first complete Ben Hur Live show for an audience

[Dietmar]

S P O I L E R A L E R T

I just went to the first ever complete Ben Hur Live performance in front of an audience
(the other rehearsals I saw were - even the one for an invited audience - were act 1 only)

This show took place at the König-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen, Germany today at 01:30pm.
Tickets were given to schools or charity organizations for free... Rüdiger bought tickets on ebay and I got one.

Every ticket owner received another flyer and a sheet of paper with the basic plot. As it turned out the German narrator performed live at the start and end of every act, but the narration in between was still Stewart's - as the German actor has not yet recorded his narration.

2nd S P O I L E R W A R N I N G
If today's performance is anything to go by then it might go like this in London. The narrator wears modern clothes and walks around the arena while talking. After about 10 minutes he leaves the arena - on a h o r s e while narrating. So London viewers might see Stewart riding.

The performance went by with full costumes and effects (pyrotechnic, fog, ...) with Stewart's narration and the narrator came back at the end of the first act.

After a 30 minute break he came back for some more live narration until Stewart's pre-recorded voice took over.
The second act was new for me, and it's got some spectacular moments (remember that all of this is still very cheesy!), like gladiator fights looked quite good and the famous chariot race - which really shows remarkable skills.

At the very end the narrator came back for some more live talking before everything ended to lots of applause (although most of the children hardly understood what went on - English, Latin, Aramaic ??). The main actors took their bows and narrator and Ben Hur actor left the arena on the winning chariot.

IF Stewart does all this it will be very entertaining to the London viewers ! ! !

Funny that still hundreds of costumes were missing (which showed in the 2nd act with lots of people wearing their Ben Hur shirts). They'll get those costumes within the next week from Thailand.

so that was the quick run-through

Dietmar

[smax]

excellent stuff D, glad you had fun.

i hope we (london) see Stewart riding! erm, a horse.

SO what about the music, Dietmar, you didn't mention the music?! i know that writing about music is like dancing about architecture, but was it emotive, loud, recognisable, etc etc

[Maud138]

Love it love it love it!
And yes, Dietmar, how was the music?

[Dietmar]

I wrote about the music somewhere else when I saw act 1 in Düsseldorf
it's a score - so I would not listen to that on my stereo at home (except for one nice song!), but it works expressing what's happening
it's dramatic and loud when it needs to be
and the other way round
and there are lots of harmonies one can recognize from other Copeland soundtracks - he's got a style, for sure

I did NOT take any photos
because I forgot my camera anyway - everything went pretty fast !
and people inside the arena made sure no photographs were taken anyway
but there were a few professional photographers from Germany's biggest magazines
so I expect to see photos in print at some time

dietmar

[samburusunset]

Oh, excellent!!
Stewart on a horse and a ride on the chariot! Cool!!

Sounds like you guys are in for quite a show!


Thanks Dietmar!!

[sockii]

Thanks for the report, Dietmar! And I do hope we get a staging of this in the States, complete with Stewart narration! Sounds like wonderfully cheesy goodness.

[MariaH]

Thanks so much for the report, Dietmar.

I really do hope we get to see Stewart on a horse! Havent seen that since Rhymatist.

Maybe once the production gets going they will at least begin to sell DVDs. The production has only begun so there is much more to come, I'm sure.

You still have a full fledge performance to go to as well, correct?

[shyvixen]

Thanks for the report Dietmar!

[smudge]

Thank you Dietmar. I was chuckling as I read this in the office, and now - strangely - my colleague wants to go. I think your preview really decided it for him.

[conroy]

Thanks, Dietmar. Now, I'm officially excited about going to see this!!!! Sounds like it's the kinda cheese I will love!!!!

[IndyGirl]

Thanks for posting about the performance, Dietmar.

[DirtyMartini]

Cheesetastic.

[quote="Dietmar"]English, Latin, Aramaic ??[/quote]

That still kills me.

Thanks, Dietmar!

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Ha! I admit I didn't read every word you wrote, Dietmar (THANKS for labeling spoilers), but I think I got enough to learn I'm gonna be way happy to be there! Thanks so much for the report.

[rhoeckel]

Hi folks,

yes, it was a very interesting afternoon yesterday in Oberhausen:-)

For God's sake Dietmar already did the full report so I just can add a few minor remarks...

This was the first 'live' Ben Hur show for me so it was fascinating to see how the show has evolved since
its early days. I have been following a blog about the preparations for this show http://blog.bhl.dev3.de/
so in my mind I had quite an impression how this would look like.

The musical score is like many other soundtracks Stewart has done.
You can definitely "feel" (or better: hear) his typical trademark.

If I had to choose I just would go to the London shows - to see Stewart on a horse (fingers crossed)
would be worth the money alone, haha
In other cities you will "just" listen to the music but at least the show (especially the race) is a spectacle to watch.

I recorded the audio part of the show with my MD recorder.
I will share this on DIME but I think I will seed this stuff AFTER the London shows because I want you
to have a "blank ear" to listen to/see the shows. I hope you understand...

Cheers,
Rüdiger

[policefan]

Thanks Rüdiger

for the info and the blog link

: -)