The Theater des Westens (Theatre of the West) is one of the most famous theatres for musicals and operettas in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Germany, located at 10–12 in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the ...

. It was founded in 1895 for plays. The present house was opened in 1896 and dedicated to

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

and operetta. Enrico Caruso made his debut in Berlin here, and the Ballets Russes appeared with

Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20t ...

. In the 1930s it was run as the Volkstheater Berlin. After World War II it served as the temporary opera house of Berlin, the Städtische Oper (Municipal Opera). In 1961 it became the first theatre in Germany to show musicals. Since then it has become the "German equivalent of Broadway extravaganzas", putting on plays and musical comedies.

History

The theatre was founded in 1895. The construction of the present building began in 1896, designed by

Bernhard Sehring Ernst Bernhard Sehring (1 June 1855 in Edderitz, Anhalt – 27 December 1941) was a German architect. Life Sehring came from a petty-bourgeois village background and was the son of a Dessau construction foreman. He was boarded by Professor Ha ...

. It was opened on 1 October 1896 with a fairy tale,

Holger Drachmann Holger Henrik Herholdt Drachmann (9 October 1846 – 14 January 1908) was a Danish poet, dramatist and painter. He was a member of the Skagen artistic colony and became a figure of the Scandinavian Modern Breakthrough Movement. Early yea ...

's ''Tausendundeine Nacht''. From 1898 the house was used for

, from 1908 for operetta. Enrico Caruso's first appearance in Berlin was in 1905 in Theater des Westens. In 1910,

Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...

's Ballets Russes performed '' Carnaval'' on

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

's music in a choreography by

Mikhail Fokine Michael Fokine, ''Mikhail Mikhaylovich Fokin'', group=lower-alpha ( – 22 August 1942) was a groundbreaking Imperial Russian choreographer and dancer. Career Early years Fokine was born in Saint Petersburg to a prosperous merchant and a ...

appeared with the Ballets Russes in 1914. From 1922, the house was again used as an opera house, called "Große Volksoper" (Great People's Opera), under the direction of conductor

Leo Blech Leo Blech (21 April 1871 – 25 August 1958) was a German opera composer and conductor who is perhaps most famous for his work at the Königliches Opernhaus (later the Berlin State Opera / Staatsoper Unter den Linden) from 1906 to 1937, and late ...

. Short lived, the opera house closed in 1924. The theatre then showed a mixed program, under frequently changing management. The dancer

Mary Wigman Mary Wigman (born Karoline Sophie Marie Wiegmann; 13 November 1886 – 18 September 1973) was a German dancer and choreographer, notable as the pioneer of expressionist dance, dance therapy, and movement training without pointe shoes. She is con ...

and her company were a great success in 1926. Hans Lüppschütz took over, presenting traditional works including ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original li ...

'' and '' Alt Heidelberg'' along with new productions. He engaged prominent actors, such as Fritzi Massary in ''Eine Frau von Format'' (1927) by ,

Max Adalbert Max Adalbert (born Johannes Adolph Krampf; 19 February 1874 – 7 September 1933) was a German stage and film actor. Biography Adalbert was born in Danzig (Gdansk), Imperial Germany as ''Maximilian Adalbert Krampf'' to a Prussian Officer. He ...

in ''Das Ekel'' (1928) and

Josephine Baker Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald; naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted Fran ...

in ''Bitte Einsteigen'' (1928). From 1921, the cabaret theatre in the basement was directed by

Trude Hesterberg Trude Hesterberg (2 May 1892 – 31 August 1967) was a German film actress. She appeared in 89 films between 1917 and 1964. Selected filmography * ''The Rosentopf Case'' (1918) * '' The Story of a Maid'' (1921) * ''Fridericus Rex'' (1922) ...

. It was closed in 1928, but reopened in 1931 by

Friedrich Hollaender Friedrich Hollaender (in exile also Frederick Hollander; 18 October 189618 January 1976) was a German film composer and author. Life and career He was born in London to a Jewish family, where his father, operetta composer Victor Hollaender, w ...

as . Performers included

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

Curt Bois Curt Bois (born Kurt Boas; April 5, 1901 – December 25, 1991) was a German actor with a career spanning over 80 years. He is best remembered for his performances as the pickpocket in ''Casablanca'' (1942) and the poet Homer in ''Wings of Desi ...

