Ok, I was wrong about the seats.

Your posts made me realize something was wrong - how could I have gotten such good seats when I ordered them so late (compared to you two). So I looked at it some more and poked around the musical.de site, etc. etc. and finally realized my two Saturday seats are in the balcony!!!

(I told you my German wasn't *that* good. )

At first I was quite disappointed but I've gotten over it. I admit that I'd rather be down where you guys are but two shows from up close and two shows further/higher back might be interesting too. It could be worse, there are practically no 'best' seats available at all right now (for the two Sat. shows).

I assume I can bring binoculars in to the show, right? And am I correct in assuming cameras are forbidden??

So you guys are coming in costumes!! How neat!! The two crazy ladies in costumes and the crazy lady from America. HaHaHa!!

Fanetjuh - who is 'little Alfred'?

Lein - who is 'Magda' and what are you doing in April??

Gotta get going - have to be at work soon. Talk to you guys this weekend!!

Sorry that you were wrong about the seats, that can happen of course. I already thought it was a little strange that those seats were not sold, but you never know. Some people can cancel, or they can make a mistake or so, so it's always possible that some seats are left-over of free for special occasions, so I didn't know But the balcony is not that bad! It are still good seats, and I you have two other shows so close, I'm sure that you'll have a splendid view over there! It's also great to get some distance and see how the shows and characters work out over there! I've seen the Antwerp show from the Balcony twice and it give beautiful new views on the characters!

Making pictures and soundrecordings is indeed not allowed. Also you're phone should be on stand-bye, but of course Binoculars are allowed, you can bring the,!

We'll make a funny group of people! Looking forward to it!!!!!

Oew...you don't know little Alfred yet. Well, let me introduce you to him:



Have a nice work-day!

Aha, balcony. But row 2/3 on the balcony is still supposed to be really good (never sat there, but the theatre is quite small, and I heard from others that you have a great view from the balcony).
And 2 shows from up front is also nice... then you have 2 shows with details, and 2 shows with more overview.

You can bring binoculars, that's never a problem (although I'd guess you won't need them, but you can better have them with you in case you do need them), camera's are indeed forbidden (even to take a picture before the show). It can be that they will allow filming/taking pictures during the applause, but I'm not sure of that.

Yeah... they probably already know us there... "Those two crazy people again!!"
Magda is my costume . I made myself a dress like Magda from the musical, and when I bring it, I usually say that I'm bringing Magda. But that's just my dress . And we're going to Berlin to see Tanz (twice) in April too... so I have to think about different costumes

Have a good work day! I'm going to sleep

Fanetjug - Your 'little Alfred' is adorable!!

(Actually I was afraid you had a little dog that you dressed up or something. My niece had a chihuahua and used to do that. I used to feel sorry for the poor dog, it looked downright silly.)

Lein - 'Magda' = dress. Got it. And I'm jealous. You two are going in April too? That's not fair <pout>

On the bright side, I plan on taking unabashed advantage of your familiarity with the show and cast .

I think a costume is a bit beyond me. Besides the fact that I have absolutely no sewing talent, I think I'm just a bit too old to get away with it. And it's not really my style (other than a few episodes when I was younger that involved the 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' but we are NOT going to talk about that!)

My ex-husband has a pair of binoculars that also works as a camera - you can take pictures through it. Unfortunately they look rather high-tech and I bet the theater would know what they were. Otherwise I'd bring it along and sneak some pictures. And if I got caught, I could do what my mother always did - start jabbering in German (except I'd jabber in English) and pretend not to know what's going on. She got out of several traffic tickets that way.

So what do 'normal' (i.e. non-crazy ) people wear to the show. Please tell me it's not dress-up. I'm planning on just bringing one carry-on bag so I'm hoping to get away with jeans, black boots and shirt, and long black leather coat. Is that too casual??

As of right now, I'm planning on arriving in Berlin Friday morning and leaving Wednesday morning. That'll give me a couple of days to sight-see a bit. I need to pick up a guide book or something and figure out what I want to see. I'm sure it's changed an incredible amount in the past ten years.

