#Kerstin Ibald as Beatrice has my whole heart | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jon-withnoh · 1 year

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While I was cleaning today, I ended up listening to the 2006 Rebecca cast album for the very first time (I'd only listened to some of the songs previously). Here are some random thoughts and reactions that came up, because why not. This will probably be a long post so buckle up:

the characters feel very vivid and I love that a lot.

it's interesting to hear some of the lines they changed for the Monte Carlo scenes.

I actually love the second verse of "Zeit in einer Flasche". I wish they'd kept it. It's very sweet and creates a more satisfying lead-up to the conclusion of the song imo.

this recording is proof that "Zauberhaft natürlich" doesn't add anything to the show. Uwe Kröger already makes Maxim seem quite human in only a few minutes. Plus, I always feel like the Monte scenes could be shorter overall (Yes I know what I just said about "Zeit in einer Flasche".)

If I hadn't already been completely won over by Susan!Danny I would be now. She's so poised and brings so much nuance to the character in "Die Neue Mrs de Winter" alone. Her first "Madam" sounds so threatening, I love it.

Also... 2005 Elisabeth Franz Joseph as Frank startled me a little.

Absolutely adore Susan's "Sie ergibt sich nicht"

Kerstin Ibald as Beatrice is a delight in every single way. Also interesting to see the different choices she made between Vienna and Stuttgart.

Speaking of Beatrice... "Die Stärke einer Frau" is... so long. I listened to it on the way home from running an errand and I ended up laughing to myself in the middle of the street because it is kind of a ridiculous song. Imo the only reason not to cut it is because we love Beatrice.

Here's something I found really interesting: Favell and Danny actually have a dynamic in this recording. I fully believe that they've known each other for decades. They might not particularly like each other, but they're definitely familiar with each other. I can imagine them as a comedic duo honestly. This Favell in general is very vivid, very emotional. I like that. I feel like he has more nuance than the later depictions. Also... "Ich liebte sie genau wie du". Excuse me??? I love that line!

I'm so glad they ended up replacing "Wir sind Britisch" with "Merkwürdig". "Wir sind Britisch" did not work for me as a song and felt out of character for the show in general. It was like they were trying to be My Fair Lady for a hot second.

I didn't think I would like Uwe!Maxim that much, but actually! I might like him the best out of the three cast recordings. Jan Amman is my fave vocally, but I love how Uwe portrays Maxim as a character. Again, there's nuance here. I also love the way he says "Oh, das ist Frank Crawley der Verwalter von Manderley..."

There's a really interesting line in "Die Neue Mrs de Winter (Reprise)" where the ensemble says something about Ich being "Fast wie unsere alte Mrs de Winter". That's a really interesting callback to the book and the way the book's narration begins to draw parallels between Ich and Rebecca, in whichever way you want to interpret that.

Okay, everyone who's been telling me about how excellent Susan!Danny is was completely correct and justified. Her Mrs Danvers comes across as very controlled, but her feelings really come through as well. Her "ich Hör Dich Singen" is beautiful. I would give a lot to hear her sing it again with the new lyrics. I know I keep saying this but NUANCE. So much nuance in this character!

On a similar note, it's so refreshing to hear a Maxim played by a very passionate actor (not to say that Mark or Jan weren't passionate, just that I really enjoyed Uwe's portrayal).

This became long and quite incoherent, so if you've made it this far, thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts if anyone wants to ramble :)

#rebecca das musical #rebecca 2006 #just rambling #i have so much admiration for Susan!Danny #holy shit she's good #it was super interesting to hear the show as it was originally written #I love what it's turned into it's just also interesting to compare #Kerstin Ibald as Beatrice has my whole heart #I love when they include the Schlussmusik and applause on cast albums #it always makes me cry

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notprincehamlet · 7 years

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tecklenburg misadventures & meeting pia again: a post

August 13.

11 am. I come to the Düsseldorf train station to leave for Tecklenburg.

11:15 am. Turns out my train, of all trains, is five minutes late. Interesting.

12 am. Someone kicks me out of the seat because they booked it. After that I start realizing I will probably miss the second train because this one was late in the first place. Mild fear begins to settle in.

1 pm. The train arrives. I jump out and see that my other train has not left yet. I sprint down and up the stairs with my heavy-ass suitcase in two seconds. I make it to the train. Some guys are laughing at me. Then I see the info board. Turns out this train was also late. It doesn't leave the station for the next ten minutes. I begin to get the jokes about Deutsche Bahn.

