The central theme of The Great Gatsby also affects the German Theater in Munich, which is still haunted by the spirit of the golden party era: “Is it better to be rich and successful or to be loved?” This is how the star choreographer Enrique Gasa Valga has summarized the central question of the story of F. Scott Fitzgerald, which he will bring to the Show-Palast on Schwanthaler Straße in February with his Innsbruck Limonada Dance Company as a dance theater. For Thomas Linsmayer, the director of the house, the answer is probably simple: ideally both.
Henry VIII’s six ex-wives battle each other in the pop musical “Six”.
(Photo: Pamela Raith)
In the current situation, aiming for wealth would be presumptuous for “The Stage of the City of Munich”, but audience success is definitely necessary in order to stay in business with a mini budget of less than two million euros through ticket sales alone. 80 percent capacity for “The Desert Flower – the Musical” is more of a step down, but one can afford it, as Linsmayer says, because they also want to offer more difficult, “intellectual” material. The “largest musical theater in southern Germany” should be more than “just an event temple” (for example with spectacular pieces like “Six”, the pop musical about the six ex-wives of King Henry VIII, from March 26th to April 7th. ).
So it’s a matter of the heart: When Linsmayer replaced the fired previous duo two years ago, he had “two big wishes”: to work with many more partners. And fill the neglected Silver Hall with life. Both have been fulfilled, as was seen at the presentation of the program for the new season: the events in the pretty second hall now fill their own, thick booklet: a world music series, chamber operas, salon evenings with classical music, a songwriter series and evenings for dancing yourself from swing to tango.
The Innsbruck Limonada Dance Company brings “The Great Gatsby” to Munich as a dance theater.
(Photo: Birgit Gufler)
The Limonada Dance Company from Innsbruck will regularly show how the professionals dance in a kind of “dance residency” and is already preparing the second piece “Frida Kahlo”. The Deutsches Theater has been working well with another partner since “The Pope”: the Festspielhaus Füssen. Not only will Ralph Siegel’s musical “Summer of Love” come from there (the date has not yet been set), but also a new venture: On April 11, 2024, “The Magic Flute” will have its world premiere in Munich – as a musical! “No Mozart Light,” promises director Benjamin Sahler, but a new look at racism, equality, the patriarchal system, new texts and new, pretty rocky music (Frank Nimsgern). It remains to be seen whether this will be successful and loved.