He closes his eyes as he intones Elvis Presley’s “I can’t help falling in love.” Alfons Schuhbeck sings calmly, he is completely himself and hits the tone pretty well. Completely block out what’s going on out there. The amount of flashing lights around him, the whispering at the tables, when is jail going, the world in the mirror tent with celebrities who have found their way here in Schuhbeck’s Teatro in Riem from the jungle camp, Bachelor TV and Musikantenstadel.
I can’t help falling in love. This is his world here, he loves them all and she loves him too, somehow, and the porcini mushroom consommé with ravioli, ricotta and that typical Schuhbeck hint of lemon tastes so fantastic again today.
So he’s singing again on Thursday night. A week ago, just a few hours earlier, he had been sentenced to three years and two months in prison for tax evasion by the Munich I Regional Court, he had done that too, and suddenly stood on the stage in the beautifully decorated tent.
So now, at the “VIP premiere gala”, the invitation to which came on velvety cardboard with gold lettering, the report is only a few hours old that the former star chef and his lawyers have appealed against the verdict. It is said that he wants to buy time to pay off his debts with the help of an investor who has yet to be won. If nothing helps, the show must go on. That’s also what’s written outside on the big screens, from which Schuhbeck smiles a bit fuller and happier from his white chef’s jacket.
There is the metaphor that an elephant is in the room when there is a problem somewhere that everyone knows about, but which is not addressed by those present. Schuhbeck, once the personified funboy of Munich society, really has nothing elephantine about him anymore. He looks battered. And when he opens his eyes after his two singing numbers, he sees tears of emotion in the hit duo Marianne and Michael, who will often say that evening that they will stick to their “Fonse”. Or with the singer Marc Terenzi, who also publicly presents the ups and downs of his life, albeit in various reality shows.
How does he do it? That’s what the guests think, they whisper to each other across the finely set tables and candlesticks. Schuhbeck gives the answer himself. “I drink two schnapps,” he says after his performance. “The last two weeks haven’t been a hit with me.” There is sustained applause, people stand up. The “Teatro” has long been independent of the insolvent Schuhbeck as a company. It now has to see how it can make ends meet in the coming months with acrobatics, four-course meals and company celebrations. But I’m sure many will come and see if and who is singing at the end of the evening.