Characters / Elisabeth

Characters (all of whom, except one, are Historical Domain Characters) in Elisabeth. Beware of potential spoilers. Note that the lists of actors are incomplete (inevitable, given how many productions the show's had).

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Elisabeth (Sisi), Empress of Austria

Played by: Pia Douwes (original Vienna production, plus Dutch and German productions), Maya Hakvoort (2005 Vienna revival, plus later productions), Maike Boerdam (2005 Stuttgart production), Annemieke van Dam (2009-2011 tour version), Roberta Valentini (2015 tour), Mónika Sáfár (1996 Hungarian production), Kata Janza (2004 Hungarian production), Ann van der Broeck (2009 Belgian production), Ok Ju-hyeon (2012 South Korean production, plus later productions), Kim Seon-yeong (2012 South Korean production), Mari Hanafusa (1996 and 1998 Takarazuka productions, 2016 Toho production, plus other productions), Ayaka Shiraki (1997 Takarazuka production), Rei Ootori (2002 Takarazuka production), Jun Sena (2005 Takarazuka production, 2010-2012 Toho productions), Yuri Shirahane (2007 Takarazuka production), Ruumi Nagina (2009 Takarazuka production), Hana Ranno (2014 Takarazuka production, 2016 Toho production), Rion Misaki (2016 Takarazuka production), Reika Manaki (2018 Takarazuka production, 2019 Toho production), Maki Ichiro (2001 Toho production)

• Awful Wedded Life: While she does recognize that a part of her will always love Franz Joseph, his inability to protect her from Sophie and the Imperial Court, the incompatibility of their personal goals, and his affair kills whatever chance they had at a happy life together.
• The Beautiful Elite: She becomes world-famous for her ethereal beauty, and just as infamous for her bizarre and detailed beauty regimen.
• Daddy's Girl: She loves and idolizes her father, though as she grows older she sees him for the distant and emotionally unavailable man he was all along.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Not so much as a child, but as she grew older, more cynical, and spiritual, Sisi starts to embrace the "eerie" part.
• Grass is Greener: A particularly dark version in "Nichts, nichts, gar nichts". When touring an asylum, Sisi contemplates how much easier her life would be if she would just let herself go insane like the patients within, yet decides against it as it would seem to be too much work to stay mad. She specifically sees the madwoman, Frau Windisch, as luckier because the straightjacket can only bind Windisch's body, but Sisi's restraints bind her soul.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: The show cuts much of Sisi's poor parenting decisions and painted her in a more sympathetic light in general. She fought for the right to decide on her children's lives, but abandoned her responsibilities to Rudolf as soon as his education ended. She worked herself up into a paranoia that everyone else in her family was out to harm her and her daughter Valerie (she suspected Rudolf of this, particularly). While her decision to turn Rudolf down in the German version can be looked at sympathetically as her being too fed up with the court to try and intervene again rather than actively malicious or callous toward her son's suffering, the Japanese version dials up the upgrade further by having Sisi being visibly disappointed that Rudolf is begging her help on a political matter and very reasonably/well-meaningly telling him that he is grown and should handle his own affairs. That being said, there is no indication (publicly or in Rudolf's personal writings) that such a meeting ("Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär") ever happened in real life.
• Large Ham: Depending on the actress, "Wenn ich tanzen will" can turn into Ham-to-Ham Combat.
• My Greatest Failure: Rudolf's suicide because of her refusal to speak with Franz Joseph. She is so distraught, she throws herself at Death and begs him to take her life as well, but Death cruelly refuses.
• Perky Goth: At least initially. She has a love affair with Death as a child, but she remains ever energetic and sweet.
• Parents as People:
  • While she realizes that her father did love her and her siblings, she also recognizes later in life he was more often on his expeditions than taking part in her life.
  • Likewise she remains emotionally distant from her own children, with her refusal to speak out on behalf of her son, leads to Rudolf's suicide/death.
• Spell My Name With An S: It's Sisi, not Sissi (as the Romy Schneider film spells it).
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Starts out as a cheerful, kind, optimistic, if naive girl. Her mother-in-law and the Austrian Court's continual mistreatment of her, coupled with her husband's negligence, as well as the loss of her young daughter Sophie hardens her significantly.