, Bertolt Brecht,

Erich Mühsam Erich Mühsam (6 April 1878 – 10 July 1934) was a German-Jewish antimilitarist anarchist essayist, poet and playwright. He emerged at the end of World War I as one of the leading agitators for a federated Bavarian Soviet Republic, for which h ...

and

Theo Lingen Theo Lingen (; 10 June 1903 – 10 November 1978), born Franz Theodor Schmitz, was a German actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1929 and 1978, and directed 21 films between 1936 and 1960. Life and c ...

. The theatre was reopened on 23 December 1934 as the with

Albert Lortzing Gustav Albert Lortzing (23 October 1801 – 21 January 1851) was a German composer, librettist, actor and singer. He is considered to be the main representative of the German ''Spieloper'', a form similar to the French ''opéra comique'', which ...

's ''

Der Waffenschmied ''Der Waffenschmied'' (The Armourer) is an opera (Singspiel) in three acts by Albert Lortzing. The German-language libretto was by the composer after Friedrich Wilheim von Ziegler's ''Liebhaber und Nebenbuhler in einer Person'' (Lover and Rival i ...

''. It presented as part of "" (light entertainment), directed by Karl Jöken and his wife Edith Schollwer. Examples include performances such as , , and . It had to be closed after an air raid in 1944.

Städtische Oper

After World War II the building served as Berlin's opera house called , because the

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the D ...

had been destroyed in 1943. On 4 September 1945 it was opened by a performance of Beethoven's ''

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, wi ...

''. The General Manager was Michael Bohnen, succeeded by Heinz Tietjen.

Ferenc Fricsay Ferenc Fricsay (; 9 August 1914 – 20 February 1963) was a Hungarian conductor. From 1960 until his death, he was an Austrian citizen. Biography Fricsay was born in Budapest in 1914 and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, E ...

was the Musical Director from 1948 to 1952, singers included

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's Lieder, ...

Elisabeth Grümmer Elisabeth Grümmer (née Schilz; 31 March 1911 – 6 November 1986) was a German soprano. She has been described as "a singer blessed with elegant musicality, warm-hearted sincerity, and a voice of exceptional beauty". Life Elisabeth Schilz was b ...

Josef Greindl Josef Greindl (23 December 1912 - 16 April 1993) was a German operatic bass, remembered mainly for his performances of Wagnerian roles at Bayreuth beginning in 1943. Josef Greindl was born in Munich and studied at the Munich Music Academy with Pa ...

and

Ernst Haefliger Ernst Haefliger (6 July 191917 March 2007) was a Swiss tenor. Biography Haefliger was born in Davos, Switzerland, on 6 July 1919 and studied at the Wettinger Seminary and the Zürich Conservatory. Later he became a pupil of Fernando Carpi in G ...

. Operas by

Werner Egk Werner Egk (, 17 May 1901 – 10 July 1983), born Werner Joseph Mayer, was a German composer. Early career He was born in the Swabian town of Auchsesheim, today part of Donauwörth, Germany. His family, of Catholic peasant stock, moved to A ...

Boris Blacher Boris Blacher (30 January 1975) was a German composer and librettist. Life Blacher was born when his parents (of German-Estonian and Russian backgrounds) were living within a Russian-speaking community in the Manchurian town of Niuzhuang () (h ...

and

Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...

were premiered during this time, including

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...

's on 23 September 1956.

Musical

When the opera was moved to a new building in 1961, the Theater des Westens specialised in operettas and the new musical. The opening and first musical production was Loewe's ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...

'' on 1 October 1961, This first performance of the work in German was conducted by

Franz Allers Franz Allers (August 6, 1905 - January 26, 1995) was a European-American conductor of ballet, opera, Broadway musicals, film scores, and symphony orchestras. Early life Franz Allers was born in Carlsbad, Austria-Hungary (now Czech Republic) in 1 ...

who had already conducted the world premiere, the leading roles were performed by Karin Hübner and Paul Hubschmid. In 1978, the stage technology was improved. In 1981, a restoration of the interior was begun according to the architectural plans of Bernhard Sehring, the facade was restored in 1988. From 1984,

Götz Friedrich Götz Friedrich (4 August 1930 in Naumburg, Germany – 12 December 2000 in Berlin, Germany) was a German opera and theatre director. He was a student and assistant of Walter Felsenstein at the Komische Oper Berlin in (East) Berlin, where he w ...

was intendant and Helmut Baumann artistic director. They concentrated on musicals and were successful with ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

'' and '' La Cage aux Folles''. In 1988 Friedrich staged ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', it ...