2 pm. I arrive to Lengerich. Now I only need to catch the bus to Tecklenburg. I see two buses approaching but I'm not sure if any of them is mine. I have to check. By the time I finish checking, both of the buses have left. One of them was definitely mine.

2:30 pm. I find the bus schedule on the wall. Apparently, the next bus will only come in two hours because it's Sunday. I want to punch myself in the face. The station is eerily quiet. I sigh, sit down and start rereading Rebecca.

2:45 pm. A taxi drives by to the taxi parking. The driver and I exchange glances. I'm not sure if I should do this and spend the money on a taxi. But what if the bus doesn't come and this guy also leaves?

3 pm. My anxiety and I approach the driver. "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" I ask hopefully - hope is always the last to die, after all. "No". Hope dies in agony. "Können Sie mich nach Tecklenburg fahren?" He can. We drive.

3:15 pm. The hotel door is locked. This can't be happening. I start pushing every button I can find on the wall because I’m smart like that.

3:16 pm. A man parks his car nearby and comes to the door, carrying some boxes. I ask him if he knows how to enter, adding the shameful "Ich spreche aber fast kein Deutsch" at the end of my sentence. Turns out he works here.

3:20 pm. The key to my room is missing. I love adventures. The room, however, isn’t locked, so I can at least come inside and get ready for Rebecca. "Der Schlüssel kommt später," says the guy. Cue nervous laughter.

4 pm. I come down to ask if anyone has found the key. Nope. Someone, however, is gonna come in an hour, and that someone apparently has the key. I start googling mild German insults, just in case.

6 pm. I come down to leave for Rebecca and see the key hanging on the board behind the counter. The girl (she speaks English) hands it to me. "Sorry, I found it too late", the woman next to me says, also in English. She is beautiful. I'm gay and not angry anymore. She tells me to open the front door with the same key because it will be late when I return from the musical. She asks me if I would like to have breakfast tomorrow from 8 to 10. Maybe I would but I’m too gay to think about it right now. On that bright note I lock my door and leave.

***

I did manage to come earlier, which was nice after all the nightmares I'd had about being late to Rebecca (yeah, I guess being a bit late to Elisabeth in June took a toll on me). It was such a nice weather and I'm SO grateful for it, especially since it had been raining so hard the night before. Tbh I’d been kinda skeptical about the production at first becase it looked so different from the Stuttgart one and I thought the costumes looked ugly but my friends told me I’d definitely like it (especially if I didn’t rewatch the Stuttgart production - which I didn’t). AND SURPRISE, I LOVED IT. Let me just say I will never doubt open air productions again. Everything was so cleverly done imo and I loved the changes made to adapt to the demands of an open air stage and the costumes didn’t look so ugly in person :”) I would’ve loved it even if it hadn’t been Gay™ and that’s huge because Gayness was my main criteria for this show (i know.... i know)

We all know the main reason I came there for (Gay Icon Mrs Danvers aka Pia Douwes aka Actual Light of my Life etc etc) but I was really excited to see the rest of the cast. I was curious about Milica since I’d only heard like.. one song of hers. And I loved her (d u h I almost cried during Zeit in einer Flasche), though her Ich seemed a bit too mature for my liking. As for Jan Ammann, I still can’t believe I saw and heard him live, I love one man ;~~; and I don’t know him personally but I.... trust him. Also! He looked more like Laurence Olivier than usual, 10/10 would recommend 😍 I was very much looking forward to Roberta Valentini as well. I love Kerstin Ibald’s Beatrice with all my heart but Roberta was wonderful too, and I think I would’ve picked her Beatrice if I ever had to choose. I’m glad I don’t actually have to choose though C: I also really liked Thomas Hohler, which was a surpise since I’ve never given much thought to him. Guess I gotta check him out in Elisabeth or something.

(there was also this one guy in the ensemble whose face was dead serious the whole time he was dancing and it was h i l a r i o u s. also #mood. and he reminded me of Thomas from Downton Abbey)

Now, to the Love of my Life. Mrs Danvers was Extra Gay in this version, I would like to thank everyone involved in making the gayness happen ;~; the Gay Subtext™ was palpable and I loved every second of it. Pia was amazing and killed it in every song, and by it I mean “IT but also ME”. The stage was pretty big and I died a little every time Pia was upstairs or in Rebecca’s bedroom because I couldn’t see her properly then. Good thing I have a strategy for such cases; it’s called “press glasses as close to your eyes as you can and squint as hard as possible”. Now to (some of) the songs and general moments.

