Wallmans

During my latest travels through Europe I had the wonderful opportunity of seeing a dinner variete in Copenhagen. I've been to a number of different variete theatres in Germany, from the very traditional to the more contemporary. But I've never been to a variete in Scandinavia, and certainly never to see a show that lasted 4 1/2 hours.

That's right, 4 1/2 hours. Wallmans is a dinner show and between each number a different course of the meal is served. And seeing as I opted out of the 120 euro meal (though I could have had the special 'friend rate' of only 60 euro) it made for a rather long evening. Lucky for me, the show was a lot of fun! But before I get to that, I want to talk a little about the space.

Wallmans Copenhagen is located in a permanent circus space (Cirkusbygningen) built between 1885 and 1886 next to the Tivoli amusement park. It was inaugurated on May 8th 1886 by the king of German circus, Ernst Jakob Renz. In March of 1914 a considerable amount of the circus was destroyed by fire, and in 1988 it was declared a protected historic site. [source]

Inside you can still see many of the attributes of its glory days of circus. The main storage area is the former stables and I'm told that there is a passage way in the floor leading to the basement where the sea lions were kept!

And inside? Well... Let's just say that if you're going to spend 4 1/2 hours at a show, things could be worse.

 

The show currently being performed is called Biz. The main focus of the show is music with a bit of dance and circus thrown in for good measure. But with six singers (three men, three women) it's pretty clear who the main stars are.

I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised by Biz. As I mentioned earlier, I've seen a lot of varietes, but Wallamans seemed to have a level of professionalism that was truly above and beyond. Why beyond? Of course everyone in the cast was excellent and clearly there was a lot of money invested in the decor and costumes. But it was the attention to detail and creativity that really got me. I feel like many shows of this nature are meant to be popular and don't really try anything too daring or innovative. But Biz? There was a burlesque scene complete with ostrich plume fans. A scene that seemed a Mad Hatter's tea party meets love story, meets the mending of a broken heart (beautiful). Then there was the tribute to Nirvana with kids in detention smashing desks. And of course the hommage to hit movie musicals of days gone by. Tie it all together with the men singing Lady Gaga, and a mash up of the Beatles done in the style of the Supremes (the Beatelles, and surprisingly amazing) and you have one hell of a show.

The immensely talented Kimmo Hietanen

And if all that isn't enough, the theatre goes the extra mile in making the audience feel special by having the artists visit tables between numbers, and announcing birthdays and anniversaries.

If ever you're in Copenhagen and feel like treating yourself, I say go to Wallamans! And if you feel like treating yourself in general, go to Copenhagen. It's a great city.

I have no idea what this means, but you've

got it Copenhagen!