Death

Played by: Uwe Kröger (original Vienna productions, plus German productions), Máté Kamarás (2005 Vienna revival, plus earlier Hungarian productions and later Toho productions), Olegg Vynnyk (2005 Stuttgart production), Oliver Arno (2009 tour, plus Belgian and other productions), Mark Seibert (2011 tour, plus other productions), Tamás Mester (1996 Hungarian production), Szilveszter P. Szabó (2004 Hungarian production), Stanley Burleson (1999 Dutch production), Ryu Jeong-han (2012 South Korean production), Song Chang-ui (2012 South Korean production), Kim Jun-su (2012 South Korean production), Maki Ichiro (1996 Takarazuka production), Saki Asaji (1997 Takarazuka production), Asato Shizuki (1998 Takarazuka production), Sumire Haruno (2002 Takarazuka production), Nao Ayaki (2005 Takarazuka production), Natsuki Mizu (2007 Takarazuka production), Jun Sena (2009 Takarazuka production), Rio Asumi (2014 Takarazuka production), Manato Asaka (2016 Takarazuka production), Ryou Tamaki (2018 Takarazuka production), Yuichiro Yamaguchi (2001 Toho production), Masaaki Uchino (2001 Toho production), Yuu Shirota (2016 Toho production), Yoshio Inoue (2016 Toho production), Yuuta Furukawa (2019 Toho production)

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: Death's hair colour varies between productions. He has white hair in the original version, blond hair in most later German versions, and black hair in the Hungarian and Dutch versions. Takarazuka Revue goes all-out, adding blue, purple, green, and silver to the mix.
• Adaptational Villainy: In some productions Death is presented as Elisabeth's true love, and so is supposed to be seen as an Anti-Villain at worst. In others, he's definitely the villain.
• Anthropomorphic Personification: He's the Grim Reaper.
• Anti-Villain: Even in the productions that paint him as Sisi's true love, he's definitely not a nice guy.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Death's reaction to Elisabeth rejecting him is to stalk her all her life, convince her son to commit suicide, and get Lucheni to assassinate her.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: In the productions where he has dark hair.
• Entitled to Have You: Well, Death is entitled to have everyone in the end, but he thinks he's double entitled to have Sisi because he's fallen in love with her and wants her to reciprocate that instead of simply overtaking her.
• Everything's Better with Sparkles:
  • Death has sparkly make-up in the Hungarian productions.
  • In the Takarazuka production, his costume in the show proper still has some sparkles, but subdued and used as accents. The finale costumes (which is supposed to be out of context, but the actresses are still in their stage makeup anyway) return to Zuka's usual glittery glory.
• Evil Laugh: He indulges in these a lot, mostly of the triumphant kind. Tamaki Ryou, however, sounds outright contemptuous, mocking, and fake-as-a-two-dollar-bill at the end of Sisi's wedding.
• False Friend: Death claims to be Rudolf's friend, but he successfully convinces Rudolf to commit suicide.
• Hair-Contrast Duo: Death with his Mystical White Hair (or White Hair, Black Heart), and the Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette Rebellious Princess Sisi. Rudolf also counts, but he's been played by blonds as well.
• Harsh Vocals: Mark Seibert's nearly omnipresent growling and snarling of his lines in the national tour album. Toned down by the time he's in the Vienna revival and cast recording.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Especially as played by Mark Seibert. Asaka Manato (2016 Takarazuka)'s costume seems to have been inspired by Seibert's version.
• If I Can't Have You…: Death goes to great lengths to get Sisi for himself: showing up to gloat at her failed fairytale marriage twice (the first time was after a marital tiff, the second time to reveal that Franz Joseph cheated on her and gave her syphilis), seducing her son Rudolf ^note starting to talk to him when he was a small child into revolting against his father and eventually killing himself, and then finally sending Lucheni, armed with a file, to murder her. At that point Sisi was already such a Broken Bird Death Seeker that she refused help from her lady-in-waiting and ran into Death's arms.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice / Thin Chin of Sin: The openly villainous Seibert!Death has this jawline, cleft chin, and a Heroic Build. The more neutral Kröger!Death, though Otherworldly and Sexually Ambiguous has angular facial lines and a lithe build.
• Large Ham: "Der Letzte Tanz" is always an opportunity for an actor to ham it up, and the result is usually awesome.
• Mr. Fanservice: There are enough variations in the portrayal of Death for every fan to find the version that most appeals to them.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: Franz Joseph is the conservative, gentle but somewhat weak-willed husband/king, who treats Sisi with kid gloves and gives her unconditional love and support. He has to compete with the darkly handsome, dashing but cold and dangerous Death, who seeks to claim Sisi for himself as his kindred soul. The comparison is made blatant in their conversation during the Emperor's nightmare.
• No Sense of Personal Space: In some productions, he gets awfully up close and personal with Sisi. "Wenn ich tanzen will"'s choreo can look like borderline groping, and he may kneel between her legs during "Der letzte Tanz".
• Pretty Boy: Particularly Kröger's original portrayal of Death, in which he has high cheekbones, thick wavy hair to his shoulders, and a very feminine manner. Máté Kamarás is also often lauded for having an androgynous face without the make-up and his naturally shoulder-long blonde hair. And then, of course, there are the Takarazuka Revue actresses.
  • The Toho Deaths also fall squarely into this category, mixed in with a heavy dose of Western goth style, with long silver wigs, heavy makeup, black leather and in some cases large gothic cross necklaces. The Korean Deaths are a less extreme version of the Toho Deaths, especially Kim Junsu.
• Spell My Name with a "The": The personification of Death is called "der Tod" in German. This led to some actors calling him "the Death" when speaking in English.
• Stalker with a Crush: Death, except in Hungary. Hungarian!Death is clearly presented as Elisabeth's true love, and her relationship with Franz Joseph frankly seems a bit like she's cheating on him.

