I am not a big fan of Musicals. But the wife is. And in life you do have to give and take. So it was a no brainer to go to a Musical with the wife. We did buy the tickets more than 2 years ago, when Covid was still unknown to us. The reason was that we did see another musical of them 3 years ago, which was about the WW II.
Another reason to buy a ticket is because one of our friends is an extra! Too bad for us she did stop with being an extra during Covid!
Daens!
This time the musical was about Daens. Daens was a Catholic Priest in Aalst from 1890. During that period that was a lot of poverty in Aalst. The rich were just exploiting the poor! There was lots of kids labor who did have to work from 6.3 am up to 8 pm, and this for almost nothing! Lots of kids died in that period from starving or due to work related accidents!
And Daens was the one standing up for them! He did create his own political party which was a mix of the Socialists and the Catholics. Due to this he was banned from the Church! His goal was equal voting rights for all men (back in those days there was no sign of voting rights for women yet)
So this was the story line!
The Musical!
First of all let me tell you that this was the first time since Covid that I did see so many people. I do believe there were around 1000 people in the stands!
It was also hot in the theater and we were forced to keep on our month mask!
While I did find the Musical on itself mediocre, I was against surprised by everything which was happening!
Image that you sit in a stand which is constantly moving around. There are 8 stands in total, all moving separately! This is all based on a local laser navigation system! Even up to a point were all stands do form a circle in which a scene of the musical is played! Imagine that you are setting on the left side of the show, the sit a few minutes later in the center of the right side. There are moments were the stand do for 2 line opposite to each other, so that the train (a real train but than electrical) can roll in!
Decor pieces are rolling in and out constantly, creating more the effect of a movie than a theater show! This all back up by 8 gigantic lead screens to create an even more vivid show!
I forget to mention that horse and dogs are also used as extras. During the show we also had fireworks and fire coming out of the floor to simulate a house on fire!
O man, everything is so synchronized. Just amazing!
The wife did enjoy the musical and I did enjoy the show :) So a win win!
Probably will also book tickets for a next one!
Cheers,
Peter