Hamburg.
It all started with the musical “Cats” in 1986: Since then, Hamburg has developed into the third largest musical location in the world. In the future, something new should be dared.
For more than 20 years, Mandrill Rafiki’s famous opening roar has echoed through the Stage Theater in the port, calling the animals of the savannah to Pride Rock to present the son of King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi.
Around 15 million visitors have already seen the Disney musical “The Lion King” with music by Elton John – and the successful musical is still sold out every evening.
Evergreen “The Lion King”
According to the company Stage Entertainment Statistically speaking, every sixth German saw the musical in the port of Hamburg. On Wednesday (May 3rd) the anniversary will be celebrated with a gala and celebrities. “The inventiveness of this production with its extraordinary mixture of art and entertainment takes the audience into another, colorful world,” says stage spokesman Stephan Jaekel, explaining the success of the show.
Eight times a week, 37 performers transform themselves into a unique symbiosis between humans and animals with the help of unusual costumes and imaginative masks. This makes “The Lion King” a long-running hit and an important pillar for Hamburg as a musical location. After New York’s Broadway and London’s West End, the Hanseatic city is now the third largest location for musicals in the world.
It all started in 1986 with the premiere of the successful musical “Cats” in the Operettenhaus on the Reeperbahn. In 1990 the Neue Flora Theater was built with the “Phantom of the Opera” – and more and more visitors came from all over Germany to see the big musicals in Hamburg.
Great tourist importance for Hamburg
In 2001, the company Stage Entertainment took over the theater in the harbor opposite the Landungsbrücken and brought the “Lion King” to Hamburg. A short time later, the company also took over the Operettenhaus and Neue Flora, and in 2014 the Theater an der Elbe was added. Since then, the stage has brought numerous musicals to Hamburg, including box office hits such as “Sister Act”, “Dirty Dancing”, “Tarzan”, “Tanz der Vampire” or “Mamma Mia!” with Abba’s hits.
Stage Entertainment is currently presenting four musicals in Hamburg: In addition to the “Lion King”, Disney’s “Frozen” in the Theater an der Elbe, “Mamma Mia!” in the Theater Neue Flora and the musical “Hamilton” in the Operettenhaus. There are also numerous other shows, including the play “Harry Potter and the Enchanted Child” in the Mehr! Theater at the Großmarkt or the “Heiße Ecke” in Schmidts Tivoli and “Die Königs nachmachen” in the Schmidt Theater.
Hamburg as a city of culture
“The success of the musicals, together with the many other unique sights in the city, is of great tourist importance for Hamburg,” says Hamburg’s Senator for Culture Carsten Brosda (SPD). “As part of the varied cultural offerings in Hamburg, the musicals also make an important contribution to Hamburg being increasingly perceived around the world as a city of culture,” he adds.
Classics and in-house productions run in Hamburg
If the Corona crisis initially plunged the musicals into a deep crisis, Stage Entertainment – also in view of state support – is again confident about the future: “The audience came back much faster than hoped – obviously there was a great longing for the common Experiencing cultural offers and a great need to catch up after around 18 months of a complete dry spell,” said Jaekel of the dpa.
To ensure that the viewers stay, Stage Entertainment always comes up with something new – even with a high economic risk. The company developed its own productions “The Miracle of Bern”, “Rocky”, “I’ve Never Been to New York” with songs by Udo Jürgens and most recently “Hamilton”. The rap musical about America’s first Secretary of the Treasury is a huge hit on Broadway, but will not be shown in Hamburg for more than a year.
For an innovative future
Nevertheless, the stage is satisfied. “We are addressing a new, young audience with this play, who are giving ‘Hamilton’ top marks. Our visitors feel and comment on the outstanding artistic quality of this piece, perceive that the predominantly black cast depicts an exciting plea for diversity and tolerance and that the piece musically, energetically and narratively points in a completely new direction,” says Jaekel.
That’s why the company wants to try new things in the future. “Because without innovation, we cannot survive in the long term,” says Jaekel. Of course, musical classics have their absolute right to exist, “but we will not stop arousing curiosity with new material”. The company also wants to focus more on diversity and inclusion issues. He has already announced a world and a German premiere for Hamburg. (dpa)
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