Susan Rigvava-Dumas

MUSICAL-COCKTAIL, Austria's very own Musical Magazine together with the Vienna Coffee Roastery are presenting an All-Star Charity Gala-Concert for the benefit of the organ restoration on the 8th of May at the historic Augustinian Church in the heart of Vienna.

Sometimes you watch a production and experience total perfection. Yesterday evening was such a night. Sondheim's A Little Night Music performed by the Nederlandse Reisopera, an opera company which chose to work on Sondheim musicals (Sweeney Todd was their earlier production), next to classic opera repetoire. And my oh my, what an excellent choice to do so.

From the 16th of March to the 9th of April 2019, the Nederlandse Reisopera (Dutch National Touring Opera) will be taking a new production of the Stephen Sondheim musical A Little Night Music around the country. This is an English-language version produced by an American artistic team. In this staging, Director Zack Winokur looks back to the film that the musical was originally based on, Ingmar Bergman's Smile of a Summer Night: 'What I found lacking in the musical, at least in the productions that I saw, was the bodily, sensual and erotic comedy which is at the heart of the film. Why are people continually trying to seduce each other and why are they continually failing? This work is about feelings that everyone deals with in daily life, which is comforting, alienating and disquieting at the same time.'

Cole Porters Musical KISS ME KATE gewann 1949, im Jahr nach der Urauffuhrung, allein funf Tony Awards. Mitreißender Swing, unvergessene Evergreens, quirlige Tanzszenen und spritzige Texte garantieren nach uber eintausend Broadway-Auffuhrungen bis heute den Erfolg. Zumal Porter im Ehepaar Spewack kongeniale Partner hatte, deren Textbuch mit einer großen Portion Ironie einen selbstkritischen Blick auf allerlei absurde Theaterklischees wirft. In dem Maße, wie sich Buhnenfiktion und reales Geschehen annahern, gewinnt das Stuck an Situationskomik und ist am Ende viel mehr als eine Liebesgeschichte. Das Staatstheater Kassel bring diesen Musicalklassiker in dieser Spielzeit im Opernhaus auf die Buhne. Die Premiere fand am vergangenen Samstag statt und wurde mit großem Beifall gefeiert. Und auch Kritiker zeigten sich angetan.