Michael Rolf Kunze (born 9 November 1943, in Prague) is a foremost German

musical theater Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, moveme ...

lyricist and

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

. He is best known for the hit musicals '' Elisabeth'' (1992), '' Tanz der Vampire'' (1996), '' Mozart!'' (1999), ''

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...

'' (2006), and ''

Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...

'' (2006). He has also written the lyrics for a number of hit songs (under the pseudonym Stephan Prager), including the number one

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

hit " Fly, Robin, Fly" (1976), and was one of the top 1970s record producers, producing songs for musical acts

Silver Convention Silver Convention were a German Euro disco recording act of the 1970s. The group was originally named Silver Bird Convention or Silver Bird. History The group was initiated in Munich, then West Germany, by producers and songwriters Michael Kun ...

Penny McLean Gertrude Wirschinger (born 4 November 1948), better known as Penny McLean, is an Austrian vocalist who initially gained acclaim with the disco music act Silver Convention, but also had exposure as a single recording artist. As a solo singer, she i ...

, and

Sister Sledge Sister Sledge was an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consists of sisters Joni, Kim, Debbie, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. I ...

. Kunze has won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

ECHO In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

Lifetime Award and holds 79 Gold and Platinum records.

Early life

Born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, Kunze is the son of actress Dita Roesler and Walter Kunze, a writer, cartoonist and journalist, who worked for the German language newspaper '' Prager Tagblatt''. He grew up in Southern Germany and attended Klenze Oberrealschule in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. He studied law, philosophy and history at the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich.

Early career

Kunze started writing music and lyrics during his high school years in the early sixties. The Hamburg folklore group, City Preachers, recorded an LP with some of those early songs. The record was anything but a commercial success, but it made the music business aware of Michael Kunze. The first song Kunze produced with

Peter Maffay Peter Alexander Makkay (born 30 August 1949), known as Peter Maffay (), is a Romanian-born German musician, singer, and composer. Being a veteran musician, he is often credited for motivating audiences with his emotional lyrics and powerful mel ...

, a 20-year-old newcomer, was called "Du" (English Translation: "You"). It topped the German charts in the summer of 1970 and went gold. Working with Peter Maffay, Kunze co-wrote the song "Ich bin wie du" for Elke Best. Backed with "Die Spiele der großen Leute" the recording was produced by Fritz Muschler and released on EMI Electrola 006-30 462 in 1973. His recordings would dominate the 1970s music charts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. When he produced his first international act, he hit both the top of the ''Billboard'' and Cashbox charts in the U.S. with the song, "Fly, Robin, Fly". His group,

, represented by composer

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 ...

and Michael Kunze himself, influenced disco music and was the first German aggregation ever to win the coveted

. Based on his success in the U.S. – after "Fly, Robin, Fly" came such hits as "

Lady Bump "Lady Bump" is a pop disco song by Austrian singer Penny McLean, released in 1975. It was a hit for McLean, who was formerly with Silver Convention. About the single The single backed with "The Lady Bumps On" was released on the Jupiter record lab ...

" and "Get up and Boogie" – Michael produced albums with a vast and varied array of internationally known performers, including

Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top List of best-selling music artists, reco ...

Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( ; born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer and politician. Over the span of her career, she has released an estimated 450 albums in at least thirteen languages, including Greek language, Greek, French language, French, ...

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz Flute, flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet ...

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

Gilbert Bécaud François Gilbert Léopold Silly (24 October 1927 – 18 December 2001), known professionally as Gilbert Bécaud (), was a French singer, composer, pianist and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-know ...

and Caterina Valente. In 1981, Kunze stopped working as a producer but continued to write lyrics for top artists. Taking a temporary hiatus from show business, he wrote the book ''Highroad to the Stake: A Tale of Witchcraft'' (German Title: ''Strasse ins Feuer''). It was translated into several languages; ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called it "a vivid story of a witch." He wrote a second book, ''Give Way To Freedom'' (German Title: ''Der Freiheit eine Gasse'') on the 1848 democratic revolution in Southern Germany.

Later career

In the 1980s, the musical began making its way into the center of Kunze's activities. First, he adapted

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

's musical '' Evita'', which was the beginning of his collaboration and friendship with the legendary Broadway director,

Harold Prince Harold Smith Prince (born Harold Smith; January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019), commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theatre director and producer known for his work in musical theatre. One of the foremost figures in 20th-century theat ...

