Very Inspiring Blogger Award!

The lovely Starlene rewarded me with a Very Inspiring Blogger Award. (Check out her blog if you haven't yet, she has a tendency to write everything I mean to say but never get around to writing down.)

The first award I have received! I feel very flattered and want to thank my family and friends for their support. Ahem.

According to the rules I must reveal seven facts about myself. I'm bad at that and I've done so many of that kind of memes that I begin to repeat myself, so I'll copy Starlene and alter this a bit. Hereby I present:

Laura's Seven Most Memorable Moments in Theatre

1. The first musical I ever saw on stage was Tanz der Vampire in Hamburg. We walked to the theatre to buy me a discount ticket, and I wish I could live again the bouncy excitement when I first saw the big banner on the facade of Theater Neue Flora. I ended up in the first row of a 2000-seat theatre. The stage was like a football field, and though I was on seat 9, I was nowhere near the centre. The performance blew out my mind and sealed the devotion that would later define my friendships, studying field and hopefully, one day, my profession.

2. I was attending the press event of the upcoming Chess in Concert in Budapest 2010. I barely knew the musical, but as it was my favourite theatre company in Hungary doing a new production, I had gotten myself a bit familiar with the show and had so far liked it. In no way was I prepared for the bang of emotions that would hit me once the cast and choir started singing, though. There they stood singing the Endgame sequence on an otherwise empty stage, on a sweaty Hungarian summer day, wearing t-shirts and college trousers, with the conductor playing electric piano in front of the stage. I was holding back tears, I who never cried in theatre. You don't need fancy sets and costumes for a musical to work, and I have never realized it more clearly than on that day.

3. The same summer I was watching the Elton John & Tim Rice musical Aida in the open-air theatre on Margitsziget (Margaret Island) in Budapest. There were mosquitoes, the sound system wasn't very good and I'm not an enthusiastic fan of Aida, but there was something very magical in sitting under the clear and starry Hungarian sky, on a green island in the middle of the Danube, with birds chirping in the trees surrounding the theatre and a shirtless Radames with gorgeous abs singing on stage. I have rarely felt happier in my life, in sort of a calm and peaceful way.

4. My friends and I did an epic theatre trip to Vienna to see the 10th Anniversary Concert(s) of Tanz der Vampire in 2007. I can't pick a single most memorable moment in the concerts because they were full of them, but I might mention the Finale. It was loaded with such energy and joy that I've rarely seen anything like that in theatre. Krolock's costume was also one of the most beautiful ones I've seen (no ridiculously tight trousers!).

5. Vampyyrien tanssi, the Finnish production of Tanz der Vampire, as a whole, but especially the derniere. I've seen the standard version so many times that I'm starting to have some issues with Cornelius Baltus's directing, so seeing a whole new take - and a good one - on the story was heavenly. The production was done with such spirit and devotion and it radiated energy. Easily the best musical production I've ever seen in Finland.

6. The Operetta Theatre in Budapest sometimes does special performances for tourists. Thanks to a nice ticket booth lady, I once got into a German-language show of The Merry Widow organized for ~7 busloads of German old people. (Some elderly gentleman sitting next to me smelled of salami and garlic.) The cast had apparently decided to play pranks to each other, because when Hanna Glawari's ship was about to sail out to the sea, from somewhere came a human-sized seal that breakdanced its way across the stage. The cast's faces were worth seeing, though they stayed in character excellently. Danilo (Zsolt Homonnay) "tripped" and hid his face in between Hanna's breasts, apparently to avoid rolling on the floor laughing.

7. Kun kaikki pimenee - eurooppalainen musikaalipurée. In short, two European musical concerts in Finland with cast members of the Finnish Tanz der Vampire plus Géza Egyházi as a bonus feature. TdV, Elisabeth, Chess, Mozart!, Notre-Dame du Paris and other lovely gems that are rarely heard in Finland. For the first time in ages I was full of adrenaline because of a theatrical event and my knees were shaking afterwards. The concerts were nearly perfect, and the single reason I can't name any highlights is that I should list the whole song list. My favourite songs from my favourite musicals performed by a bunch of my favourite musical artists in the world.

I'll forward the award to five lovely ladies:

• Elisabeth at Musical Musing
• Johanna at Teatterin alivuokralainen
• Kaisa at Being Alive
• Suvi at Elegia
• Laura at Förillä pahki