Be Our Guest at Musical In Concert?

.... Not again if you treat guests like you did at 

Musical In Concert - Laeiszhalle, Hamburg, 2nd June, 2012

Wikipedia tells me that "musical theatre is a form of theatre that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The story and emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole." 

So when a show is called "Musical in Concert" I expect that at least some emotional content etc. is told through the songs performed.

"Musical in Concert" was on the first time in 2009, I missed it though then, and got repeated just this year. What is apparently "special" about it is that it not just stars a band and some musical performers but also several choirs and it focuses on ensemble numbers.

The concert was to star the following:

Solo Singers:

Natascha-Cecillia Hill (NCH)
Verena Raab (VR)
Stephanie Tschöppe (ST)
Alexander Di Capri (ADC)
Kasper Holmboe (KH)
Alessandro Macri (AM)
Stefan Gregor Schmitz (SGS)
Sarah Mendach (SM)
Lucas Beyer (LB)

Abbreviations used further below

Others:

MIC - Musical - Ensemble starring apparently around 80 singers including several (?) professional performers (just recognised a few names so cannot totally tell)
Chorakademie Hamburg
Konzertchor Incantare
Kammerchor MusciaViva
Kinderchor Cantemus (children choir)
Chor des Gymnasium Rahlstedt

And the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra

I had originally booked a seat in the front row of the first loge on the side in the dress circle at the Laeiszhalle as liked sitting there when went to classical concerts many years ago. When I got there I saw that the seats behind me had been sealed off but my row and the view was anything but great. I couldn't be a***ed to ask as IMHO it is their job to follow up so I just stayed in that seat for the next minutes.

I expected to see more the back sides of the solo singers with the view for the orchestra and choirs to be okay. BUT four minutes before the show some woman came to me telling me I could not sit there and she wanted to see my ticket (yes I was sitting in the right seat!).

Without any further explanation but repeating I could not sit there she ran off to come back three minutes later, the show was just about to start, telling me I would sit now in a loge further at the back, no apologies, still no explanations, NOTHING.

It turned out to be one in another loge nearly at the back of the dress circle which was rather awful. If I had sat normally in my seat I would have only seen half of the stage, if I leaned forward I still could not see the whole stage missing the very left side where e.g. a children choir stood for their numbers. I was angry - after all I had booked a top price ticket costing me including booking fees etc. nearly 70 EUR.

Not only the view was poor but so was the sound. It was okay for the orchestra and the choir but the solo singers were so badly to hear sometimes due to some weird annoying echo.
But then with Kasper Holmboe, the (only) one person I had really wanted to see and hear, not there as he was apparently sick (though what the presenter said sounded a bit weird implying that there was more to the story than just sickness) and the other guys covering the songs he was to do it was maybe better this way.

For me there were actually too many numbers sang by the solo singers with the ensemble just supporting and not enough purely by the choirs as had expected.

And that were it largely went wrong for me. Going back to the wikipedia quote at the beginning this concert had not much to do with musicals. Yes it had songs from musicals in it but not more, not less and I was reminded again why I usually do not really like such shows as the journey of a musical I go on is just not part of these.

Set List as per programme (obviously with Kasper not there, there were changes)

Act 1
The Phantom Of The Opera	Overture - Orchestra
	Masquerade - Full Ensemble
	Prima Donna - All solo singers
My Fair Lady	On the Street Where You Live - SGS
	I Could Have Danced All Night - VR + female ensemble
Jekyll & Hyde	Dangerous Game - NCH + KH + ensemble
	Murder, Murder - ADC + KH + AM + SGS + ensemble
Beauty and the Beast	Be Our Guest - AM + NCH + ensemble
	If I Can't Love Her - ADC
	The Mob Song - KH + ensemble
The Secret Garden	Come to My Garden/Lift Me Up - children choir
	Lily's Eyes - AM + SGS
Jesus Christ Superstar	I Don't Know How to Love Him - ST + ensemble
Mary Poppins	Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - VR + SM + LB + ensemble
The 3 Musketeers	Wer Kann Schon Ohne Liebe Sein - NCH + ST + VR
Titanic	God Lift Me Up / Doing The Latest Rag - ADC + AM + SGS + enmsemble
	Godspeed Titanic - Full ensemble
Act 2
Oklahoma	Oklahoma - Full ensemble
Elisabeth	Alle Fragen Sind Gestellt - ensemble
	Mama, Wo Bist Du? - KH + LB + children choir
Rebecca	Die Neue Mrs deWinter - ST + ADC + ensemble
	Rebecca - ST + VR + ensemble
	Manderley in Flammen - ADC + SGS + ensemble
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame	God Help the Outcasts - NCH + SGS + ensemble
	Out There - SGS
	City Under Siege - ensemble
	Someday - VR + AM + ensemble
Sherlock Holmes (new musical)	Allein - ST
Les Miserables	Castle on a Cloud - SM + children choir
	I Dreamed a Dream - NCH
	Bring Him Home - KH
	One Day More - Full Ensemble
Encores	Ich Hab Geträumt Von Manderley + Repeat of Godspeed Titanic

The song selection sounded okay to me, some great choices (Hunchback of Notre Dame, Oklahoma, The Secret Garden), some okay-good-ish (Beauty and the Beast, Les Miserables) , some no-go's (Rebecca (do not get me wrong, the musical is not bad, but as part of this concert not songs I want to hear especially as it is currently on in Stuttgart), My Fair Lady (heard way TOO often), this song from a new musical Sherlock Holmes but the performances often lacked most kind of passion and feeling for me.
Yes, they were largely sung nicely but please if you sing a song about "dreaming a dream" also give me the background emotion of the situation in which the song is sung. At least some. I did not expect many, but to get none was also not what I wanted.

