The Milestones Project at Theater Akzent, Vienna and Touring. Picture: Stephan Drewianka
The Milestones Project – Theater Akzent, Vienna and Touring.
Star rating: 3 stars ★ ★ ★
Andreas Luketa and Markus Tüpker for Sound of Music concerts premiered their newest concert programme in Oberhausen earlier this month before embarking on a tour.
For The Milestones Project, the three renowned musical theatre leading men Jan Ammann, Andreas Bieber and Mark Seibert, together with former Orange Blue singer Volkan Baydar, take audiences on a musical journey of so-called milestones – from Madonna to Eric Woolfson, from country to 1980s music.
While some of the song choices are quite unusual, there are a few numbers that really work well: Ammann offers a beautiful version of Whitney Houston’s ‘One Moment in Time’, while Seibert performs a song called ‘Immortal’ from the Eric Woolfson musical Poe, which is a real triumph.
As a group they perform a lovely 1990s medley featuring songs by Wet Wet Wet, the Backstreet Boys and Take That. A country section includes a rather weak ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’, but there is a wonderful ‘No, No Never’ (originally by former Eurovision contestants for Germany, Texas Lightning) sung by Bieber. The final highlight is a stunning performance of the Orange Blue song ‘She’s Got That Light’, which was a huge hit in 2000 in Germany. It is clear that Baydar, who by the way is equally strong vocally as his three musical theatre colleagues, owns the song. There is a very special energy about this performance that makes it one of the strongest of the evening.
The evening, which is created by Andreas Luketa, features a live band made up of Christian Niehues on bass, Hannes Kuhn on guitar, Matthias Plewka on drums, Sebastian Hartung on keyboards and Mario Stork, who also serves as musical director, on keyboards and guitar. It features lighting design by Matthias Vierjahn and sound design by Markus Danne.
This programme is certainly a treat for hard core fans of Seibert, Ammann and Bieber, but if you expect an evening of show tunes you will be disappointed. All singers are vocally terrific, even though they start off a bit weakly, but by the second act they are all strong both individually and as a group. Some of the song choices might need some consideration, such as the Madonna medley, but the atmosphere is phenomenal.
Ludovico Lucchesi Palli
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