Postcard from Abroad Guest Column

Last Saturday I went to see a preview of the Dutch production of ELISABETH, the story of the Austrian Empress who lived in 19th century. The musical played in Vienna for almost six years from 1992 to 1998 and I already liked this original version as it had good songs and a very strong story with engaging characters. What I didn't like though was the direction by German opera director Harry Kupfer and the stage sets by his mate Hans Schavernoch, that were often bizarre, pseudo-profound and rather nonsensical, not to mention the frequent occasions where huge pieces of scenery were moved around for no apparent reason except for making the actors diminish between them. Now with the show being in the very capable hands of Dutch musical director Eddy Habbema, choreographer Toer van Schayk and the designer team Paul Gallis/Yan Tax I was hoping to see a more naturalistic and sensible approach to the story. Let me say, I was not disappointed!

The musical begins in the realms of the dead, where an unseen judge is still questioning Elisabeth's murderer Luigi Lucheni � played by Wim van den Driessche - why he assassinated the Empress of Austria a hundred years ago. He claims that only "Death" made him do it and brings Elisabeth's world of the 19th century back to tell her tale. In Vienna, Death was an androgynous figure clad in black (or white) with wallowing blonde hair in the style of Elisabeth's favorite poet Heinrich Heine. In Scheveningen, Death was cast with Holland's number one musical star Stanley Burleson, a dark-skinned singer with one hell of a voice, so it was obvious that he would not appear in a blonde wig. Instead he came on in a red velvet coat and red streaks in his black hair (augmented by a long pony-tail) and I couldn't help thinking of a Faustian Mephistopheles rather than Death, but never mind. He claims that he loved Elisabeth indeed and her tale begins to unfold.

Already the first scene got my hopes for a more beautiful show up. We meet Elisabeth (Pia Douwes) as a carefree 16 year-old girl who enjoys climbing trees and horseriding much more than being indoors with her family. Her first song with her father, Duke Max of Bavaria (Nico Schaap) is set in a meadow outlined with a tree and a wooden fence, on which she climbs, while singing that she wants to be like her father who simply does what he wants and not care for convention. Pia had already created the role of Elisabeth in Vienna 1992 and it's amazing to see (and hear!) how much she has grown vocally since. Instead of bringing a new stage set the family gathering is then held on the same meadow with a huge blanket outlining a picknick as Duchess Ludovika proudly tells the family that her daughter Helene (Elisabeth's older sister) is going to be Empress of Austria. Elisabeth catches everyone's attention with a dangerous trapez act in which she falls � only to be caught by Death. It's love at first sight.

The focus then switches to the Vienna Hofburg where the young spineless Emperor Franz-Joseph (Jeroen Phaff) is ruling tightly controlled by his mother Archduchess Sophie (Doris Baaten) who was often referred to as "the only man at court". This scene has also been vastly improved by giving it a naturalistic set instead of the revolving stage from Vienna. Sophie ushers Franz off to Bad Ischl, where he is to meet his future bride Helene. The family from Bavaria arrives late and Franz is absolutely unimpressed by dull-looking, neat Helene � the carefree tomboyish Elisabeth captures his heart and to everyone's surprise he choses her as his bride. Instead of the huge metal construction in which the couple sings their love duet in Vienna almost vanishing between the metal, they are now left in the romantic castle garden of Bad Ischl and create a really beautiful moment. The wedding takes place in Vienna half a year later and Death rings the church bells, declaring that Elisabeth has signed her own death sentence by marrying into the Vienna court. Both Sophie and Max are upset with the wedding � Sophie because her son has chosen an "unsuitable" bride and Max because he knows that his spirited daughter will be choked and stifled at court. In the middle of the wedding ball Death suddenly appears among the guests and dances with Elisabeth. He admits that he has lost her for the moment but he knows that the last dance will be his. Here, Stanley Burleson could prove his great voice for the first time and made it a memorable moment. Though I must confess that I missed the beautiful huge ballroom from the Vienna set in this scene played out in front of a marble staircase and some mirrors.

Elisabeth's honeymoon turns into a nightmare as Franz leaves her alone most of the time and Sophie does her best to "educate" the young empress and forbids everything that may be fun. At last, Elisabeth rebels and declares in the best song of the show "Mijn leven is van mij" (My life belongs to me) that her life is only her own and nobody is to tell her what to do. Pia was fantastic and once more it was audible how much she has matured since creating the role in 1992.

Lucheni picks up the narration of the first years of marriage. Sophie takes Elisabeth's children from her into the care of her own waiting women and Franz (as always) doesn't argue, saying "mother knows what's best". After four years Elisabeth meets Death again when he takes her little daughter with him and asks her to follow along before it is too late. Another vast improvement follows in the coffee house scene that comes next. In Vienna this scene was played with everyone sitting in little fairground cars (for reasons only known to the director and the designer), but now it WAS a coffee house at last with the typical revolving entrance doors and Vienna's academic bourgeoise sitting at tables, reading the papers and commenting on the state of crisis the monarchy is in. Moved from the second act into the first was the song of little crown prince Rudolph who is lying in a far too big bed, calling for his mother who doesn't care. Instead Death appears and offers to be his friend. Franz finds the door to his wife's bedroom locked and she hands him a written ultimatum � either he allows her full control over the education of her children or she'll leave him. Death tries again to lure her away, but she resists temptation.

She wants to fight for herself now, using her beauty to cast a spell over her husband. Lucheni meanwhile goads the poor of Vienna who are starving because there is never fresh milk available and tells them that the Empress needs all the milk to bathe in it. The unrest among the population grows. Franz gives in to Elisabeth's ultimatum and admits that he is lost to her great beauty. She appears as the most famous picture ever made of the real Elisabeth, wearing a wallowing white ballgown and diamond stars in her hair. But Death warns her that her beauty won't last forever. His joining Elisabeth in a reprise of "Mijn leven is van mij" seems to have been taken from the Japanese and Hungarian version and adds a melancholy note to Elisabeth's apparent triumph over Franz-Joseph.