• Villainous Cheekbones: The makeup design for Death in the Hungarian version◊ has these to the point of streaks of silvery-blue glitter being added to highlight them.
• White Hair, Black Heart: In the original Vienna version and many Takarazuka versions.
• Yandere: His idea of courting Sisi is to kill her children and make her life miserable.

Luigi Lucheni

Played by: Ethan Freeman (original Vienna production), Serkan Kaya (2005 Vienna revival), Kurosch Abbasi (2011 tour, plus later productions), David Jakobs (2019 and 2022 concerts), Carsten Lepper (2001-2005 German productions), Bruno Grassini (2008 Berlin and 2009 tour productions), Tamás Földes (1996 Hungarian production, plus later productions), Yuu Todoroki (1996 Takarazuka production), Jun Shibuki (1997 Takarazuka production), Wataru Kozuki (1998 Takarazuka production), Jun Sena (2002 Takarazuka production), Hiromu Kiriya (2005 Takarazuka production), Kei Otozuki (2007 Takarazuka production), Masaki Ryuu (2009 Takarazuka production), Fuuto Nozomi (2014 Takarazuka production), Hikaru Aizuki (2016 Takarazuka production), Kanato Tsukishiro (2018 Takarazuka production)

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• Adaptational Villainy: Lucheni is always a Jerkass, but some productions make him even more of one.
• All-Knowing Singing Narrator: He has more spoken lines in Takarazuka than other productions, but he provides exposition to the audience.
• Historical Beauty Upgrade: The real Luigi Lucheni in no way complements some of the actors◊ who portrayed him on stage.
• Large Ham: If Lucheni isn't this, the actor's doing something wrong. His very first lines are hammy, and let's not forget "KITSCH!".
• Mr. Fanservice: Sometimes. A few productions have gotten rather handsome Luchenis, which the historical assassin decidedly is not.

Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria

Played by: Viktor Gernot (original Vienna production and 2019 concert), André Bauer (2005 Vienna revival and 2022 concert), Zoltán Bereczki (2004 Hungarian production), Fubuki Takane (1996 Takarazuka production), Kou Minoru (1997 Takarazuka production), Youka Wao (1998 Takarazuka production), Sakiho Juri (2002 Takarazuka production), Midori Hatsukaze (2005 Takarazuka production), Mao Ayabuki (2007 Takarazuka production), Hiromu Kiriya (2009 Takarazuka production), Kairi Hokushou (2014 Takarazuka production), Suzuho Makaze (2016 Takarazuka production), Rurika Miya (2018 Takarazuka production)

• Dogged Nice Guy: While a part of Elisabeth's heart will always belong to him, her love for Death out classes anything or anyone else.
• Mr. Fanservice: In a clean-cut, nice guy way.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: As stated in Death's entry above, he's the Dogged Nice Guy competing against Sisi and All Girls Want Bad Boys.

