Mate Kamaras - Tumblr Posts
The relationship between Elisabeth and Der Tod is textbook “enemies AND lovers.” They crave and hunger for each other so but they also hurt each other just as much. You want them to end up together because they truly understand each other, Elisabeth even comes to him to celebrate her triumph in Wenn Ich Tanzen Will and he’s happy for her. But you’re also meant to cheer for Elisabeth when she chases Der Tod away because he’s literally her depression personified.
They YEARN for each other but on their own terms. And there’s so much desperation, so much hunger. It’s almost primal and instinctual. They tear away each other’s facades and rip off each other’s defense. Elisabeth is not an elegant and beautiful Empress but an egotistical and selfish (very depressed) woman to him. He’s not an omniscient and detached deity but a jealous and possessive (almost animalistic) man to her. And they both can’t help but be attracted to each other.
Their interactions are rarely tender, they bite, they claw. What do you expect from a love affair with literal DEATH?? It’s a story you can root for because they complement each other’s toxicity but don’t necessarily want it for yourself cuz … depression sucks 🫠
In fact, reducing their relationship to an all-good all-romantic love story in a way, glorifies depression and suicidal tendencies. Because that way, Der Tod is just another suitor, portrayed as far superior to the human Franz-Joseph, of course Elisabeth SHOULD want to be with him, simple as that. The way Maya and Mate play it truly taps into the nuances of Elisabeth and Der Tod’s love affair. It’s cathartic, not happy.
Maya Hakvoort and Máté Kamarás in Elisabeth
FACTS. You're so right about 2005. it's the perfect mix between historical and psychological. i love mate and maya so MUCH. *whispers* i also have fanfiction and i am also accepting prompts....
1992 with Uwe and Pia is fantastical and mesmerizing, the overall tone is like a story where Lucheni is the writer, flipping through each pages. 2005 with Maya and Máté is intense, it’s a constant struggle for power over the narrative and other characters, Elisabeth, Death, Lucheni. They seem to be truly living and occasionally intercepting each other’s stories. So full of drama. It’s the most cathartic for me. And Maya might not be THE Elisabeth like Pia, but her passion and fire is unmatched, like how Máté invented a new Death, she invented a new Elisabeth. I even adore the roughness in her voice.
Also drop the fanfic link, friend 👀
Oh my god PREACH
Mate Tod is giving so much each and every day
He can roar AND purr he makes my heart literally tremor whenever he sings
He really GETS the complexity of the character he's an idea and he comprises a lot of ideals
Mate Tod lives rent free in my head along with the rest of the Vienna Revival cast
The thing about máté tod is that he's insane he's a rockstar he's a sl*t and a literal beast,,,, but also a 19th century dandy???? Like you can see that he's made out of heinrich heine poetry juice deep down. I think the contrast makes his portrayal SO good, like when he sings softly he can croon and be soooo beguiling and pleasant (like in Elisabeth, sei nicht verzweifelt and in Mama). Like yeah actually I would trust this man with my lif- wait
Potato Tod 😭
The last dance for Elisabeth belong to Death
I ship them yes i do
Tag yourself: Herbert edition
I get what you mean about how Kirill plays Herbert, like for me any Herbert-watching tends to involve "I Am Switching My Brain Off To Enjoy This (: (:" but some people's acting choices require more of it than others lol. On the more positive side, who does your favourite portrayal of Herbert, and what is it about their portrayal that you like?
Yeah, it's nothing against Kirill! Sometimes the more over the top performances don't vibe well with me, but I'm also aware that there's at least a few Herbert actors who are gay and I'm not saying any of the more... stereotype-y performances are the actors trying to be homophobic. But yes there's always going to sometimes be an air of that as the original film it's based on was very much trying to play into bad stereotypes but I think the musical overall has tried to stray away from them.
But aw thank you for this ask because my favourite Herbert is one who is no one else's favourite Herbert and so I love getting the chance to talk about him - Máté Kamarás!! He was an ensemble member in the original 1997 Vienna cast, and you can hear him as the first solo vampire in Carpe Noctem on the cast album, and then after the original Herbert, Nik Breidenbach, left Máté became the new main Herbert.
What I love about him is the portrayal is like no other Herbert I've seen. Most Herbert's are smirky and it's debatable whether they believe they are as smitten with Alfred as they claim and they're more... I don't know, but they're not what Máté's is. Máté's Herbert is so smiley, like pure joyous smiles, and is so openly besotted (I love that word) with Alfred. Instead of smirking he just smiles and he's just so adorable! He's just precious! He feels like a much younger, sweeter Herbert.
This performance is so funny though, this whole show was wild. So either it was Steve Barton's final show, or he'd come back for a guest performance, I forget which one (even though I have this entire production) and a bunch of silly changes were made like in Carpe Noctem Sarah and Alfred swapped choreography, and in Wenn Liebe, Máté came out with no shirt on, just his waistcoat, and flexed. But that's why the crowd in this video is so loud, everyone was just messing around and having fun. What he does when waiting behind Alfred after Alfred runs off the stage (every Herbert does something different, and sometimes does different things on different nights) fixing Alfred's bowtie and tapping his face it's aaaah! It's also Aris Sas as Alfred so this video gets double bonus points from me.
I have even more photos of him in the ensemble and as Herbert and info than I used too because a friend gifted me the pdfs of the huge blickpunkt Tanz der Vampire books!
Marc Liebisch is another Herbert I love, he's the first Herbert I ever saw and also the first clip or song from Tanz der Vampire I ever watched (which is no longer on Youtube and I wish I'd saved it, but it was him and Dennis Jankowiak as Alfred with English subtitles and was a good quality recording). I prefer him in Berlin 2011 to Vienna 2010, but that may also just be that I way prefer Herbert's costumes and make-up in the original staging than Kentaur (an unpopular opinion). I just really love the range of his hair styles in the original staging. And I think Marc's Herbert is very coy and smirky, but not over the top, and I do love the choices he makes when he's waiting for Alfred to notice he's behind him - he often acts really awkward, looking at his nails, scratching his neck, wondering when he should alert Alfred - rather than others who look more sinister and smirking or grinning behind Alfred.
Also with Marc! He's spoken about the reason Herbert is there in Carpe Noctem is because he was the power to manipulate dreams and he's the one causing Alfred's nightmare and I just love that! I love Herbert being something more and powerful.
Also sidenote: a reason why I prefer the original staging for this song over the Kentaur is because I feel like having Alfred run off stage and around the audience so he's out of breath when he gets back on stage while Herbert just casually strolls along the stage to get to the same spot highlights how Herbert as a vampire would have super-speed/stamina anyway that's just a little thing only I think about.
This video is also adorable:
There aren't that many photos and videos of Máté as Herbert and for anyone wanting to see more I'm just going to leave as many as I can under the cut alongside ones of him as an ensemble member:
Welp it's only allowing me to add 10 images because this is in the new beta post editor. If I was using the regular one it would let me paste as many as I wanted. Oh well.
It is a known fact that most German-language musical actors will need to perform Sweet Transvestite at least once every few years in full drag or they'll literally die of sadness at being denied a chance to engage in species-typical behaviour
every time herbert smiles i gain an extra year of life
Me: I'm watching musicals for the plot
The plot:
