No idea what to watch/trade for? Then have a look at this side! I'll recommend a few shows/casts and list my favourite bootlegs.
Elisabeth das Musical
Elisabeth is a musical that tells the story of Empress Elisabeth of Austria and how she fell in love with death. Her story is told after she has already been dead for a hundred years and is narrated by her murderer: Luigi Lucheni. Elisabeth is by far my favourite musical and the most successful German musical, which has already been translated to seven languages and had over 8 different productions. It is a rather dark and symbolistic musical filled with unique songs and beautiful costumes and set designs.
You can find the trailer for the Vienna 2012 revival with English subtitles here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pazuQ--rYls
You can find the trailer for the Vienna 2012 revival with English subtitles here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pazuQ--rYls
Antwerpen 04.03.2009 | Flemish
My personal favourite recording of Elisabeth das Musical. An incredibly strong cast, every single actor in this production is absolutely fantastic, especially the two mains, Ann van den Broeck and Oliver Arno as Elisabeth and der Tod. They are an amazing duo and their acting and singing is simply great. Sadly without any subtitles so maybe not the perfect start into this musical but I simply have to recommend it because this is by far my favourite cast.
My personal favourite recording of Elisabeth das Musical. An incredibly strong cast, every single actor in this production is absolutely fantastic, especially the two mains, Ann van den Broeck and Oliver Arno as Elisabeth and der Tod. They are an amazing duo and their acting and singing is simply great. Sadly without any subtitles so maybe not the perfect start into this musical but I simply have to recommend it because this is by far my favourite cast.
Essen 13.01.2002 | German with English subtitles
A great cast and one of my favourite productions. It is also a video with Pia Douwes and Uwe Kröger, the first and original Elisabeth duo. The quality is not that great but its more than watchable and the best version I have with English subtitles so its a good way to start. The subtitles were written by me and while I'm a native German speaker, and did ask an English friend of mine to look over my translation, there might be some mistakes. Feel free to point them out to me.
A great cast and one of my favourite productions. It is also a video with Pia Douwes and Uwe Kröger, the first and original Elisabeth duo. The quality is not that great but its more than watchable and the best version I have with English subtitles so its a good way to start. The subtitles were written by me and while I'm a native German speaker, and did ask an English friend of mine to look over my translation, there might be some mistakes. Feel free to point them out to me.
Der Besuch der alten Dame
Der Besuch der alten Dame is a Tragedy/Comedy based on the theatre play of the same name by Friedrich Dürrematt. After his former gilrfriend Claire comes back to her hometown after 45 years, Alfred is faced with her wish for justice. He had been the reason that she had been sent away from her home, labeled as a whore. Now she offers the poor town of Gülle, 2 Million if Alfred dies. The musical is full of epic costumes and absolutely gorgeus set designs. It never loses the balance between comedy and tragedy.
You can find the trailer for the Vienna 2014 production here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z-cQJrTXJ4
You can find the trailer for the Vienna 2014 production here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z-cQJrTXJ4
Vienna 26.04.2014 | German
A great production with simply gorgeous set designs and really amazing songs. The choreographics are something you'll have to get used to but besides that its a truly epic and interesting musical and a great production.
A great production with simply gorgeous set designs and really amazing songs. The choreographics are something you'll have to get used to but besides that its a truly epic and interesting musical and a great production.
Tanz der Vampire
This musical is based on the rather old horror/parody movie "The fearless vampire killers" or "Dance of the vampire". Polanski, the producer of the original movie (Who also played Alfred in said movie) was greatly involved in writting and staging the musical. There are some rather big changes to the movie but the basic story is the same: Professor Abronsius, a vampire hunter and his young assistant Alfred are traveling through Transilvania to find and kill the vampires that are said to live there. They end up in a small, jewish village and stay the night at Chagal's inn, where Alfred meets Chagal's daughter Sarah and falls in love with her. But before they can really talk with each other, Sarah meets the vampire Krolock, who offers her the freedom she has been waiting for. She runs away to Krolock's castle and Alfred and the Professor follow her in an attempt to safe her. Obviously things do not go as planned, especially because Sarah does not want to be saved.
You can find the trailer of the Hamburg 2005 production here (Sadly rather low quality, but one of the best casts I've seen. And it is apparently an announcement for one of the Berlin runs, even though it is 100% the Hamburg cast):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POwmqDBvQL8
And here the trailer for the third German tour 2016 (Since it was an official announcement that this tour would be happening it is all old footage from Berlin 2012/2013):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qykv-5DLN1o
You can find the trailer of the Hamburg 2005 production here (Sadly rather low quality, but one of the best casts I've seen. And it is apparently an announcement for one of the Berlin runs, even though it is 100% the Hamburg cast):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POwmqDBvQL8
And here the trailer for the third German tour 2016 (Since it was an official announcement that this tour would be happening it is all old footage from Berlin 2012/2013):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qykv-5DLN1o
Berlin 07.08.2013 | German
The highest quality recording I have of this musical and while it is far from being my favourite cast I would recommend this one to everyone out there because you get such close looks at the show and its pretty costumes and sets (Which Tanz has plenty of to be honest. The show always looks amazing).
The highest quality recording I have of this musical and while it is far from being my favourite cast I would recommend this one to everyone out there because you get such close looks at the show and its pretty costumes and sets (Which Tanz has plenty of to be honest. The show always looks amazing).
Hamburg 2005 Proshot | German with English subtitles
A great cast, very strong and with great acting. Sadly not the best quality because I do not own the VOBs of this video. The English subtitles aren't always literatlly translated because they were written to be singable (which is why they sometimes are closer to the official English subs then literally translated English ones) but its still a great way for English speaking people to follow the story while not having to watch the horrible disaster that was the broadway version of Tanz der Vampire.
A great cast, very strong and with great acting. Sadly not the best quality because I do not own the VOBs of this video. The English subtitles aren't always literatlly translated because they were written to be singable (which is why they sometimes are closer to the official English subs then literally translated English ones) but its still a great way for English speaking people to follow the story while not having to watch the horrible disaster that was the broadway version of Tanz der Vampire.