A sea of feelings and three lands

Author: Carla Delgado

(This text is a post from my blog: Message in a bottle @ cyberspace)
A german musical made after an american movie blended with a song made famous in the
voice of a Welsh singer, all resulting in an astonishing fine production. At least according to
the interpretation of a brazilian computer scientist. ;-) A couple of months ago I saw a big
sign at the bus stop announcing "Tanz der Vampire, das Musical". I had already seen the
movie "Dance of the vampires" from Roman Polanski and wondered if it was a modern
remake. I went to see it and was just fascinated. It is excellent! I found out that this german
musical was indeed made after the movie (première was in 1997) and has been quite a
success. I believe it comes from the fact that main musical theme, the song "Totale
Finsternis", was re-written after the famous song "Total eclipse of the heart". I always liked
the song but honestly I never noticed that this melody was so beautiful! And I dare to say, the
version "Totale Finsternis" is even more beautiful than the original. Ok, let me confess, not
only this song itself touched me, the complete sequence of songs "Gott ist tot", "Einladung
zum Ball", and "Totale Finsternis" just got directly to my heart. Different from the movie
where the history is centered on the actions of the vampire hunters, the musical is centered on
the progressive involvement between the vampire and the beautiful young girl. It is so
suggestive! There is no kidnapping, no jumping from behind the curtains or the like; there is
just the provocation, the temptation, the spell of seduction. There is a lot more then actions
going on and this is sang and acted in a sublime way. While the vampire plays his impressive
self-assured seducer role, the girl goes through an existentialist process asking herself whether
or not she should give herself away, and when she can't hold herself back anymore she asks
herself why this is so. It would be impossible to reproduce all the impact of the live singing
and orchestra playing, but here I try to give a flavor of what touched my heart so deep (the
translation was done by me; that means it is not only unofficial but also error-prone).

Jahrelang war ich nur Ahnung in dir. /For years I was just a presage inside of you
Jetzt suchst du mich /Now you search for me
und hast Sehnsucht nach mir. /and you consume yourself with desire for me
(...)
Wenn ish dich rufe, /When I call you
hält dich nichts mehr zurück, /you don't hold yourself back anymore
getrieben von Träumen / compelled from dreams
und hungrig nach Glück. /and hungry for bliss
(from "Gott ist tot" / God is dead)

(...)
Manchmal in der Nacht /Sometimes in the night
Lieg ich im Dunklen und warte, / I lie down in darkness and wait
Doch worauf ich warte ist mir nicht klar. /But what exactly I'm waiting for is not clear to me
(...)
Manchmal in der Nacht /Sometimes in the night
Möchte ich Verbot`nes erleben, / I want to live the forbidden
und die Folgen sind mir ganz einerlei / and the consequences do not matter to me
(...)
Ich hör eine Stimme, die mich ruft. /I hear a voice that calls me
(...)
Ich spür eine Sehnsucht, die mich sucht... /I feel a desire that hunts me
(...)
(from "Totale Finsternis" / Total eclipse)

Oder willst du lieber, / Would you prefer

dass alles bleibt so wie es ist? /that it all stays as it is?
Glaubst du, das wäre dir genug? /You believe that this would be enough?
Ich denke mir, das wär dir nicht genug. /I think this would not fulfill you.
 (...)
Sie warnten dich vor /They warned you about
Sünde und Gefahr. /evil and danger
Aber du hast /But you have
Immer schon geahnt, /always sensed
dass ihre Sicherheit / that their security
ein großer Schwindel war. / was a big deception
Es war alles gelogen, / it was all lies
was man dir versprach. /what they told you
Jeder hat dich betrogen, /everybody fooled you
wenn er dich bestach. / when they wanted to captivate you
Doch ich geb dir, was dir fehlt /But now I give you what you're missing
(from "Einladung zum Ball" / Invitation to the ball)

Sitting on my chair my head was just spinning, I could barely take so much beauty and so
intense sensations. I also started to hear voices seeking for me and provoking me, lighting up
my senses. Why do we live so often as we are in fact dead, or in such an anesthetic state of
mind? I really thought that it was time to wake up to life and wished I had a chance to offer
my neck for the next bite.