The CLO organized a 6 euro a tour of Vienna's Burgtheater last Wednesday morning - a great opportunity to learn about one of the Habsburg's oldest theaters. Prior to the 9:30 start, Cynthia invited me to see her apartment located in a beautiful old building in the first district and to enjoy fresh scones, croissants, coffee and fruit.
We started the tour at the Prince's entrance and learned this building was the first in Austria to be lit by electricity. (Unfortunately, a huge fire which previously lit the stage decades earlier killed all the theater goers.)
The tour guide explained that during the first two centuries of this theater's life the actors would not bow for the audience. Because the seating area remained lit during performances, the actors could see the audience talk to their fellow theater-goers and therefore felt quite disrespected. In response, they refused to thank the audience. Austrians like their traditions, so it was no until the 1990s that these professionals started taking their final bows.
She told us how the ceiling murals were some of Klimt's first paintings. He even painted himself into Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet ended happily in Austria as the Habsburgs did not like sad endings.
Although smoking is no longer allowed, this building is under UNESCO and cannot be altered. The smoking trays still adorn the walls.
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