Selections From DIE MITTE DER WELT Will Be Presented At Landestheater Linz

Selections from Die Mitte der Welt, a new musical by bookwriter/lyricist Niklas Wagner and composer Sarah Taylor Ellis, will be presented on June 24 as part of the Deutsche Musical Akademie's schreib:maschine at Landestheater Linz.

Based on the coming-of-age novel by Andreas Steinhöfel, Die Mitte der Welt (The Center of the World) follows twins Phil and Dianne, who live with their mother Glass in Visible - a weathered house with countless rooms. Though the siblings were inseparable as children, unspoken secrets have driven them apart. In order to navigate the unfathomable mysteries of growing up, they have to face the wounds of the past together with their mother. An intimate musical about memory, family and queer love with a melancholy but hopeful indie-folk score, Die Mitte der Welt is presented with the kind permission of Verlag für Kindertheater.

The schreib:maschine will be the first showcase of this new musical. The presentation features direction by Agnes Wiener, musical direction by Sarah Taylor Ellis, and performances by members of the Landestheater Linz musical ensemble: Christian Fröhlich, Valerie Luksch, Sanne Mieloo, and Lukas Sandmann.

Niklas Wagner is a German writer and translator. After gathering first work experience in London, he studied Theater, Film and Media Studies as well as English and American Studies in Frankfurt, followed by a Master's program in Literary Translation in Munich. In 2022, he completed Benj Pasek and Justin Paul's "Songwriting for Musical Theatre" class. Together with Roman Hinze, he translated Something Rotten! and Anything Goes into German. Most recently, he was commissioned to create a new translation of Lerner and Loewe's Camelot.

Sarah Taylor Ellis is a Berlin-based composer, musical director, and lecturer. She is currently collaborating with Musiktheatergruppe glanz&krawall on a new musical about German bureaucracy for inclusive theater company Theater Thikwa, set to premiere in December 2024. She has previously composed for the UK National Theatre, Pittsburgh CLO, and The Civilians, and her hybrid musical/opera The Trojan Women was the recipient of a 2019 OPERA America Discovery Grant.

Founded in 2010 by Kevin Schröder, Friederike Harmstorf, and Robin Kulisch, the schreib:maschine is Germany's leading professional open stage for musical writers and composers.

Tickets for the event can be purchased here: https://www.landestheater-linz.at/stuecke/detail?EventSetID=5269&ref=202320241570&spielzeit=2023/24.

Photo Credit: Daniel Lagerpusch // Agnes Wiener and Niklas Wagner

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