The Raimund Theater is a theatre in the

Mariahilf Mariahilf (; Central Bavarian: ''Mariahüf'') is the 6th municipal district of Vienna, Austria (german: 6. Bezirk). It is near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850. Mariahilf is a heavily populated urban area with many res ...

district of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Named after the Austrian dramatist

Ferdinand Raimund Ferdinand Raimund (born Ferdinand Jakob Raimann; 1 June 1790 – 5 September 1836, Pottenstein, Lower Austria) was an Austrian actor and dramatist. Life and work He was born in Vienna as a son of Bohemian woodturning master craftsman Jako ...

, the theatre was built by an association of Viennese citizens and opened on 28 November 1893 with Raimund's play ''Die gefesselte Phantasie''. It can seat around 1,200 people. The theater is currently owned by

Vereinigte Bühnen Wien Vereinigte Bühnen Wien (VBW), or United Stages Vienna, is a musical production company based in Vienna, Austria which produced several own musicals that were very successful. It also owns and/or operates three theaters: the Theater an der Wien, ...

(VBW) along with the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...

and the Ronacher. Its current main use is for major musical productions.

History

Early history

The theater is named after the Austrian dramatist

, it was built by an association of 500 residents of the municipality of Mariahilf. It is designed by Franz Roth and opened on 28 November 1893, fully lit by electricity. Raimund's play ''Die gefesselte Phantasie'' opened at the theater (Though its first performance was on 27 November 1893). The theatre mainly presented German folk dramas and plays. In 1908 it turned to

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...

, with Johann Strauss' ''

The Gypsy Baron ''The Gypsy Baron'' () is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II which premiered at the Theater an der Wien on 24 October 1885. Its German libretto by Ignaz Schnitzer is based on the unpublished 1883 story ''Saffi'' by Mór Jókai. Jokai ...

''. Other premieres included

Robert Stolz Robert Elisabeth Stolz (25 August 188027 June 1975) was an Austrian songwriter and conductor as well as a composer of operettas and film music.Stanley Sadie Ed. (2002) ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', Oxford University Press Biogra ...

's '' Das Glücksmädel'' and '' Dreimäderlhaus'', set to various pieces of music by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

; this was performed more than 1200 times between 1916 and 1927. As the theatre was spared bombing damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the theatre re-opened promptly on 25 April 1945 with ''Dreimäderlhaus''. In 1948, Rudolf Marik took over as director for almost 30 years, transforming it into an internationally recognised theatre of the German-speaking world exclusively staging operettas with stars such as

Johannes Heesters Johan Marius Nicolaas Heesters (5 December 1903 – 24 December 2011), known professionally as Johannes Heesters, was a Dutch actor of stage, television and film, as well as a vocalist of numerous recordings and performer on the concert stag ...

Marika Rökk Marika Rökk (; born Marie Karoline Rökk, 3 November 1913 – 16 May 2004) was a German-Austrian dancer, singer and actress of Hungarian descent who gained prominence in German films in the Nazi era. She resumed her career in 1947 and was one of ...

, and others. Many well-known actors started their careers at the Raimund Theatre, including

Hansi Niese Johanna Niese, known as Hansi Niese (10 November 1875 in Vienna – 4 April 1934) was an Austrian actress. Career Hansi Niese made her debut at age 18 in 1891 in the South Moravian town of Znojmo at the local theater. Her success story bega ...

Paula Wessely Paula Anna Maria Wessely (20 January 1907 – 11 May 2000) was an Austrian theatre and film actress. ''Die Wessely'' (literally "The Wessely"), as she was affectionately called by her admirers and fans, was Austria's foremost popular postwar act ...

Attila Hörbiger Attila Hörbiger (21 April 1896 – 27 April 1987) was an Austrian stage and movie actor. Life Hörbiger was born in the Hungarian capital Budapest, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the son of engineer Hanns Hörbiger and the younge ...

, and

Karl Skraup Karl Skraup (31 July 1898 – 2 October 1958) was an Austrian stage and film actor. From 1947 until his death in 1958 he worked at the Volkstheater in Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = ...

. After 1976 the theatre was occasionally used for

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

s, such as

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

's '' Lady in the Dark''.

Renovation

In 1985 the theatre was renovated, re-opening with the gala '' Seinerzeit''; since March 1987 it has formed part of the

. ''

A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers ...

'' was followed by ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'' in 1988 and '' Phantom of the Opera'' in 1990, which transferred from the

. In 1993, on the anniversary of its opening, the German-language version of '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'' was premiered. This was followed by the Austrian premiere of Grease in 1994 and the European premiere of Disney's ''Beauty and the Beast'' in 1995. Autumn 1997 saw the world premiere of '' Dance of the Vampires'' in

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...

's production. After ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. ...

'' and a new production of ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fi ...

'' in September 2002, ''Wake Up'' was premiered, being the first musical by Rainhard Fendrich and

Harold Faltermeyer Hans Hugo Harold Faltermeier (born 5 October 1952) is a German musician, composer and record producer. Faltermeyer is best known for composing the "Axel F" theme for the feature film ''Beverly Hills Cop'', an influential synth-pop hit in the 1 ...

. On 11 March 2004 Dave Stewart's rock musical '' Barbarella'' had its world premiere. This was followed in 2005 by the German-language version of ''

Romeo & Julia ''Romeo & Julia'' is the official soundtrack for Terminaator's musical "Romeo & Julia" (Romeo and Juliet), made for Eesti Nuku- ja Noorsooteater (Estonian Puppet and Youth Theatre). Unlike the soundtrack for " Risk", this one wasn't released un ...

,'' a musical by

Gérard Presgurvic Gérard Presgurvic (born 1953) is a French popular composer. He was the author of 1980s pop hits "Chacun fait c'qui lui plait" and "Marre de cette nana-là", but is best known for the 2001 musical spectacle '' Roméo et Juliette, de la haine à l' ...

based on Shakespeare. In September 2006, the new musical ''Rebecca'', by

Michael Kunze Michael Rolf Kunze (born 9 November 1943, in Prague) is a foremost German musical theater lyricist and librettist. He is best known for the hit musicals '' Elisabeth'' (1992), '' Dance of the Vampires'' (1996), '' Mozart!'' (1999), ''Marie Antoin ...

and

Sylvester Levay Sylvester Levay (originally Lévay Szilveszter, Serbian language, Serbian: Силвестер Леваи, ''Silvester Levai'') is a Hungarian people, Hungarian recording artist and composer, born in Yugoslavia (now Serbia). Life and career Levay ...

, premiered at the theatre. On 24 January 2008 the musical ''

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at num ...

'' featuring the music of

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

opened at the Raimund with its largest ever advance ticket sale of 90,000. Original Queen members Roger Taylor and

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...

joined the cast on stage for the finale. After "We will rock You", The Musical "Rebecca" came back for a short season from September until the end of December 2008. On 26 February 2009, the theatre opened with a new production of the "VBW", the musical "Rudolf - Affaire Mayerling". This production was a "Try-out" at Budapest and then it moved to Vienna. In March 2010 a musical with songs by Udo Jürgens, an Austrian songwriter and entertainer, called "Ich war noch niemals in New York" opened and is going to stay until the end of June 2012. In September 2012 the musical '' Elisabeth'' will return for the third time to Vienna, but for the first time at Raimund Theatre. From 1992 until 1998 and from 2003 until 2005 the musical took place at the famous

References

External links

Raimund Theatre's English-language Web page
{{Authority control Theatres completed in 1893 Theatres in Vienna Cultural venues in Vienna Opera houses in Austria Buildings and structures in Mariahilf