Constructing 'Tanz der Vampire: Das Musical'

There was a very exciting release in the Jim Steinman community recently: the 1988 demos of Jim's score for a stage musical of "The Graduate" from the book by Charles Webb, upon which the movie from 1967 was based. Here is a quote from the New York Times, by the way, to give you a bit of an idea:

https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/18/theater/on-stage.html

So, what happened? This story in Variety from November 3, 1997 may shed some light:

"...In the late ‘80s, the Nederlanders brought him in to work on a planned musical of "The Graduate" for which Robert Merrill ("Funny Girl") had already written a score.

"Bob was under the impression that I was hired as 'youth consultant,' and I was 39 years old at the time. He was horrified and rightfully so, and it just fell apart..."

One thing for certain is that there was a stage version written and directed by Terry Johnson. This was first mounted on April 5, 2000 at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End, with Kathleen Turner as Mrs. Robinson. Thanks, Uncle Wiki. Further productions followed on Broadway and beyond. But it was not a musical. It featured a soundtrack using songs by Simon & Garfunkel and other artists like The Byrds and The Beach Boys, which, you know, sounds about right. As much as I love Jim's work, not to mention Bob Merrill and Martin Charnin, I'm not sure it was really needed.

For participants in the Jim Steinman parlour game of "What's that song?" there were some new finds here. 'It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time' is the riff from 'The Future Ain’t What It Used to Be' and the 1981 version of 'More Than You Deserve', but the rest appears to be new. 'Here's to You, Kid' becomes 'Everything's Fair' and 'Truth' from "Tanz der Vampire" (1997). 'Who the Hell Are You?' and the reprise 'Guilt Ridden' both seem to be new. 'Summer and Love' is 'Rainbow' from "Rhinegold" (1973) which also became 'Song of the City of Hope' from "More Than You Deserve" (1973) and one of the themes from the film score "A Small Circle of Friends" (1980), not to mention the unreleased song "Vaults of Heaven (Her Hymn)". The penultimate song 'Standing at a Door' is the opening chords of 'Lost Boys and Golden Girls' and what will become 'We're Still the Children' from the "Batman" project.

All of this brings me back to the construction of what I feel is Jim's theatrical masterpiece as a composer: the score of "Tanz der Vampire: Das Musical", the legendary European musical with book and lyrics by Michael Kunze, directed by Roman Polanski from his 1967 film of the same name ("The Fearless Vampire Killers" in America.)

Let's take a look at the complete list of songs. I'm going to be going by the list from the original cast album, using English titles and titles from Jim's demos for the American production.

Act One: 'Overture'---'The Storm (Prologue to the Album "Bad for Good") from Jim's album "Bad for Good" (1981). It goes back further than that though. It appeared in Jim's college musical "The Dream Engine" (1969) as well as his instrumental suite for "Kid Champion" (1975) at the New York Shakespeare Festival.

'Hey, Ho, Hey!'---I feel that this is based around the music from 'The Storm', but otherwise appears to be new.

'Garlic'---I presume that this is new, but before "The Graduate" I might have thought that the Professor's song was new, so I can't really say. Jim once talked about a song he wrote for Steve Popovich called 'It's Only Rock and Roll Balalaika' and for some reason I got the idea in my head that it might have been the music for 'Garlic', but let's just ignore that, shall we?

'Please, Gentleman'---reprises of 'Garlic', and Sarah's melody which I imagine is new.

'When a Man has got a Pretty Daughter'---new, I'm presuming.

'Never Ever seen'---new, I'm presuming, but this is the first time the "Turn around bright eyes" music appears in the score, and it's a really cool moment.

'God is Dead'---it's both the choruses of 'Original Sin' from Pandora's Box "Original Sin" (1989) and later the theme for "The Shadow" (1994) and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".

'Everything's Fair'---this is the first part of 'Here's to You, Kid' from "The Graduate" demos.

'Truth'---and here's the second part.

'You're Really Very Nice'---new, I'm presuming.

'Invitation to the Ball'---this is the verses of 'Original Sin' with a quote of the chorus of 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'.

'Freedom Is Out There'---the choruses originate from Jim's score for "Little Friend from Front Street" a play by Esther Budgar copyrighted 1972. Those choruses also appear as the finale of Ray Errol Fox and Jim's "The Confidence Man" (1986), a song called 'Something of this Masquerade May Follow'.

'The Red Boots (Dance Sequence)'---in the original production, it's an instrumental dance scene. The themes used here are 'The Storm' music, 'Original Sin' and some of 'Come with me...' which I'll address later. The ending, as Chagal rushes off into the wilderness, is 'The Opening of the Box' from Pandora's Box "Original Sin" (1989), which itself is the second part of "The Storm" not used in the "Tanz" Overture.

'Mourning for Chagal'---reprises of 'Garlic', 'Truth' and 'When a Man has got a Pretty Daughter', basically.

'Death is Such an Odd Thing'---new, I'm presuming.

'Through the Wilderness to the Castle'---the first intimation of 'Midnight Serenade (Come with me...)' from the "Neverland" workshop (1977), but originally the 1973 production of "More Than You Deserve" (you will not find it in the workshop version.)