By the way, I am just listening to the double-cd 'Tanz' from the Vienna show. It's wonderful!!

Whahaha, don't worry, No dogs involved...I think it's sad like you said. Little Alfred was a birthdaypresent from friends. Year after year I ask my own Alfred for my Birthday, so a year ago they decided to given me my own Alfred, although not a real one but this one. And now I take him almost everywhere! And of course I can't leave him at home when we go to Tanz!

And no problem that you take unabashed advantage! We'll be happy to help out! (Meeting at the stage door before the shows to get some pics? )

I don't know if age should be a problem...but I can understand that it just doesn't suit you and that you therefore prefer not to. It's absolutely no problem, you certainly won't be the only one!

Those binoculars sound amazing! I don't know it they'll know they excist in the theatre...you can always have a try and pretend to don't understand and to not get that it's not allowed taking pictures and so on. But, maybe a good idea to take a normal pair of binoculars too, just in case you're caught!!!

In Europe it's normal to go the theatre in Jeans, black boots and a shirt, I'll see if it's in april still like that, but I'm pretty sure it is. We mostly try to find something nice at least, but simple nice is also good enough. (Tanz is the only musical I visit in costume!) Too casual...I don't think it's a problem as long as you don't pretend to be on the beach...

Wow...seems indeed as if you have a lot of time for sightseeing! We'll arrive on friday-afternoon or evening and will leave again on sunday, so we have no time to do something else then just watch the show, but that's no problem. I don't know how late Lein will be there, but maybe we can meet after the show at the stage door, Will have to talk about that!

Yeah, we're going in Apri) too... it's just too easy (I have a direct train from my work to Berlin. And it only takes a little more than 6 hours.

If you don't feel comfortable going in costume, then you just shouldn't do that, that's really easy . I don't think you really have to dress up over there, but we'll check in 1,5 month . (and for mee too, Tanz is the only musical I'm going to see in costume). And no, you definitely won't be the only one. I guess we'll be the weird ones

Those binoculars sound awesome! And playing innocent works in a lot of cases... Pretending you don't understand them, and pretending you don't know what the binoculars can do .

I don't know what time I'll arrive yet either, but I think I'll try to leave work a little bit earlier so I can arrive somewhere during the evening... in that case we can meet up at the stagedoor after the friday show . That sounds like a good idea...

Whew, that's good news about the casual clothes. I don't want to have to bring a lot of clothes with me, especially if I have to change airports during the trip.

I splurged on a pair of boots (I'm using this trip as an excuse ) They actually have 2.5" heels!! That might not sound very special but my ex-husband is barely taller than me and didn't like me being taller. And I can't wear heels at work (I'm a nurse) so all my shoes are flats. I'll have to spend the next couple of months re-learning how to walk properly in them . I'll be right at six feet tall when I'm wearing them so I think I'll stand out enough, even without a costume.

Do you guys know where you're staying? Are you staying together? I looked up the location of the theater and realized that the hotel my boys and I stayed at when we were there is only about two blocks away. I'm torn between going back there (convenient but a boring chain hotel) or finding something else. I did find a web site where you can make arrangements to stay with individuals (i.e. people who rent out a spare bedroom or whatever to make extra money). Since I would only be there to sleep and take a shower, that might work out. And it's cheaper (esp. over five nights).

I watched the Hamburg Proshot again last night (w/Kevin). I have to admit I really like watching him, I think he's a great 'Krolock'. Such expressive eyes and a perfect nose for a vampire. (Don't laugh. I have the typical small, nondescript German nose and I've always had a thing for noses with a bit of an arch to them.)

But I think I prefer the new Vienna ending (w/Krolock in the finale). As it is, our last glimpse of him is 1) cowering in fear from a 'cross' and 2) yelling at 'Kokul' (spelling?) to bring the three escapees back. He needs to be in the finale.