Sie ergibt sich nicht: gay, upstairs, the orchids are red, nice Die lieben Verwandten: ROBERTA AND HER PLAID TWEED LOOKS The scene after Bist du glücklich: the way Danvers asked Ich what she did with the remains of the statue made a Danvers-shaped hole in my heart (and I don’t even like Mrs Danvers l o l)

Danvers: *lurks at the back of the stage looking pensive* Me: *clutches chest* oh my god (was she realy somewhere on stage during Hilf mir durch die Nacht or did I imagine it? or was it during another song? I honestly can’t tell anymore)

Was ist nur los mit ihm: I just listened to it again and almost cried, I love Roberta so much and I loved her in that green dress Sie war gewohnt, geliebt zu werden: THIS IS MY FAVOURITE SONG FROM THIS MUSICAL NO JOKE and I loved the whole setup with Rebecca’s bedroom. Not sure what to think of the whole Favell on top of Danny thing but I had to try very hard to block every association with amateur porn from my mind because EWWWW. In other news: this song is still gay and I l o v e it. Rebecca: I REALLY ACTUALLY HONESTLY HEARD IT LIVE CAN YOU BELIEVE IT. ICONIC. Obviously, this song became 198776542x times more gay (I thought it wasn’t possible but here we are) because of that Rebecca shadow thing and Danvers putting the nightgown on her. I had vaguely heard about it and I’d heard it was controversial so I didn’t really know what to think at first. It’s hard to overestimate my undying belief in not having any physical representation of Rebecca at all, and I feel like this wasn’t really necessary, but on the other hand the production didn’t suffer one bit because of it. Plus the Rebecca/Danny shipper in me says YES PLEASE THAT WAS AMAZING. Yeah, I’m pretty biased here (BIased!!!!! get it????/?). Finale erster Akt: I got chills.

Then came the intermission and after an hour of sitting on a wooden bench my lower back was Not Happy.

Rebecca (Reprise): I felt like someone was cutting my heart out of my chest thanks to Pia, plus goosebumps all over Nur ein Schritt: I live for creepy!Pia tbh. And the rocket was real! Have I mentioned I love open air now? Mrs Danvers bin ich: Danvers looked so hurt, m*rder me right now :”) and I was looking forward to hearing Pia shout “Nein” but I got distracted right before it l m a o. Life is hard when you have the attention span of a goldfish. The court scene: I live for this kind of symbolism!!!!!!! The scene where they found out Rebecca was sick and it was like someone stabbed Mrs Danvers when she heard it.... that moment ended me. I thought that was IT. But I knew nothing yet. Ich war ihr nah: WOWZIES. I’m always a sucker for some suffering!Pia, especially when she’s alone on stage. Just. Wow. Her voice. Her acting. She really did THAT. Also...... gay. Jenseits der Nacht & Manderley in Flammen: I LOVED the way they handled the fire!!!! That was the thing I was looking forward to the most. Everything looked so good. Besides, the weather was really cooperating which only added to the atmosphere. My friend had told me I would die and I *was* dying, but then The Scream happened. THAT was when I truly died. The Scream & Rebecca taking Mrs Danvers with her: DID SATAN CREATE THIS? IS THIS A FANFIC OR?? I’M???? #DEAD #SHOOK #SHOOKETH Tbh I was about to crawl to the nearest cemetery, dig my own fucking grave and just lie there. Then again, that moment was absolutely unnecessary from the rational point of view but I enjoyed it SO much and I felt SO emotional that I don’t give a single shit. THAT WAS AMAZING.

***

After the show and multiple bows (I love these people) it was over. And when you leave, you have to walk up the stage and towards the entrance. May have screamed a little when I saw the set up close, may have taken a blurry selfie (or three). Anyways, I found the stagedoor, I found my friends, I managed to burn my finger on some vile stingy plant all within the scope of 30 minutes, and THEN She came out. And She was the sweetest. As always. I just. Talent aside, I will never get over how genuinely NICE and GOOD Pia is. She took her time to talk to everyone, she posed for pictures, she signed everything and she was very excited about her gifts :”) she is such a good person and I honestly can’t deal with the way she radiates that energy.

I wanted to give her a book of translated Russian poetry as a gift, I’d even wrapped it up in craft paper and stuck a “thank you” sticker on it. I wish the book was thinner but it was the only one I found that had most of my favourite poems lol #priorities. I had A LOT of doubts about it but then again, I’m pretty sure it’s not the weirdest gift she’s ever got. So I finally came up to Pia, said hi, gave her the gift, pointed out the “thank you” sticker and explained that it meant “thank you for your work” (her face was so close holy shit). Honestly, I keep saying sorry and thank you every time I meet her lmao but I’m thankful!!! and I’m sorry!!! and I want her to know that!!! what else am I supposed to do!!!! And I *think* I said something about the show being great and her being great in it, but I’m not sure.

