HAMBURG (dpa) – Is there still any life in the musical theatre industry in Germany? This is a question. As the northern port city of Hamburg says goodbye to some long-running productions and gets ready for some new musicals in what could be the decisive battle of two companies trying to put some magic back into a stagnant market.
Stella Entertainment, the company which ushered in the musical boom in Germany when it opened “Cats” on Hamburg’s famous red-light Reeperbahn avenue in 1986, is now changing its strategy to bring in a series of musicals for shorter runs.
In the dockyards of the Elbe River port, meanwhile, the Stage Holding Deutschland company is taking over the tent-like musical theatre which saw a seven-year run of the “Buddy Holly Story”, and is preparing for a December premiere of Walt Disney’s “The Lion King”.
For the city of Hamburg, hanging in the balance of success or failure of these new plans is how tourism will be affected. Each year, the city draws some two million musical visitors, a big boon to the hotel, restaurant, taxi and other tourism-related services.
But the numbers have been stagnating for several years, amid signs that the musical market – which has spread to more than half a dozen other cities with commercial musical productions – has reached the saturation point.
Both Stella and Stage Holding argue that the market is not saturated, but that what is needed are new productions with shorter runs. “Cats” closed early this year after not quite 15 years, while final curtains for further Stella musical in Hamburg, “Phantom of the Opera”, is set for June 30 after after an 11-year run.
Stella’s strategy now, company spokeswoman Sigrid Schwarzer told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, is to present “premiere theatre” productions – those which have not yet played in Germany.
“The musicals audiences have changed,” she said, looking back on the industry’s developments in the past several years. “People want more variety. So now we are aiming for more shorter-run productions.”
Stella is now busily preparing for a June 8 premiere of “Fosse” a Broadway award-winning revue of song-and-dance numbers from various musicals by the legendary late choreographer Bob Fosse.
Part of the preparations includes the revamping of the 1,167-seat Operettenhaus theatre on the Reeperbahn after “Cats”. Schwarzer said the remodelling will make the building a “classical theatre once again”. The costs are around 2 million marks (900,000 dollars).
After “Fosse”, Stella will then be busy preparing to stage the musical “Mozart”, due for a September 21 opening, to succeed “Phantom of the Opera”.
At Stage Holding, meanwhile, executives dismiss the question as to whether there is still a market for musicals. The chief executive for Germany, Maik Klokow, cites surveys showing that 70 per cent of Germans still think musicals are “in” and want to see a performance.
He added that what is needed is more variety and also shorter runs.
Stage Holding press spokesman Michael Hildebrandt told dpa that his company is looking at a run of around four years for “The Lion King”, everything depending on how audiences accept the much- acclaimed Disney production.
The company is now investing what Hildebrandt said was a double- digit figure in the millions of marks to revamp the Elbe harbour musical theatre.
Besides adding restaurants and bars to the facility, the number of seats is being increased by around 300 to some 1,800. But Hildebrandt declined to discuss the production costs.
“The audiences don’t care what the costs are, and we don’t want this topic to distract from the real question, which is the quality of this musical,” he said about “The Lion King”.
“We want this to be a cultural and theatre experience, not just for out-of-town visitors, but also for the people of Hamburg as well,” Hildebrandt said.
His company also has been looking at the idea of having up to two further theatres in Hamburg, plus its own dance academy to train future talent for the musicals industry.
“We believe there is a market for quality musicals,” Hildebrandt said when asked about whether more theatres and productions could swamp the market.
“It’s like the cinema. When there are good films showing, then people go to see them. If there are good musicals, then people will also attend them.”
