Elisabeth

Music by SYLVESTER LEVAY   ~   Lyrics by MICHAEL KUNZE

PREMIERE: September 03, 1992  ~  THEATER AN DER WIEN  ~  Vienna, Austria

Since I do not understand German, there may be some errors in this synopsis. I do the best I can, but don't take me as the last authority. Also, as there are many different versions of the show, this synopsis does not include everything.

Please also note that all of my synopses contain *PLOT SPOILERS*.

Elisabeth tells the story of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, better known as Sissi. It takes place in the nineteenth century and is based on historical truth: Elisabeth was a real person who spent her whole life creating a public image as a fairy-tale princess. The rather recent discovery of her journal astonished historians, as it revealed that Elisabeth's life was really miserable. She felt opppressed and controlled by the rigid rules and restrictions forced on a Habsburg Empress, and particularly resented the manipulation of her husband by her mother-in-law, Sophie. Elisabeth spent her life desperately trying to escape her problems, traveling abroad for health reasons. On one of these trips she crossed the path of the anarchist Luigi Lucheni, who was in town with the intention of assassinating the Prince d'Orleans. When the prince never showed up, Lucheni heard of Elisabeth's arrival, decided she was better than nobody, and stabbed her instead.

The musical follows the events of Elisabeth's life, but with two major theatrical twists. Lucheni serves as the play's narrator, appearing throughout under various guises and commenting on the situation. He is a bit like Che in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita. The second twist involves the inclusion of Death - or, in German, Der Tod - as a major character. He is represented by a young, attractive man, who falls in love with Elisabeth and thus creates a dramatic reason for her life to be so miserable.

The musical opens in the world of the dead, where Lucheni tries to explain his reasons for killing the Empress to an accusing voice. He calls upon the spirits of the dead to help him tell his story. ("PROLOG" - Prologue) They rise, including Death himself, to tell the Empress's story. We begin with a scene between the fifteen-year old Elisabeth and her father, Duke Max of Bavaria. He is about to leave on a business trip. Elisabeth wishes she could go with him in order to escape a dreaded family reunion, but he refuses to interfere. ("WIE DU" - Like You)

Later, at the party itself, Elisabeth gets bored and pulls an acrobatic stunt that shocks everyone. She falls and injures herself, an event that brings her face to face with Death for the first time. Before he can kiss her (the kiss of Death is fatal) her family interrupts and revives her.

We then get a glimpse of life at Franz-Joseph's court by witnessing his responses to petitions from various people. ("JEDEM GIBT ER DAS SEINE" - He Gives to Each his Own") He grants the request of a church official, but then a distraught mother comes to beg a pardon for her condemned son. Sophie, who constantly hovers around her son and gives orders, instructs him to be cold and hard as an Emperor should; he refuses the plea.

Franz-Joseph and his mother come to Bad Ischl, whre the Emperor's engagement to Helene is to be announced. But to everyone's astonishment (and to his mother's chagrin) Franz-Joseph falls in love with Sissi instead. ("SO WIE MAN DENKT, SO KOMMT ES NIE" - Things Never Happen the Way They're Planned) Elisabeth loves Franz-Joseph and disregards all his warnings that life at court is very strict; but after all she does not really have a choice. They are married, and Death himself rings the wedding bell. ("ALLE FRAGEN SIND GESALLT - All the Questions are Asked) He also shows up at the wedding party and reminds Elisabeth that although she chooses another love now, the last dance still belongs to him. ("DER LETZTE TANZ" - The Last Dance)

We fast forward in time a few weeks. Sophie bursts into Elisabeth's room at five in the morning, demanding to know why the Empress is "sleeping in" and delivering a harsh lecture on the rules of the court. ("EIN KAISERIN MUSS GLANZEN" - An Empress Must Shine) The sleepy Elisabeth tries to resist, appealing to Franz-Joseph for help, but he is too weak to oppose his mother. Angry at the world, Elisabeth asserts her independence. ("ICH GEHÖRE NUR MIR" - I Belong to Me)

Her life starts to go downhill. Sophie takes away her children (including her son Rudolf, who is the heir to the throne) in order to raise them the way royalty "should" be raised. Franz-Joseph is no help, and to make matters worth Death appears to take away one of Elisabeth's daughters.

We then visit a coffee house in Vienna, where a group of men sit around discussing politics and waiting for the world to end. ("DIE FROELICHE APOKALYPSE" - The Cheerful Apocalypse) Lucheni insists that Death is behind all of the terrible events in the world.

