André Böke

André has an academic background that moves easily between cultures, art forms and languages. With a strong foundation in cultural and area studies, his interests range from literature and history to intercultural perspectives, but his true passion lies in the performing arts—especially musical theatre. A musical fan since childhood, he has gathered experience as a singer and performer himself: In Japan, he was the runner-up on the television singing competition "Nodojiman The World", and in Germany, he has performed in leading roles in local productions such as "Sister Act", "Mary Poppins", "Catch Me If You Can", and "Shrek". Beyond the stage, he continuously reviews productions for established German-language publications and interviews prominent stars of the German musical theatre scene. He travels widely in search of great shows, from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland as his homebase to the Netherlands, France, and London’s West End. Trips to Broadway and Japan’s musical theatre scene are among his personal highlights. His favorite musical composers are Alan Menken, Frank Wildhorn and Stephen Schwartz. Whether it’s biographical musicals like "End of the Rainbow", jukebox shows like "& Juliet", chamber pieces like "The Last 5 Years", dramatic classics such as "The Phantom of the Opera", Disney-style productions like "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", early musical-operetta hybrids like "Ball at the Savoy" or completely over-the-top comedy hits like "Titanique", André finds something appealing in all forms and colors of the musical theatre genre.