have a stage in the ballroom, the bedroom, in the library, in the yard, in the crypt, bathroom and so 16 scenes in a row within 45 minutes! Through the details we are trying to give the audience more thrills. Detailed style is difficult, because the scenery in the modern theatre are often a ray of light on the wall. Our scene has a turntable, and the top is lowered the two-ton decoration – a graveyard with tombstones. Behind the scenes working 16 working the scene, more than 10 artists and the same costumers. In the finale all the performers have to completely change costumes and wigs for a record 1 minute and 45 seconds, that’s insane! 4 days I have only gone out to teach them to change so quickly!”

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In the movie “the Fearless vampire killers, or Pardon me but your teeth dug into my neck,” 1967 Roman Polanski acted not only as Director but as performer of the title role. It was this picture a few years later formed the basis of the musical “Tanz der Vampire”.

Polanski in the first person about how he worked on the creation of the film and the musical “Tanz der Vampire”: “I rented the movie “the Fearless vampire killers” for a long time – almost half a century ago. With my future screenwriter Gerard Brachet, we often went to the cinema in the student quarter of Paris at the Sorbonne. Also they showed a lot of movies that have traditionally evoked response from students – westerns and horror. And many horror students openly laughed, because they were too smart to take this “primary” level. And what was worse, the more I laughed the audience. Seeing that terror provokes laughter, I told Gerard that I wanted to make a movie spoof that will be horrible and ridiculous. Satire! In the picture there is no hidden meaning, the new address for the society edification – we just get pleasure from filming. It was one of the best periods in my life. Many years later my friend and producer said, “let’s do a musical in Vienna!”. I said, “What? I have no idea!” He said, “the Musical in your vampire movie”. First, I decided that it was impossible, but then I thought, and agreed. We began to look for people who will write the libretto, composers, and so began to work. In addition, Vienna was very favourable conditions, the theatre invested a lot of money. We could work in a big way and nothing does not deny. In Vienna were involved in a large choir made good scenery, a lot of artists complete creative freedom”.

When: 29 October 2016 19.00

October 31, 2016 special night show dedicated to Halloween. Beginning at 22:00.

Where: on a scene of theatre of MDM

Age limit: 18+