"I Dreamed A Dream" sung by Natascha-Cecillia Hill who in general sounded vocally like a Caroline Sheen clone to me during that number, nice good voice but so cold and when I consider what situation Fantine is in when she sings that song not what she feels per libretto, was actually one of the worst numbers of the nights, I think this was just topped by "Castle on a Cloud" sung by a girl called Sarah Mendach (who I had not heard of before and hopefully never ever will again) who could not hold a note or even hit one most of the time.
This was the worst EVER rendition I heard of that song, even the little kids in some of the rep theatre productions I saw had more flair than this kid. Why was she chosen I do not know. It says in the programme that she has musical experience (though saying that I know it often means nothing in this country) but it seems she totally lost it that night. That people actually gave her some of the biggest applause was something I could not understand (I just imply they did it because she was a kid). Horrible, just horrible.

Her parts in "Supercalif..." were nearly as bad but then Verena Raab was not much better (saying that her "I Could Have Danced All Night" was beautiful, one of the personal highlights when she could show off her amazing voice - and I could actually hear her decently). How hard is it actually if you sing the song in English to pronounce the words correctly? Having seen Mary Poppins so many times and it being one of my favourite musicals it massively bugged me.
The bad pronunciation actually bugged me throughout the whole show. Why the songs from My Fair Lady were sung in English I do not need to understand either?

There is an amazing translation of "The Secret Garden" by Christian Gundlach. Why were the original versions used if you cannot pronounce them properly or even which parts and words to emphasise? English is not spoken or even sung as German, English has a different melody. Full stop. Though I must say the children choir's performance of the two songs from that show while I could not see them, sounded most marvellous unlike Alessandro Macri's and Stefan Schmitz' version of "Lily's Eyes".
I still recall so well the "most-est" beautiful performance from Jens Krause and Fredrik Wickerts  from the TfN production when I saw it three times in summer 2009, most touching, most haunting, most moving, but this? I felt NOTHING, well actually it made me cringe. Did they actually leave their emotions outside the concert hall?

Stefan Schmitz' (who was not only a solo singer but also one of the responsible people for organising this event, I am sure otherwise he would not have been one)  performance of "Out There" was also so lame and flat for me. I could just shake my head. It is such a lovely even uplifting song as it is sung by Quasimodo when he decides to leave the cathedral behind but it felt just so 'blah'. Ouch. Or him in "Manderley in Flammen", a song in the musical "Rebecca" when the estate is on fire and the demons of the past which haunted the people living there set free, I was wondering whether he actually knew what he was singing about. Had he actually seen the musical before or least looked into it? It didn't feel like he did.

Does it sound so far I really didn't like it? Well there were also some highlights. Stephanie Tschöppe didn't disappoint. I was not keen on the premiere of this new song, it meant nothing as not familiar with story (yes a musical called Sherlock Holmes is most probably about this character but it still would have been nice if they had told in which scene of the musical this songs appears), but her performance of it was most stunning just as had wanted the other songs to sound like. It was full of feelings, largely just purely in her incredible full voice but it gave me goosebumps. Same applies for her "I Don't Know How to Love Him". Her singing Mrs Danvers parts in the Rebecca section slightly lacked it for me (I couldn't help but compare her to the other Mrs Danvers-s I had seen, yes plural, seen three others), I had that but still it was perfectly sung.

While Alexander Di Capri murdered "Bring Him Home" sounding so stretched which surprised me as he had played the part of Valjean before, but still gave me an impression of what the character is going through in this moment, his "If I Can't Love Her" and him covering Kasper's part in "Dangerous Game" were two more highlights. It was one performance being moved and impressed by.

Alessandro Macri who was rather new to me (yeah I know he was in Mamma Mia etc. but I had never noticed him before) gave a largely convincing performance. "Lily's Eyes" put me a bit off though but Alessandro was funny and entertaining in "Be Our Guest", poignant and heart-warming in "Someday" showing off his admirable excellent tenor voice reminding me a lot of the incredible Simon Thomas which is IMHO not a bad thing.

Lucas Beyer whom I had seen as the little Tarzan in the musical Tarzan before was most adorable. His parts in "Mama, Wo Bist Du?" never sounded better. Having seen Elisabeth so often, this number is often a bit of a joke as the boys chosen usually sound overwhelmed but Lucas, equipped with a most clear, engaging voice which I hope he won't lose totally once he his voice starts to break, sang it so wonderfully and affectingly and you could tell he loved being onstage this night. He, a young boy, was certainly giving the most consistent performance for me.

Well overall I wished I hadn't gone especially with Kasper Holmboe's absence. Anyone who couldn't go didn't miss much. I certainly will not go again after what happened at the show, well before. I never ever want to give them a chance to treat me like they did.
If they ever do it again I can only hope they treat others better as I was treated and I can only hope they focus  less on giving the solo singers numbers but really do proper ensemble numbers with different arrangements. Otherwise this concept is no different to me, even if a few dozens people stand/sit at the back and I do not need another musical gala.