Back to Elisabeth, who is so sick of being ordered around that she shuts herself in her bedroom and delivers a formal ultimatum to her husband. ("ELISABETH, MACH AUF MEIN ENGEL" - Elisabeth, Open Up My Angel) She sends Franz-Joseph away. Death appears and offers her comfort in his arms, but she sends him away too, crying, "Geh! Ich will dich nicht! Ich brauch dich nicht! Geh!" (Go! I don't want you! I don't need you! Go!)

Lucheni stirs up revolution in the city. There is a shortage of milk, and he tells the angry citizens of Vienna that the Empress is using up all the milk for her beauty baths. ("MILCH" - Milk) They are horrified. When the scene switches back to Elisabeth we find her actually indulging in this beauty care. Franz-Joseph demands to speak with her, but is forced to speak through the door as she is not finished dressing. He gives in to her demands, saying that he loves her and will do anything she asks. ("ICH WILL DIR NUR SAGEN" - I Only Want To Tell You) She appears, framed in her most famous portrait.

Act Two begins with Lucheni selling souvenirs ("KITSCH" - Kitsch) which promote the fairy-tale myth. He shows postcards and photos of the smiling Empress with her happy family, propaganda that was commonly sold at the time. Elisabeth then makes her only contribution to politics by persuading Franz-Joseph to unite Austria and Hungary, a move that will in the future cause the downfall of the Habsburg rein. Death appears to remind her that he is drawing ever closer, but she insists that she is in control of her life. ("WENN ICH TANZEN WILL" - When I Want to Dance **ESSEN PRODUCTION ONLY**)

Her little son Rudolf lies awake at night, lonely and afraid, calling for his mother and wondering why she pays so little attention to him. ("MAMA, WO BIST DU?" - Mama, Where are You?) Death appears to comfort him, telling the boy that he will be there whenever he is needed.

Elisabeth, meanwhile, is visiting a mental hospital, where she encounters a madwoman that is convinced she is the actual Empress Elisabeth. After the two confront each other Elisabeth vents her anger at the world, longing to switch places with the woman and to be bound only by a straightjacket - not endless rules and regulations. ("NICHTS, NICHTS, GAR NICHTS" - Nothing, Nothing at All)

The next scene portrays Sophie out riding with a bunch of court members, all of whom spend the whole ride sucking up. Sophie decides to try to make her son be unfaithful to his wife in order to win his affection back to herself. As this goes on the characters run around a giant chessboard, with horses strapped to them to represent riding.

Accordingly, a servant is dispatched to Frau Wolf's Salon to pick out a prostitute for the Emperor. ("NUR KEIN GENIEREN" - Don't Be Embarrased) The prostitute infects Franz-Joseph with a venereal disease, and he in turn infects Elisabeth. She finds this out from Death, who comes in disguised as a doctor but then reveals himself and asks her once more to come with him. She refuses. We then skim through a sort of summary of the events of the time, revealing that politics are going all to hell, Sophie has finally died, and Elisabeth is never home. ("RASTLOSE JAHRE" - Restless Years)

Rudolf is now a young man, and plots to take over the Hungarian throne without waiting for his father to step down. It creates a terrible scandal, and Rudolf goes to Death for comfort. Death reveals that Rudolf's time is coming fast. ("DIE SCHATTEN WERDEN LÄNGER" - The Shadows Grow Longer) Rudolf appeals to his mother for help, but she is too busy with her own troubles to help him. ("WENN ICH DEIN SPEIGEL WÄR" - If I Were Your Mirror) In despair, Rudolf turns to Death, who gives him a revolver and the fatal kiss. ("MAYERLING-WALZER")

Elisabeth is horrified at her son's suicide and blames herself. Ironically, she calls to him with the same words he once used as a child. This time it's "Rudolf, wo bist du?" ("TOTENKLAGE" - Death Lament) She also begs Death to take her away, but he mocks her with her own words, repeating "Geh! Ich will dich nicht! Ich brauch dich nicht! Geh!" (Go! I don't want you! I don't need you! Go!)

Franz-Joseph tries one last time to save their marriage, reminding Elisabeth that whatever happens, he loves her. She admits that she loves him, but sadly tells him that it can never be. She leaves for Geneva. ("BOOTE IN DER NACHT" - Ships in the Night)

Snapping back to the world of the dead for a moment, Lucheni tells the accusing voice about his intention to kill the Prince d'Orleans. ("EPILOG" - Epilogue) He then stabs Elisabeth. She collapses, and Death appears once more, reminding her that he longs for her. She begs him to set her free, and runs into his arms. As they embrace she exults that she has always belonged to herself... but has she? Death sings with her, but as she exults, "Ich gehöre nur mir!" he echoes with "Du gehörst nur mir!" and finally gives her the kiss of death, ending the play. ("DER SCHLEIER FÄLT" - The Curtain Falls)