. The success of his adaptation opened the doors of the German-speaking market for the modern Anglo-American musical and made him the preferred translator for international hit shows. His German version of ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

'' ran for seven years in Vienna, making it one of the greatest hits of all times in that city. The numerous other musicals Kunze has translated into German include ''

The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

'', ''

A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical conceived by Michael Bennett 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 cent ...

'', '' Song and Dance'', ''

Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1986 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...

'', '' Follies'', '' Assassins'', '' Side by Side'' by Sondheim, ''

Dorian Gray ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is an 1890 philosophical fiction and Gothic horror novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical ''Lippincott's Monthly M ...

'', ''

Little Shop of Horrors Little Shop of Horrors may refer to: * '' The Little Shop of Horrors'', a 1960 American film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (musical), a 1982 musical based on the 1960 film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986 film), a 1986 American film based on th ...

'', '' Aspects of Love'', ''

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...

'', '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'', '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...

'', '' Mamma Mia!'' and Elton John's ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...

''. Kunze also started working for television. He conceived and wrote several, 90-minute shows for the major German and Austrian networks (Liebe ist .../ZDF, Sport Gala/ARD, Weil wir leben wollen /ZDF) and developed the ARD Series ''Showgeschichten''. In 1991, he conceived the international Peter Ustinov Gala in Paris, celebrating Sir

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...

's 70th birthday, starring Sir Yehudin Menuhin, Klaus Maria Brandauer,

Petula Clark Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles co ...

and

Montserrat Caballé María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé i Folch or Folc (12 April 1933 – 6 October 2018), also known as Montserrat Caballé (i Folch), was a Spanish operatic soprano from Catalonia. Widely considered to be one of the best sopranos ...

. With the annual Bambi Award Gala, he created the German counterpart to the American

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

presentation. His once-a-year special, Die Peter-Alexander-Show, starring Germany's top musical entertainer, Peter Alexander, and, among others, Richard Chamberlain,

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Awards, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emm ...

and

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, ...

(ORF) reached cult status in the 1990s. He also conceived Der Goldene Löwe, the German counterpart to the American

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

show. Over the years, he has also written a number of articles for German magazines and newspapers (Stern, Frankfurter Allgemeine, ZEITMagazin, Playboy, Süddeutsche Zeitung), exploring his views on the function of entertainment in society and current media issues.

Current career

Since the 1990s, Kunze is creating original musicals in his own style. In September 1992, his musical '' Elisabeth'', about the life of the

Empress Elisabeth of Austria Elisabeth (born Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria; 24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898), nicknamed Sisi or Sissi, was Empress of Austria and List of Hungarian consorts, Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Franz Joseph I of Austri ...

, opened at Vienna's

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 prim ...

(music by

). The show ran in Vienna for more than six years and was immediately regarded as the rebirth of the contemporary continental musical theater in Europe. It was soon exported to other countries, such as Japan, Hungary, Sweden, Holland and Germany. Collaborating with

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...

(director) and

Jim Steinman James Richard Steinman (November 1, 1947 – April 19, 2021) was an American composer, lyricist and record producer. He also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer. His work included songs in the adult contemporary, rock, dance, pop, mus ...

(composer), Kunze wrote his first English libretto and lyrics for the musical, '' Dance of the Vampires''. In October 1997, a German version opened at the Viennese Raimund Theater. On 3 March 2000, the show was transferred to Stuttgart, Germany. In December 2003, it opened in Hamburg, where it ran for another three years before opening in Berlin. The show also reached Broadway, where, despite Kunze's protests, an unauthorized version ran, for three months. It is currently running in Warsaw, Stuttgart, Vienna, Budapest and Tokyo. Kunze's '' Mozart!'' (music: Sylvester Levay; director: Harry Kupfer), dramatizing the famous composer's life, premiered in October 1999 in Vienna (Theater an der Wien). It continues to play and run in Hamburg, Germany; Karlstad, Sweden; Tokyo, Japan; and Budapest, Hungary. In 2006, two new Michael Kunze musicals opened. While ''

'', based on Daphne du Maurier's famous novel, premiering on 28 September at Vienna's Raimund Theater, became another hit, ''

'' disappointed. The latter show, dramatizing the events of the French Revolution, opened first in Tokyo and then in 2008, in Bremen, Germany. Both productions, though praised by critics, were financial failures. In September 2009, Kunze gave the keynote speech at Second European Conference of the Musical Theater Educators Alliance International, "A Tale of Two Cities", in Hamburg, Germany. His musicals are considered the foundation of a new genre in contemporary musical theater, called the Drama Musical. Its dramatic structure integrates elements of the film structure into the classic two-act drama form.