'At the Castle (Finale Act One)'---begins with "Turn around bright eyes", and then music from both 'Midnight Serenade' and 'City Night', another song from the "Neverland" workshop, as well as a reprise of 'Truth'.

Act Two: 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'---this is the song made famous by Bonnie Tyler and Rory Dodd. It now contains a reprise of the 'Original Sin' music at the end.

'Carpe Noctem (Seize the Night)'---this is an abbreviated version of an earlier song with the same title included on the June 1997 demos of Jim's "Bat out of Hell 2100". You can hear that on Jim's website in the "Other Children" section. The song itself includes the riff from 'Back into Hell' and the 'Come with me...' music from 'Midnight Serenade'. I also hear fragments of 'If Only', a cut song from "More Than You Deserve" (1973), e.g. when they sing "Carpe Noctem, Carpe Noctem!"

'A Perfect Day'---reprises of 'Midnight Serenade' music and 'Freedom Is Out There', basically, plus 'Everything's Fair'.

'The Crypt'---hear the music at the start which is also sung by Chagal and Magda at the end? That's 'Who Needs the Young?' the first full song written by Jim Steinman, first performed in his musical "The Dream Engine" (1969). Meat Loaf recorded it on "Braver than We Are" (2016) before it was included in the "Bat out of Hell" musical (2017).

'Books, Books!'---it's the music of 'Truth' and then the verses of 'Freedom Is Out There'.

'For Sarah'---originally, this was 'Milady', one of the musical high points of "The Confidence Man". It later appeared in the score for "A Small Circle of Friends" (1980) and as part of the unreleased song 'Vaults of Heaven (Her Hymn)'. There is an unreleased version of Barry Manilow singing 'Milady', according to Ray's liner notes from "The Confidence Man" CD (2003).

'Even More Books'---it's a reprise of a reprise.

'When Love is Inside You'---new, I'm presuming.

'You're Mistaken, Professor!'---a reprise of 'Hey, Ho, Hey!' and I absolutely love the quote of "Turn around bright eyes" and 'The Storm' at the start there. It's the only time I've heard 'The Storm' music sound calm, which is really cool.

'Eternity'---the music started life as 'Song of the Gods', one of the songs from Jim's score for a production of Brecht's "The Good Woman of Setzuan" (1971). Barry Keating's version of the song appears on the "More Than You Deserve" demos (1973). Later, the music appears in the instrumental suite from "Kid Champion" (1969) and then as 'Gods' in the "Neverland" workshop (1977) and 'Great Boleros of Fire', the instrumental opener of the "Bat out of Hell" tour.

'The Insatiable Appetite'---the music is mostly 'Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer than They Are', one of the singles from "Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell" (1993).

'The Ball'---reprises of 'The Insatiable Appetite', 'Midnight Serenade' music, 'Original Sin' choruses and verses, before a triumphant outburst of the choruses of 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', and finally "Turn around bright eyes" made over as a minuet and then an explosive outburst, mixed up with 'The Storm' music and more 'Original Sin', with a bit of 'Come with me...'

'Freedom Is Out There (Reprise)'---pretty much what it says on the lid.

'The Dance of the Vampires (Finale Act Two)'---the music is 'Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young', Jim's epic closing song from the movie "Streets of Fire" (1984).

Stuttgart: 'Freedom is Out There/Braver than We Are'---the instrumental dance sequence was cut for the second production (Stuttgart 2000) and 'Freedom...' was expanded into a new epic number, which was recorded as an English demo by Karine Hannah in 2001. The 'Braver than We Are' title comes from lyricist Don Black and he is credited in the Playbill for the Broadway production. Most productions of 'Tanz' use this version of the song now.

Broadway: 'Angels Arise'---one of the songs added for the new English prologue. This started as '(Vespers) Angels Arise' from the "Batman" project, but Jim added new sections for this, e.g. "There are things that must be magic..." The music behind the 'Angels Arise' choruses is apparently the verses from Jim and Don Black's song 'Is Nothing Sacred'. 'Is Nothing Sacred' was considered for the Broadway production, but not used.

'God has Left the Building'---this instrumental is based around 'The Opening of the Box' music from Pandora's Box "Original Sin" (1989) and the 'Original Sin' music.

'A Good Nightmare comes so rarely'---new, I presume. The previews version was somewhat more elaborate and longer with sections like: 'The Devil May Care (But I Don't)' and 'Sometimes We Need the Boogeyman'. All of that music, as far as I'm aware, was new.

'Read My Apocalypse'---a reprise of 'Sometimes We Need the Boogeyman' cut during previews.

It's all so fascinating, for me. In conclusion, I would first like to thank Mr Steinman himself for the score, and Michael Kunze for his libretto, Polanski and Gerard Brach for the original movie version, Michael Reed, the man who helped Jim to assemble this score, and Steve Margoshes who orchestrated it. Steve's orchestrations, to me, are like the aural equivalent of a great painting, or in this case the scenery design of William Dudley. Also, the work of Jeff Bova, Steve Rinkoff and anybody else whose efforts I might have forgotten here. So much talent went into this musical and the results, I feel, speak for themselves. If you can get a chance to see it or listen to any of the recordings, please do. To me, as a production, this is up there with "The Phantom of the Opera" directed by Harold Prince.