Review: ROCK ME AMADEUS THE FALCO MUSICAL at RONACHER THEATER

ROCK ME AMADEUS, THE FALCO MUSICAL

Hans Hölzl aka FALCO  (+ 06.02.1998), one of Austria's All-Time greatest and most outstanding artists (right after Mozart), found its way back on the Musical stage. The Vereinigte Bühnen Wien decided to take the risk and put on a new FALCO show. There have been other disturbingly exciting attempts to tell Hölzl's moving yet compelling story.
This one's not just another accumulation of FALCO songs, it's an excellent one. Christian Struppeck (Book, Creative Development) has written a surprisingly honorable storyline. Where other shows failed,  ROCK ME AMADEUS succeeded.

From a young boy's dream to band member in bands like the Hallucination Company and Drahdiwaberl to stardom and his tragic deathly accident.

His sui generis style as the Artist known as FALCO and his permanent struggles as Hans Hölzl captivated audiences worldwide. He was a superstar, he was popular, but he was torn apart by his alter ego, FALCO.

Everything you need for a spellbinding musical, you might think, but it is a risky challenge because FALCO is a Phenomenon, a National treasure, you better don't mess with it.

There are so many things to tell, the ups and downs, his torn, a neverending highspeed rollercoaster ride until  Hans Hölzl finally loses himself to his creation FALCO.

Apart from a few inexplicable director choices, the show went out to be much more than just another jukebox musical, where the story ends when the music starts.
We see a lot of FALCO, bluntly, driven, emotional, and honest,
from the highest highs to absolute downs.

ROCK ME AMADEUS  doesn't omit a thing!

 It felt like no one in Vienna wanted to miss the highly anticipated world premiere, a crowded red carpet, a packed house where everyone was curious about the newest in-house production and its young leading man, Moritz Mausser, Vienna's latest Musical Shooting Star.
He has the looks, voice, style, and acting skills to avoid overdrawing the complex character—a musical-esque interpretation of Austria's immortal Superstar.
Mausser is on stage most of the time, chiseling the show on his shoulders, and damn (excuse my language), the boy is just amazing.

The Sound Of Music!

Roy Moore's and Michael Reed's orchestration is brought to life by Michael Römer and the fantastic VBW-Orchestra. Ferdi, Rob, and Justin Dylan Bolland wrote four new songs, and sad to say, that's a weak spot of the show. Katharina Gorgi (Hölzl's wife Isabella) has the dubious honor of performing an ultimate cheesy Musical ballad.
Gorgi's voice deserves a colossal number, and she is giving it all to make the best out of this unnecessary necessity, but the song just doesn't fit.
Alex Melcher, FALCO'S Alter Ego, the demon inside of his head, also dammed to perform a new song called I Am You with Mausser, but apart from the childishly rhymed lyrics, this one is more powerful and energetic than the others. The devil looks and rocks like Green Day's Billy Joe Armstrong. It is good to have Melcher back in town.

Another area for improvement is Anthony Van Laast's choreography, which is a bittersweet mediocrity. We expected too much from Van Laast, but at least the superb cast is filled with amazing dancers, and they can let even these choreographies look pretty good.
It is like getting gold and painting it silver.

What Would FALCO Say?

It is a frequently asked question but one that remains unanswered. The Opening night audience burst into Standing Ovations and everybody talked about Vienna's newest Golden Boy and his stunning performance. It felt like an extraordinary night, the latest FALCO Musical is definitely a good one. Can ROCK ME Amadeus hit the USA again? We will see.

The Cast:
Hans/FALCO- Moritz Mausser
Alter Ego- Alex Melcher
Isabella- Katharina Gorgi
Horst- Andreas Lichtenberger
Markus- Franz Frickel
Maria- Tanja Golden
Billy- Simon Stockinger
Hansi- Martin Enenkel

Ensemble:
Clemens Otto Bauer, Anna-Carina Buchegger, Barbara Castka, Anneka Dacres, Klaudia Dodes, Valentina Inzko Fink, Peter Knauder, Sarah Kornfeld, Peter Kratochvil, Charles Kreischke, Jan-Eike Majert, Jonathan Metu, Paula Niederhofer, Stefan Poslovski, Fabian Lukas Raup, David Rodriguez-Yanez, Benedikt Solle, Zoe Staubli, Mark Van Beelen, Yuri Yoshimura.
Swings:
Sophie Aigner, Andrea Luca Cotti, Stefan Mosonyi, Steven Armin Novak, Georg Prohazka, Joe Lucy Rackham, Bettina Schurek.

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