The second act begins with another clear improvement to the Vienna version where the designer was obviously obsessed with eliminating any kitsch from the stage. Now we can actually see the coronation inside the cathedral of Budapest where Elisabeth and Franz are crowned Queen and King of Hungary, while Lucheni walks through the aisles of the stalls as a souvenir seller, condemning the merchandise on which the Vienna tourist industry is still living today with one of the most memorable lines of the show: "What's left of all her bitter struggles, her despair and her beauty � kitsch". Of course these lines lose a bit in the easy-going seaside resort of Scheveningen, because in Vienna all those souvenirs of Elisabeth and the monarchy are available on every street corner, so Lucheni's words leave a sourer feeling there and make you wish you hadn't bought those "Sissi candies" earlier that day.

Sophie and her friends at court don't want to watch helplessly how Elisabeth dominates Franz's heart and calls the rules at court now. In the chessboard scene that has survived from Vienna, they devise a scheme to bring Franz together with a pretty whore to break Elisabeth's spell over him. The brothel scene has also improved vastly by eliminating the modern day-peep show set-up, though the Dutch costumes for the whores verged on the silly. Sophie's plan backfires as Franz infects himself � and in turn Elisabeth � with the "French illness". Death appears at Elisabeth's side again, calling it her last chance to escape. But she refuses. Franz's infidelity gives her an excuse to break free from her husband. A scene added from the Hungarian version is inserted here, where Franz talks to his ageing mother before her death and she reminds him that duty must be his chief principle. Elisabeth meanwhile develops an interest in visiting the madhouses of Vienna � and meets a woman who claims to be Empress Elisabeth herself. Elisabeth realizes that she may be better off being mad � all her struggles and fights to be free have led to nothing. She begins her restless travels across Europe, mainly trying to run away from herself. As she grows older and her beauty vanishes, she begins to hide behind veils and fans, but she does not return to Vienna, where a new nationalistic era is about to dawn.

Crown prince Rudolph is a grown-up man now and the subplot concerning his doom has been vastly expanded for all those who hadn't swallowed a book on Austrian history before seeing the musical. I was squeamish about seeing Addo Kruizinga as Rudolph, because he had played Death in Vienna already and his rock voice and appearance seemed somehow wrong to me for the wimpish Rudolph, but he, too, surprised me with how much he has changed and he was definitely a good choice. A little scene is included where he argues with his father the emperor, who doesn't take his liberal ideas for serious. Death meets him at a cemetary chapel (much more fitting than the silly, bizarre "carriage of death" used in Vienna) and goads him into rebellion against his father. The song "Die Schatten werden l�nger", here translated as "Er valt een zwarte schaduw" was always one of my favourites and both Stanley and Addo did a great job. New was the following scene, where Rudolph meets Hungarian aristocrats to plot a scheme that enables him to become King of an independent Hungary, broken away from the Austrian Empire. But the meeting is interrupted, Franz catches his son out. Meanwhile, Elisabeth is in her little palace on the Greek island of Corfu, calling spirits. The connection to Rudolph's failed plot makes this scene much more significant as it clearly shows how withdrawn Elisabeth already is from the "real world" out there, chasing her own rainbows. Her dead father appears to her and they sing a very touching reprise of the opening song "Like you" in which Elisabeth bitterly realizes that she'll never be like her father � she has turned to stone. This she proves when Rudolph appears at the palace begging for her help and she turns him away. He sees no other solution than to commit suicide. He dances the last dance with Death at Mayerling. Rudolph's suicide shatters Elisabeth as she finally realizes how much alike they were and how she let her only son down. Hair-rising minor detail about this scene � the angels of death put Rudolph's body into a coffin and close the lid. I wonder how it feels for poor Addo to be put into a coffin with the lid closed every evening ?

Lucheni sings a reprise of "Kitsch!" that leads to Elisabeth's and Franz's final duet "Ships in the night". He tries to persuade her once more to return to Vienna with him and give them another chance but she insists that it's too late. "We were never meant to be happy". In a nightmare, Franz sees his world � the monarchy and the empire � fall to pieces. Death appears, declaring that he will save Elisabeth from the sinking ship. He hands Lucheni a file that will become his weapon of murder. Elisabeth is at the shore of Lake Geneva with a lady-in-waiting when Lucheni strikes at her, stabbing the file into her heart. As she dies, she is finally united with Death, her only true love. He carries her away into a brightly lit gap in the dark back wall of the stage.

The show had me constantly in tears not just because it was so touching, but also because I was so happy about the changes made to Vienna. Apart from a few scenes like the wedding ball, I think that the Dutch version is a huge improvement and should be seen as the definite version. The cast is excellent, too. It wasn't yet very fluid and compact, but then it was only a try-out with the opening night still two weeks away. I will go again early next year and I'm sure it will be even more engaging then. The CD, which is already available at the theatre shop for 45 guilders, certainly proves that the roles have been wonderfully cast and each of the 16 songs on the CD are a pleasure to listen to. It's baffling to hear how young Pia manages to sound as the 16 year-old girl in "Like you" and how bitter and broken in "Ships in the night" as an elderly woman. The translation sticks very close to the German original (not surprising considering how much alike the languages are) with only a few "odd" expressions in some songs. Despite the comparatively short running time (55 mins), it's worth every cent � just like the show. Whether you've seen Elisabeth in Vienna already or never before � do go and see the Dutch version, it's fantastic.

Any comments? Nikki would be glad to hear from you.

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