The Vampyr A Soap Opera (BBC TV) [1992]

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The Vampyr: A Soap Opera (BBC TV) [1992]


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105724/

The Vampyr: A Soap Opera (1992) (TV)

This is a full screen VHS transfer downloaded from Cinemageddon.org; the quality is not very good. This does not appear to be available on DVD, but it is an entertaining and unusual adaptation of a classic story.

1 hr 36 min

Directed by
Nigel Finch

Writers
Heinrich Marschner (opera 1827)
Wilhelm August Wohlbruck (opera libretto 1827)
Charles Hart (words 1992)

Adapted from
Lord Byron story "The Vampyr"
John Polidori story

Der Vampyr (The Vampire) is a Romantic opera in two acts by Heinrich Marschner. The German libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück (Marschner's brother-in-law) is based on the play Der Vampir oder die Totenbraut (1821) by Heinrich Ludwig Ritter, which itself was based on the short novel The Vampyre (1819) by John Polidori. The first performance took place on 29 March 1828 in Leipzig, where it was a hit.

The opera is still occasionally performed, and, in 1992, an updated adaptation, entitled The Vampyr: A Soap Opera, with new lyrics by Charles Hart, starring Omar Ebrahim and produced by Janet Street-Porter, was serialised on BBC television.

The Vampyr: A Soap Opera is a miniseries based on Heinrich Marschner's opera Der Vampyr. It first aired on BBC 2 on December 2, 1992. The new English libretto was written by Charles Hart, based on a story by Janet Street-Porter and Nigel Finch, which was based on the original libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück, which was based on John Polidori's short story "The Vampyre." It was conducted by David Parry and directed by Nigel Finch.

Although the libretto of The Vampyr is based on that of Der Vampyr, there have been numerous changes because of the modernization of the plot and the constraints of the miniseries form. Almost every choral number has been cut. The characters' relationships have been changed: for example, Berkeley becomes Ginny's lover rather than her father, and Emma is no longer engaged to George. Alex's aria is relocated from the second act to the first act, after he finds Ripley's body, and George sings Alex's part in the first half of the Act II finale. The drinking quintet, in which Suse Blunt scolds her husband and his friends for drinking, becomes a friendly scene between co-workers at a car wash.

Omar Ebrahim ... Ripley, the Vampyr [yummy]
Willemijn Van Gent ... Ginny
Roberto Salvatori ... Berkeley
Colenton Freeman ... George
Roy Gregory ... Police Inspector
Fiona O'Neill ... Miranda
Philip Salmon ... Alex
Winston ... High Priestess of Satan
Richard Van Allan ... Davenant
Charles Hart ... Dornan
Salli-Ann Shepherdson ... Emma (as Sally-Ann Shepherdson)

Acolytes
China Gordon Moya Griffiths Hayley Kaye Leigh Mathey Miranda Pía

Satanists
Richard Ashley Hema Chavda Pamela Craine Michael Eton Yvonne French Anna Golden Clive Hopkins Bernard Jamieson Gillian Jesson Audrey Kirby Vanita Nichols Cliffe Obaseki Helen Sheals Guy Standeven Lionel Stevens Janet Varley



Synchronised Swimmers
Mark Jarvis Clare Pember Alan Wolleston Jayne Wolleston


Twins
Angela Hart Liz Cook

Sarah Jane Wright ... Susie
Richard Suart ... Blunt
Sjaak Van der Bent ... Car Wash Attendant
Maurice Clarke ... Car Wash Attendant
Tarcissius Januel ... Car Wash Attendant
Richard Caldicot ... Vicar
Robert Stephens ... Narrator


Der Vampyr (The Vampire) is a Romantic opera in two acts by Heinrich Marschner. The German libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück is based on the play Der Vampir oder die Totenbraut (1821) by Heinrich Ludwig Ritter, which itself was based on the short novel The Vampyre (1819) by John Polidori. The first performance took place on 29 March 1828 in Leipzig. The opera is still occasionally performed, and, in 1992, an updated adaptation, entitled The Vampyr, a Soap Opera, with new lyrics by Charles Hart, starring Omar Ebrahim and produced by Janet Street-Porter, was serialised on BBC television.

BAFTA Awards

1993 Nominated BAFTA TV Award Best Design Jim Grant

I could not find a list online of the song titles, but these are from the OST on Amazon UK:

1. Overture
2. Hail Satan - Chorus
3. Blood, My Life Is in Their Blood - Omar Ebrahim
4. Summer Night Smile Down on Me - Fiona O'Neill
5. Where Is Davenant? - Omar Ebrahim, Fiona O'Neill, , Richard Van Allan, Chorus
6. Now You Look Like the Kind of Guy - Omar Ebrahim, ,
7. Right, It's Time I Had Some Answers - Omar Ebrahim,
8. Want to Know Why I Was Watching You? - Omar Ebrahim,
9. Morning, With You in a Tick - Richard Suart, Susie Wright, Chorus
10. Cold Light of Death - Chorus
11. Come on, I Haven't Got All Morning - Fiona O'Neill,
12. Maker of Every Good - Omar Ebrahim, Fiona O'Neill, , Chorus,