I want to clarify one thing. We know for sure that Kevin/Thomas will each be in one of the two Saturday shows. But do we know who will be in the Friday evening/Sunday afternoon shows? From what I understand, there's no way to tell for sure until you actually get there. Is that correct?

Lein, Fanetjuh - guess who's coming to the 'meet-and-greet' reception?

Remember how I said I emailed Stage Entertainment and told them how I was coming all the way from the United States to see 'Tanz', etc. etc.? Well, they emailed me back yesterday and invited me to the reception!!

I'm so thrilled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Funny, for some reason I assumed it was Sat. afternoon (between the two shows). I didn't realize it was after the evening show (which means it will start quite late). Will this be dress up? Do you know anything more about it? Have you ever been to one before??

Agghhhh!!!!! I'm so excited!!

Kevin is supposed to play the Friday night (according to his schedule, he posts his dates on his website). Thomas... well, he doesn't communicate a lot with his friends, so that'll stay a surprise (but usually the understudies post on facebook when they have to play, but usually only a week before that)

And great that you can go to the meet and greet! I never was there before (we always make up our own meet & greets just by standing at the stagedoor), but I was with some autographsessions, and I think it will be something like that. Kevin (well... with Kevin, you never now) or Thomas behind a table, and you have the possibility to get an autograph and say something to them. I don't know times and things like that, I'll find out when I get the tickets or am there. And usually you wear the same sort of clothes you wear to the show. (I had a fanmeeting a little over a week ago, and I just wore jeans and a nice shirt, and that was fine)

Lein - I've been meaning to ask you...who is that good-looking young man in the picture at the bottom of your postings?

And I was curious about something you said in your previous post. You said something along the lines of 'well, with Kevin you never know' and mentioned Thomas as being 'behind a table'. I'm getting the impression that Kevin is a little 'looser', a little more 'spontaneous' while Thomas tends to be more 'reserved'. Is that correct or am I reading too much into your comment?

I renewed my passport this afternoon. A hundred and ten dollars!! Isn't that terrible!! The lady at the office said they went up in price because they "now have a chip in them". Just what I've always wanted - a passport that's smarter than I am.

I rewatched 'Phantom of the Opera' last night (the 2004 movie musical). That's been my favorite musical for years but I have to admit that 'Tanz' is now in first place. I always feel a bit sad at the end of 'Phantom' - at the end of 'Tanz', I want to get up and dance. Those lines in English during the finale (something about 'drink your blood and eat your soul') just crack me up every time. I tried to explain it to my older son and he just looked at me like I was crazy. (I guess it did sound pretty weird. )

(Regarding the 'meet and greet'...)



Meant to tell you - it's after the evening performance on 12 May (Sat.). It's in the *Spiegel Foyer* that is one floor above the stalls in the *Hochparkett*. (The 'hochparkett' is the balcony, right? That's where my seat is that night.)

Anyway, when I get there on Friday, I'm supposed to go to the 'merchandise stall' and ask for Paul Edwards. (He's the person who actually emailed me with the invitation.) Then he'll come meet me and explain 'what will happen after the show Sat.'. Sounds rather mysterious.

So, finally some time to react!

You read it right about Thomas and Kevin. Kevin is more open, more spontanious and likes fans! Kevin likes the appreciation, taking time for everyone, talking to everyone, get pictures with everyone, put his autograph on everything! (Even on a card that's meant for him if you don't stop him and tell that this card is for HIM!) Thomas is more reserved. He likes being on stage, but he doesnt like the fans so much. He doesn't like all the attention and the small chat. He mostly tries to sneak away! He especially doesn't like that some fans consider him as a friend and talk to him too freely. He hates it when people use "Thomas" to call him (he prefers "Herr Borchert") and he hates it when people say "du" to him, he wants them to say "Sie", but he's fair and sais "Sie" back to you!

And you know more about the meet and greet then we do Lucky you! We still wait for information, but I guess we get that when we will pick up our tickets! We hope to do that in april when we're over there!