Vereinigte Bühnen Wien

Musicals in Vienna

Ronacher - orchestra pit (©VBW/Paul Ott)

The history of the musical in Vienna is centred on three historic venues and numerous clever visionaries. In the beginning, the THEATER AN DER WIEN – nowadays a celebrated opera house – offered the same impressive setting for superb musical productions as the RAIMUND THEATER or RONACHER today. And it established Vienna as a serious and trend-setting venue and production location for internationally successful material alongside Broadway – as the true birthplace of the musical.

This development was not entirely coincidental, as music theatre is known to have a centuries-old tradition in Vienna. The success story of the musical began at the THEATER AN DER WIEN in 1965 with WIE MAN WAS WIRD IM LEBEN, OHNE SICH ANZUSTRENGEN (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying).

For a long time, the RAIMUND THEATER was the main setting for popular operettas before the musical also arrived here in the 1970s with Kurt Weill’s LADY IN THE DARK, and the RONACHER, the theatre in which all stars of revue theatre celebrated their Vienna debut, is todays‘ musical theatre in the city of Vienna. With the remarkable success of CATS musical fever broke out in Vienna which has persisted to this day: this successful show ran for a total of 7 years – first in the THEATER AN DER WIEN then in the RONACHER. The musical genre was popular at the theatres of the VBW, with first German-language performances of successful international productions as well as with the premieres of VBW productions.

The Vereinigte Bühnen Wien discovered the attraction of exporting in-house productions in 1996 when Elisabeth was the first Austrian production to celebrate a foreign premiere. Since its spectacular start in Osaka, Japan, about 8.5 million visitors worldwide have enjoyed the most successful German-language musical ever.

Although the stories behind ELISABETH, MOZART!, TANZ DER VAMPIRE, REBECCA and RUDOLF – AFFAIRE MAYERLING are completely different – they have one thing in common: they are in-house productions by the VEREINIGTE BÜHNEN WIEN. And they have also become world-famous exports which inspire people from Japan to Broadway.

From traditional theatre to music theatre: fantastic productions for the whole family

In the group of the three VBW theatres, the RAIMUND THEATER provides traditional musical entertainment. Its successful long-running ensuite productions attract a wide target group with the proverbial “whole family” and ensure standing ovations evening after evening in the audience, which often stays loyal to the imposing material and charismatic actors for many years. This loyalty is rewarded with a variety of glamorous productions such as DAS PHANTOM DER OPER, HAIR, ROMEO & JULIA, REBECCA, WE WILL ROCK YOU, RUDOLF – AFFAIRE MAYERLING or ICH WAR NOCH NIEMALS IN NEW YORK.

Historic building meets state-of-the-art technology – the best prerequisites for innovative musical concepts

Unconventional thinkers are welcome here: visitors who believe that musicals can, should and are allowed to create waves, are in good hands at the RONACHER. The theatre presents classics such as TANZ DER VAMPIRE, comedies such as THE PRODUCERS and also selective insiders’ tips such as FRÜHLINGS ERWACHEN or THE INFERNAL COMEDY – JOHN MALKOVICH IST JACK UNTERWEGER It stages urban music theatre that moves away from trodden paths and targets a new audience partially with stage productions and partially with concertante versions. These productions also prove that the RONACHER has the courage to display a different kind of humour. A long-standing gap in the market of Viennese music theatre has therefore now at last – and intelligently – been filled.

Successful VBW musical productions in Vienna:

• A ChorusLine (Deutschsprachige Erstaufführung)
  
• Anatevka
  
• Barbarella (Welturaufführung)
  
• Cats (Deutschsprachige Erstaufführung)
  
• Chicago(überarbeitete Neufassung – Deutschsprachige Erstaufführung)
  
• Die Habsburgischen (Welturaufführung)
  
• Disneys Die Schöne und das Biest (Deutschsprachige Erstaufführung)
  
• Die Weberischen (Welturaufführung)
  
• Elisabeth (Welturaufführung)
  
• F@lco – a Cyber Show (Welturaufführung)
  
• Forbidden Ronacher (Welturaufführung)
  
• Freudiana (Welturaufführung)
  
• Frühlings Erwachen (Deutschsprachige Erstaufführung)
  
• Grease (Deutschsprachige Erstaufführung)
  
• Hair
  
• Ich war noch niemals in NewYork (Wiener Fassung, Österreichische Erstaufführung)
  
• Jekyll & Hyde (Österreichische Erstaufführung)
  
• Jesus Christ Superstar
  
• Joseph& The Amazing Technicolor Dream Team
  
• Josephine
  
• Kuss der Spinnenfrau (Deutschsprachige Erstaufführung)
  
• Les Misérables (Deutschsprachige Erstaufführung)
  
• Mozart! (Welturaufführung)
  
• Natürlich Blond (Deutschsprachige Erstaufführung)
  
• Phantom der Oper (Deutschsprachige Erstaufführung)
  
• Rebecca (Welturaufführung)
  
• Rocky Horror Show
  
• Romeo & Julia (Deutschsprachige Erstaufführung)
  
• Rudolf – AffaireMayerling (Welturaufführung)
  
• Sister Act
  
• Tanz der Vampire (Welturaufführung)
  
• Tanz der Vampire (Wiener Fassung 2009)
  
• The Infernal Comedy
  
• The Giacomo Variations
  
• The Producers (Deutschsprachige Erstaufführung)
  
• Wake up (Welturaufführung)
  
• We will rock you

• Woyzeck