#michael kunze

Hello, everyone!

This blog isn't used very often these days, but you might recall that I once announced a podcast titled A Good Nightmare Comes So Rarely, intended to further explore the case study I conducted on the issues that arose when Tanz der Vampire became Dance of the Vampires.

Apart from the two episodes that actually saw release, my co-host @ozymegdias and I actually got pretty deep into research, learning a lot in particular about the mysterious April 2001 staged reading before everything went to shit, the one that starred Steve Barton reprising his award-winning performance as the Graf, under the direction of John Caird (Les Mis, Jane Eyre, etc.) Caird was very generous with his time, as was William Youmans (Abronsius in the reading; he went on to become the original Dr. Dillamond in Wicked).

Apart from that, though, it was difficult to break the cone of silence that the final cast and creative team seemed to have entered surrounding DOTV; between that and waning interest on my co-host's part as development dragged on and on, I decided to let it die.

However, the research material won't go to waste. DOTV has been on Wait in the Wings' docket for a long time, and I'm turning everything I have over to them to build an in-depth mini-doc around. (Eventually. They've got a lot of ground to cover on other shows first.)

I've also decided to share a portion of the source work with the general public. (That includes you, @alfredismyson.) Hit the jump!

Nagina Ruumi as Anne Boleyn in Lady Bess (Tōhō Stage 2026)

Literally every newer non-german production with a quarter of a budget of VBW has tried to incorporate something new into the source material. I'm not saying every interpretation or costume/staging worked in favour, but at least there's effort and a certain vision.

VBW has no right to keep serving us a watered-down version of a genuinely spectacular and deeply beloved musical.

(Also the audacity to call it the Celebrated Schönbrunn Version 🤔)

The vines in the Heinrich designs were created to represent death and decay. Sissi wore a dirndl in Wie Du as she hailed from Bavaria. The set design incorporated elements inspired by Habsburg carriages/hearses.

So what exactly do the new changes bring to the table?

Der Tod's veil is stripped away and replaced with a meme-worthy toy. He went from having 4 stunning well-crafted outfits to ONE painfully boring fit in the entire show.

Tod and Rudolf's relationship is diminished to the point where it no longer represents its original depth or significance.

Rondo is a misfit and doesn't even appear anywhere else in the show unlike the intended Japanese/Hungarian versions.

There is no glitz, no glamour, and most importantly the storytelling is compromised. Literally everything the musical stood for is reduced to nothing.