At the Teatro anniversary show this year you will meet an elephant at the entrance. It’s Alfons Schuhbeck. The dinner show, at which 400 guests are served fine food and drinks while enjoying a variety show, provided the chef with a stage for almost twenty years. He held court at the entrance, played on the stage at the end and of course isn’t there at all on Tuesday evening. But somehow then. Others quickly take his place at a social evening like this.
Last year, Schuhbeck sang Elvis Presley in the Spiegeltent in Riem, hours after he appealed against his conviction, and even moved some to tears with his performance. Ultimately, the chef was sentenced to three years and two months in prison for 21 counts of tax evasion. He has been serving them in the Landshut prison since the end of August. In the gourmet theater Teatro, “4-course menu by Käfer” is now written in golden letters on the menu, and the city’s second major restaurateur, Michael Käfer, has taken over. Schuhbeck, who most people call Alfons at the “VIP premiere gala,” is the natural topic of conversation of the evening.
“One eye cries because Alfons isn’t there,” says pop singer Marianne Reiner. She has been coming to the culinary acrobat show with her husband Michael for two decades. “We clap like crazy.” Michael is standing next to her, both of them know stage fright firsthand. They are there for support. Because clapping helps. They are also friends of Schuhbeck, but also of the Käfer family. Folk musician Patrick Lindner feels the same way. Do you feel like a child of divorce? Beetle or Schuhbeck? FC Bayern or 1860? There’s the elephant in the room again. “The show must go on,” says Marianne.”
The 20th anniversary is a new beginning for the Teatro. A joint project, such as a dinner party with beetle catering, was discussed ten years ago, but it was never realized, says Maike Zipse, who worked with her father Clemens Joined the Teatro management in 2009. She wears a miniature version of an elephant around her neck. “Elephants are my favorite animals,” she says. “I associate them with the circus and Thailand,” she says. She goes there several times a year, for example to visit her father, who spends a large part of the year in Asia. And Alfons? “The decision was made by others,” says Zipse. Now things have to move on and such a change also offers opportunities. For example, a vegan gourmet menu with vegetable fillets and berry ragout as an equal alternative to salmon and beef. But that’s not the only place where you can adapt the program to the zeitgeist. Of course with old elements. Enough chatting, now it’s showtime. It is one of the rare social evenings when the guests are exceptionally looking forward to the end of the small talk and photo shoot at the reception.
Presenter Giulia Siegel quickly strolls into the hall wearing a houndstooth sequined dress, then the lights go out and the show begins. Guests are welcome and guest – (chuckle) – Inside” by two moderators. The eternal gender gaga gag is part of the outdated repertoire, there are no laughs, which is why the oldest, clown “Daniello”, wants to go one better and asks guest and moderator Elton if he has already He’s hungry, but all he gets is a tired smile.
There is an alternation between circus classics, such as juggling with silver cones, and new elements such as a dance performance with the two twirling roller skate artists Maryna and Chris. They spin so quickly that the audience fluctuates between the greatest enthusiasm and the worst fears. Nigel Morkel sings the song “All of me” by John Legend over the celery foam soup with truffle croutons, followed by feathers, corsages and glitter. The highlight at the end is not a warbling chef, but the “Waterbowl” performance by the two-time acrobatics world champion Maryna Sakhokiia. And at the end, instead of Schuhbeck, the whole ensemble sings: “Merci Chérie”.
Singing The Bouncer himself like his predecessor was never an option for Teatro managing director and host Alexej Oberoi. For some guests, however, it does. Presenter Elton would have “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” by The Clash sung, classical radio speaker Thomas Ohrner John Williams “Swing, Swing, Swing” and Patrick Lindner would have stepped in with a Robbie Williams song. Maybe it’s a good thing that the ensemble sings. You head home with all your senses full and no one thinks about the elephant anymore.