Then she was like “and you’re from...?” “Russia”, I told her, not expecting her to remember anything about me. Then she went “Of course! We’ve met before, right?” “We did, yes” “I was gonna say Russia!” WHAT KIND OF FACE MEMORY DOES SHE HAVE OH MY GOD. Well, probably the selective kind, let’s be real here, but this is still unbelievable. As of August 13 it has been a little over a year since our last brief meeting - a year, three months and 12 days but who’s counting? - and after all this time there was something that made her go "wait, I know her” when she saw me ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ And it’s the SECOND time she remembered me so we’re practically married at this point, right? Right??? I replied with something generic like “oh, you remember me? That’s so nice!” yeah, “nice” indeed :“”“) I will be raving about it forever because I honestly can’t believe it keeps happening to me. What have I done to deserve this? Could it be possible to love this woman more? At that particular moment I thought not, but the evening wasn’t over yet. Then this happened:

Me: thank you 😍 Pia, taking the gift: thank you! Me, distracted by her closeness: thank you 😍 Pia, pointedly: thank you for the gift Me: Oh. You’re welcome. (jesus fucking christ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Then she signed my programme and then I almost left without a picture because I was THAT awestruck :’’’’’’’) As we posed, she was standing THIS close to me and she was touching my elbow behind my back all the time we were posing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can see how hard I’m trying to conceal my emotions in the pics because um ??? an actual Goddess is touching my arm right this second???? And then she said she appreciates my coming to see her again ♥ I’m sorry but I’m pretty sure being this precious is illegal, I’m gonna have to alert the authorities. Oh, and I’m tattooing every single generic phrase she said on my forehead.

Then I just hung around for a while and even took a good enough picture of my friends and Pia! My hands weren’t shaking like they always do when I feel Emotions!!! I am truly growing.

After a while the crowd started to dissolve a bit and I spontaneously decided to try and ask if I could give her a hug. Yeah, I know, I don’t recognize myself either. And I did ask her, with countless “I’m so sorry”s and “I understand it might be intrusive”s (her face was so close and she was looking at me so intently i’.m!!! dying!! I was Not Prepared) because making her uncomfortable is my worst nightmare.

And then

she DEADASS GRABBED THE BARE PART OF MY ARM (my sweater covered my elbow but not my forearm so it was a skin to skin contact with the goddess!!!!! I’m a normal person with a normal life and zero obsessions I swear), looked me in the eye and started explaining why she doesn’t normally do it - because, quote, “then she *nods at someone* would wanna do this, and she would wanna do this and I would be here till 3am”. Somehow my brain didn’t shut down completely: all I could feel was her hand on my arm, but I was actually registering what she was saying and I was even ANSWERING stuff like “that’s totally fine, yes, i understand, everyone would want to do this, that’s absolutely fine, thank you so much”. But she honestly has THE SOFTEST hands, it’s literally like touching a cloud, what kind of magic is this (and what kind of hand cream), I couldn’T COPE. SO SOFT. AND SHE WAS SO CLOSE. HER PERFECT FACE. CLOSE TO MINE. SAYING THINGS. SMILING. I LOVE HER. And it seemed that explaining the reason was very important to her and she wasn’t letting go of my arm the whole time 😭 honey….. you don’t have to explain anything to me…. I’m just happy to be here…. And she was looking me in the eye the whole time too. Anyways, I FINALLY timidly put my other hand on top of hers (!!!!!!!!! living that self-insert fanfic life) and told her it was absolutely fine again while trying very hard to conceal my emotions (hahaha who’s freaking out? not me lmao hahaha lol). I LOVE HER SO MUCH WHAT A GODDESS WHAT AN ICON. Not to be dramatic, but I can still feel her calming touch :”) she may have cured my anxiety or something. And yeah, well, I told her it was absolutely fine and she told me to take care and that was it.

Did I sound like a complete tit? Certainly. Did I still sound more coherent than the other two times I met her? Absolutely. I’m SO proud of myself. Am I still #shook? You bet! I can’t believe life is this good to me. And I’m still very sad I don’t know when I will see Pia again :/ certainly not next year because it’s my final uni year and I’m gonna be busy as shit, plus all these trips are getting expensive. I hope she doesn’t do anything HUGE next year and saves it for the time I can travel again ~

Oh, by the way, it was pitch black almost the whole time I was walking back to the hotel and I even had to pass by a church graveyard. Fucking T*ckl*nburg.

#the great pia meltdown 2k17 #~

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