Michael Kunze News

Christian Struppeck invited Austria's most influential press members to the Cast Presentation for the upcoming production of Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame into one of the most iconic landmarks in Vienna, the St. Stephans Cathedral with its famous bell, the Pummerin.

The young Princess Elizabeth 'Bess' Tudor, daughter of the legendary King Henry VIII and the notorious Anne Boleyn, grows up as an orphan in the care of her governess and her humanist tutor, while her half-sister as 'Bloody Mary' brutally rules over her subjects.

SPIRITED AWAY was brought to life at the Imperial Theater in Tokyo, bringing in a full house of attendees. This timeless masterpiece was recreated by the director of Les Misérables, John Caird, who brought iconic scenes to the stage with amazing performances with 32 performers and over 50 puppets designed by Toby Olié. 

Toho Co., Ltd. has just announced the world premiere of a new theatrical production based on Studio Ghibli’s Oscar-winning film SPIRITED AWAY (original title: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi). This production will be the first ever stage adaptation of the 2001 animated masterpiece by Hayao Miyazaki which became a massive box office hit in Japan and earned worldwide acclaim including Academy Award for Best Animated Feature of 2002.

From the 13th to the 18th of February 2020, The Musical Showroom will be presenting the Austrian premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical ASPECTS OF LOVE at the Theater Arche in Vienna. The musical tells in 2 acts the tragic and emotional story of a family and their companions over three generations.

The magical masterpiece from Stephen Sondheim ( Music and Lyrics) and James Lapine (Book) is coming back to Austria for 12 nights only in 2020. Maya Hakvoort (Elisabeth, Evita, Fantine, Norma Desmond, and many others) gathered together some of the finest artists for one of the must-see events next summer. Linda Hold and Birgit Noisternig ( Choreography), Dean Welterlen (Director) and Jeff Frohner (Musical Director) are taking care of Sondheims not so fairy tale. Into the Woods/ Ab in den Wald (German lyrics by Michael Kunze) is a very unusual choice for a summer production. Apart from cheesy funny shows, Maya Hakvoort is showing some guts for putting on such a pretentious show. Hakvoort is not only producing the show she is also playing the Witch, accompanied by Ann Mandrella ( the Baker's Wife), Reinwald Kranner ( the Baker), Jan Amann ( the Wolf, Prince), Andreas Kammerzelt ( Stepmother, Prince), Eve Rades ( Cinderella), Missy May ( Little Red Ridding Hood), Nazide Aylin ( Rapunzel), Matthias Trattner ( Jack), Inez Timmer ( Jacks Mother and others), Thomas Weissengruber ( The Narrator), Stephanie Rieger ( Stepsister) and Silke Braas-Wolter (Stepsister). For tickets and further information visit www.somerfestspiele-brunn.at

HitSquad released the Live Recording from the Musical Mega Event of this year's summer, ELISABETH in CONCERT. An All-Star Cast lead by Pia Douwes, together with the amazing Orchestra of the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, created a special night for an audience of 22000 people at the two night only event.

You can put on a revival of a hit show. You can add or cut songs, costumes or scenes. Some might love it, others might moan about it and some even don't care about it.

Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay's Elisabeth will play at Schloss Schonbrunn Ehrenhof July 5 and July 6, 2019.

Zum 20. Geburtstag des Stage Metronom Theaters im Herbst 2019 holt Stage Entertainment ein echtes Kult-Musical ins Ruhrgebiet: TANZ DER VAMPIRE. Damit kehrt eines der beliebtesten Musicals uberhaupt nach Oberhausen zuruck, da die Blutsauger hier bereits von 2008 bis 2010 zu Gast waren, bestatigt Jurgen Marx, Area Director der Region SudWest bei Stage Entertainment: „TANZ DER VAMPIRE ist eines der beliebtesten Musicals weltweit. Fans kommen immer wieder mit der Bitte auf uns zu, diese Show endlich wieder auf den Spielplan zu setzen. Wir freuen uns sehr daruber, dass wir diesen Wunsch nun ausgerechnet zum 20. Geburtstag des Stage Metronom Theaters in Oberhausen erfullen konnen.' Tickets fur die funfmonatige Spielzeit sind ab sofort erhaltlich unter www.musicals.de

Whenever one of my US friends asks me about a successful German musical, it is for sure "Dance of the Vampires" that comes immediately to my mind. It was Jim Steinman (music) and Michael Kunze (lyrics) created the musical adaption of Roman Polanski's film from 1967. The show premiered in 1997, and has been running - with some short breaks - in Germany and Austria ever since.

It's one of the most famous tourist hot spots in Vienna and once home of the austrian empress Elisabeth.

20 years after watching Roman Polanski's world-premiere production, it was with great trepidation that I entered the Musical Dome in Cologne, to watch DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES again. To my surprise, it was a quick-footed, highly-entertaining show that was a vast improvement over the original Viennese production.

Pia Douwes has spent the last three decades building an illustrious international career. Now she has released her first solo album, aptly titled 'After All This Time'. Pia took a moment to chat with BroadwayWorld about this exciting recording as well as her career thus far.

Jetzt wird es bissig: Roman Polanskis Musical-Welterfolg TANZ DER VAMPIRE kommt erstmals an den Rhein. Vom 14. Februar bis 30. Juni 2018 halten die beruhmten Blutsauger endlich Einzug in den Kolner Musical Dome.

Joe Gillis halt zufallig in der Einfahrt eines stattlichen Anwesens am beruhmten Sunset Boulevard. Dort residiert die Stummfilmdiva Norma Desmond. Einst zu großem Ruhm und Reichtum gelangt, lebt sie jetzt einsam und zuruckgezogen, schwelgt in Erinnerungen an vergangene Zeiten und gibt sich der Illusion hin, ihre einzigartige Filmkarriere fortzusetzen. Ihr Butler unterstutzt sie in ihrem Wahn. Als Norma hort, dass Joe Drehbuchautor ist, sieht sie in ihm die Chance, den Weg zuruck in die Studios zu finden. Doch mittlerweile verwirklichen andere Akteure im Hollywood der 50er Jahre ihren Traum vom großen Erfolg.

Disney ist erwachsen geworden! Nachdem „Der Glockner von Notre Dame' 1999 seine Welturauffuhrung in Berlin feierte, halt nun eine neue Inszenierung Einzug im majestatischen Theater des Westens. Hierbei handelt es sich um die La Jolla Playhouse Produktion aus San Diego von Scott Schwartz, Sohn des „Glockner' Texters und Disney Legende Stephen Schwartz. Schon die ersten Minuten schicken den Zuschauer auf eine Achterbahnfahrt der Gefuhle

Die Burgfestspiele Bad Vilbel zeigen SUNSET BOULEVARD mit April Hailer

Tecklenburg zeigt REBECCA - Das Geheimnis von Manderley mit Douwes, Amann

Toho Co., Ltd. has announced the world premiere of a new production of William Shakespeare's romantic comedy AS YOU LIKE IT from the Tony Award-winning creative team of Michael Mayer and Tom Kitt, who will reunite after previous collaborations on American Idiot: The Musical on Broadway and Second Stage Theatre's Everyday Rapture, which will open in Tokyo in January 2017.