Princess Sophie of Bavaria

Played by: Else Ludwig (original Vienna production and 2005 Vienna revival), Daniela Ziegler (2012-2022 Vienna productions), Susan Rigvava-Dumas (2005 Stuttgart production)

• Arch-Nemesis: To Elisabeth.
• High Collar of Doom: Sophie wears one◊ in the Korean productions.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: Just like many other dramatizations of Elisabeth's life, Sophie is portrayed as a scheming, malicious witch who will stop at nothing to subjugate her son and daughter-in-law to her will. Franz initially thinks she's a Reasonable Authority Figure, but wound up Calling The Old Woman Out.
• Jerkass Has a Point: She treats Elisabeth cruelly, but her refusal to allow the young Sophie to travel with her parents to Hungary is concern for the child's health. Later, little Sophie dies on the journey.
• My Beloved Smother: She is incredibly controlling of her son, to the point one might believe her to be the real Emperor of Austria.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: She intrudes in Elisabeth and Franz Joseph's marriage constantly, and tries to control her free-spirited daughter in-law, as much as she controls her son.

Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria

Played by: Andreas Bieber (original Vienna production), Jesper Tydén (2001 Essen and 2003 Vienna revival), Fritz Schmid (2005 Vienna revival), Anton Zetterholm (2012 Vienna revival), Lukas Perman (2019 and 2022 concerts), Martin Pasching (2005 Stuttgart production), Oliver Arno (2008 Berlin and 2011 tour), Thomas Hohler (2009 tour and 2015 tour), Atilla Dolhai (2004 Hungarian production), Tatsuki Kouju (1996 Takarazuka production), Yuu Emao (1997 Takarazuka production), Hikaru Asami (1998 Takarazuka production), Mao Ayabuki (2002 Takarazuka production), Yuuhi Oozora (2005 Takarazuka production), Kaname Ouki (2007 Takarazuka production), Haruhi Ryouga (2009 Takarazuka production), Izumi Aoki (2009 Takarazuka production), Rio Asumi (2009 Takarazuka production), Toa Serika (2014 Takarazuka production), Rei Yuzuka (2014 Takarazuka production), Sayato Sumiki (2016 Takarazuka production), Minato Sakuragi (2016 Takarazuka production), Riku Sorahane (2016 Takarazuka production), Chisei Akatsuki (2018 Takarazuka production), Yuno Kazama (2018 Takarazuka production), Yoshio Inoue (2001 Toho production), Yuuta Furukawa (2016 Toho production)

• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Started in his childhood, with the young Rudolf earnestly telling Death that he killed a cat. He's been played by brunet children and blond adults, though.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: The show removes most of Rudolf's more unsavory character traits, such as being a drug addicted philanderer who infected his wife with syphilis and coerced a naive 17 year old girl into a murder/suicide pact.
• Mr. Fanservice: Same as his father. In the Hungarian version, he gets a Shirtless Scene courtesy of a dancer ^note possibly a stand-in for Mary Vetsera strips him, and he receives the Kiss of Death half-naked.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: The Death/Rudolf ship is what happens when the Noble Male falls in love with the Roguish Male.
• Pretty Boy: Rudolf can also look rather pretty, for example with the Takarazuka actresses. In a cisgender example, Furukawa Yuta of the 2015 Toho production.
• Rebel Prince: Rudolf is this, pulling double duty with The Wise Prince. ^note The rebel aspect is more emphasized in the Japanese productions - both Takarazuka and Toho gave Rudolf his own subplot instead of focusing solely on Elisabeth. It's deconstructed when the failure of his revolutionary efforts - depending on the production, either by Franz Joseph discovering his anonymous articles, or threatening to disown him after his almost-arrest -, his alienation from other people at court ^note because, similar to Sisi, he was too liberal for the conservative empire including his own family, and his thoughtful, melancholic nature ^note it has been theorized that the real Prince had clinical depression combined and drove him to commit suicide.
• Small Role, Big Impact: In most productions, Rudolf as an adult is only on-stage in five scenes, one of which is his suicide and another is a posthumous cameo. Rudolf as a child only appears in two more scenes. And yet he's one of the most important characters in the show, and his death is what finally makes Elisabeth beg Death to take her.
• Spell My Name With An S: Rudolf's name has been spelled "Rudolph" in the fandom. ^note Helps that the plaque in front of his coffin in Vienna spells it with a "ph". but it's spelled with a "lf" in the German libretto. The man himself used both spellings interchangably, but the "lf" more often.

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