Awards

*56 gold records *23 platinum records *

for ''Fly, Robin, Fly'', music by

(1975) *Paul-Lincke-Ring (1989) *Goldene Feder des Deutschen Textdichter-Verbandes (1991) *Heinz-Bolten-Baeckers-Preis of the GEMA-Stiftung (1993) *Musical of the Year Award for '' Mozart! (musical)'' (2000) *Musical of the Year Award for '' Elisabeth'' (2001) *

Lifetime Award (2005) *Musical of the Year Award for '' Rebecca (musical)'' (2007) *German Music Authors' Awards (2010)

Major works

Adaptations

*1980 – " I Love My Wife" German version (Theater Oberhausen) *1981 – " Evita" German version (Theater an der Wien) *1983 – "

" German version (Theater an der Wien) *1985 – " Le Cochon" (Le Cochon qui voulait maigrir) German version (Burgtheater Vienna) *1985 – " Song and Dance" German version (Deutsches Theater, Munich) *1986 – "

" German version (Raimundtheater) *1986 – "

" German version (Szene Wien) *1987 – "Wodka-Cola" (Leave it to Me) German version (Staatstheater Stuttgart) *1988 – "

" German version (Theater an der Wien) *1988 – "Avos!" German version (Stadttheater, Grosses Haus, Freiburg) *1989 – " Czechow" German version (Theaterfestival Konstanz) *1990 – "

" German version (Stadttheater, Heilbronn) *1991 – " Follies" German version ( Theater des Westens, Berlin) *1992 – "

" German version (Stadttheater, Heilbronn) *1993 – " Assassins" German version (Stadttheater, Heilbronn) *1993 – " Kiss of the Spider Woman" German version (Raimundtheater) *1995 – " City of Angels" German version (Stadttheater, Heilbronn) *1995 – "

" German version (Rhein-Main-Theater, Niedernhausen) *1996 – " Aspects of Love" German version (Staatsoperette, Dresden) *1999 – " The Hunchback of Notre Dame" German version (Musicaltheater Berlin) *2001 – "

" German version (Hafentheater Hamburg) *2002 – " Mamma Mia!" German version (Operettenhaus Hamburg) *2003 – " Wicked" German version (Palladiumtheater Stuttgart)

Original musicals

*1991 – "Hexen Hexen" (Sylvester Levay) Deutschhof, Heilbronn, 15 June *1992 – '' Elisabeth'' (Levay) Theater an der Wien, 3 September *1997 – '' Tanz der Vampire'' (Jim Steinman) Raimund Theater, 4 October *1999 – '' Mozart! Das Musical'' (Levay) Theater an der Wien, 2 October *2006 – ''

'' (Levay) Imperial Theatre, Tokyo, 7 January *2006 – ''

'' (Levay) Raimund Theater, Vienna, 3 September *2014 – '' Lady Bess'' (Levay) Imperial Theater, Tokyo, 13 April *2023 – '' Beethoven Secret'' (Levay) Seoul, January

References

External links

michaelkunze.info
Official Site
storyarchitekt.com
Official Site
Michael Kunze's blogMichael Kunze's Drama Musicals
*
Broadway World West End Interview: Writer And Interpreter Michael KunzeBroadway World West End: "German Music Authors' Awards to Honor Lyricist Michael Kunze"Broadway World West End:"REBECCA: Author, Lyricist And Translator Michael Kunze Opens Website To Questions"Playbill.com Celebrity Buzz: Michael KunzeOfficial website

Official fan portal

Offizieller Rebecca Fanclub
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunze, Michael 1943 births Musicians from Munich Living people German musical theatre librettists Studienstiftung alumni German male bloggers German record producers German lyricists German male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century German dramatists and playwrights 21st-century German dramatists and playwrights