'' with an "all black-opera". In a united Germany, the theatre faced strong competition and had difficulties in staging an attractive program. On 24 September 2002, the Senate of Berlin agreed to sell the theatre to

Stage Entertainment Stage Entertainment is an international operating live entertainment company, a subsidiary of Advance Publications. The company was founded in 1998 by Joop van den Ende in Amsterdam. History The Netherlands / Corporate The root of the company l ...

, while the ownership of the building itself remained in the city. Renovations which began in January 2003 were estimated to have cost 10 million Euros. On 26 September 2003 the theatre opened again with ''

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 ...

''. Stage Entertainment has no ensemble but presents productions of German and international companies.

Premieres

* Leon Jessel: ''Die beiden Husaren'' (1913) *

Jean Gilbert Jean Gilbert (11 February 1879 – 20 December 1942), born Max Winterfeld, was a German operetta composer and conductor. Life and career Gilbert was born in Hamburg into a family of musicians; his ancestors were cantors of the Jewish communi ...

: ''Die Frau im Hermelin'' (1919) * Leon Jessel: ''Schwalbenhochzeit'' (1921) * Eduard Künneke: ''Die lockende Flamme'' (1933) * Walter Goetze: '' Der goldene Pierrot'' (1934) *

: ''Circe'' (1948) *

: ''Ein preußisches Märchen'' (1952) *

: ''Der rote Mantel'' (1954) * Max Baumann: ''Pelleas und Melisande'' (1954) *

: ''

König Hirsch ' (in English, ''The Stag King'') is an opera in three acts by Hans Werner Henze to a German libretto by after ''Il re cervo'', a theatrical fable (1762) by Carlo Gozzi. He revised it as ''Il re cervo'', premiered in 1963 at the Staatstheater Kas ...

'' (1956) *

Oskar Sala Oskar Sala (18 July 1910 – 26 February 2002) was a German composer and a pioneer of electronic music. He played an instrument called the Trautonium, an early form of electronic synthesizer. Early life Sala was born in Greiz, Thuringia, Germany ...

: ''Paean'' (1960) * Boris Blacher: ''Rosamunde Floris'' (1960) *

Rio Reiser Ralph Christian Möbius (9 January 1950 – 20 August 1996), known professionally as Rio Reiser, was a German musician and the singer of rock group Ton Steine Scherben. He supported squatting in the early 1970s and later the green political pa ...

: ''Robinson 2000'' (1967) * James M. Barrie: ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

'' (1984) * : ''Eins, zwei, drei'' (1989) * Jürg Burth / Ulf Dietrich: ''Blue Jeans'' (1994) * : ''30–60–90° durchgehend geöffnet '' (1999) * Burkhard Driest: ' (2000) * Konstantin Wecker: ''Schwejk it easy!'' (2001) * Rob Bolland und Ferdi Bolland: '' 3 Musketiers'' (2005) * / : ' (2008)

Literature

*, Dissertation by Detlef Meyer zu Heringsdorf, published by Deutsche Oper Berlin 1988, *, published by the Genossenschaft Deutscher Bühnenangehöriger Verlag: Bühnenschriften-Vetriebs-Gesellschaft

References

External links

Theater des Westens
Berlin
History of the Opera House

Götz Friedrich ist tot: Ewig hoffend, ewig liebend
''

Der Tagesspiegel ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, ...

'', 13 December 2000
Intendant geschasst – Spielbetrieb gesichert
''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

'', 21 August 2001
Official siteProjektindex Theater des Westens
Architekturmuseum

TU Berlin The Technical University of Berlin (official name both in English and german: link=no, Technische Universität Berlin, also known as TU Berlin and Berlin Institute of Technology) is a public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It wa ...

Denkmale in Berlin / Theater des Westens und Delphi-Palast
List of Monuments in Berlin
Josephine Baker in Berlin
cabaret-berlin.com
Theater des Westens
visitberlin.de {{Authority control Theatres in Berlin 1895 establishments in Germany Music venues completed in 1896