From Vienna to the World
The Musicals of the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien
From Vienna to the World
The Musicals of the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien
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Description
What do the musicals Elisabeth, Dance of the Vampires, Mozart!, Rebecca and Schikaneder have in common? Collectively, they have been seen by over 30 million people around the world, but have never been seen on Broadway or the West End.
For more than three decades Viennese theatre company the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien (VBW) has commissioned and produced musicals with a close connection to Vienna, and Austrian culture and history. Performed in 24 countries to over a million audience members annually, they are the largest exporters of original musicals around the globe.
This is the first edited collection to focus on the musicals produced by the VBW and their remarkable impact on the global musical. From Vienna to the World brings together scholars from six different countries who analyse key works in the VBW canon using a broad range of perspectives and approaches: hermeneutics, historical analysis, literary theory, musicology, music history, queer studies, adaptation theory and interviews.
Their musicals have achieved global acclaim, successful throughout the Austrian-German theatre industry and Continental and Eastern Europe, they have taken on the affectionate nickname “Viennese Musicals” in South-East Asia following their immense popularity and drawing power.
Despite their audience appeal, attempts to bring some of the VBW hit shows to Broadway (2002, 2011) and the (Off-) West End (2023) may have proved either ill-fated or have met with critical apathy. This detailed study illuminates the production processes, creative decision-making and unique features of the VBW musicals to reveal the production entity as a force to be reckoned with.
Table of Contents
Part I: Vereinigte Bühnen Wien (VBW): Local Historian and Global Powerhouse
1. The Organization and its History, Miriam Ljubijankic (Paris-Lodron-University Salzburg, Austria) and Martina Kalser-Gruber
2. The VBW and Austria: Case Study of a Jukebox Musical of Identity Politics”, Nils Grosch (Paris-Lodron-University Salzburg, Austria)
3. The 'Viennese Musicals' and their Dramaturgy, Olaf Jubin (Paris-Lodron-University Salzburg, Austria and Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)
Part II: Portraying Austrian Royalty
4. Empress Elisabeth as mainstay of popular culture, Judith Wiemers (Staatsoperette Dresden, Germany)
5. The Habsburg 'Myth' in Elisabeth (1992) and Rudolf – The Last Kiss” (2009), Martina Kalser-Gruber
Part III: Reception of a Revered Icon Abroad
6. 'So tanzte Elisabeth bis zur Ostküste': The Viennese musicals in East Asia, Rina Tanaka (Kyoto Sanyo University, Japan)
7. Elisabeth in Hungary, Daniel Molnár
Part IV: The Gothic Bestseller on Stage
8. Rebecca: dreaming of Manderley on the musical stage, William A. Everett (University of Missouri, Kansas City Conservatory, USA)
9. #Danbecca: towards a nuanced queer reading of Mrs Danvers, Miriam Ljubijankic (Paris-Lodron-University Salzburg, Austria)
Part V: The Hitmaker as Protagonist
10. Historical reference and musical parody in Schikaneder (2016), Paul Laird (University of Kansas, USA)
11. Rock Me, Amadeus (2023): just another Falco jukebox musical?, Felix Nier (Paris-Lodron-University Salzburg, Austria)
Part VI: The Cinematic Made Theatrical
12: Dance of the Vampires (1997) as a variant of Schiller's Aesthetic Education of Man, Tillmann Triest (Forschungsinstitut für Musiktheater Bayreuth, Germany)
13. The Third Man (2023): Post-War Vienna on Screen and Stage, Robert Gordon (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)
Part VII: Interviews with Creative Forces
14. The Current or a Previous Artistic Director of VBW
15. An Artist who has repeatedly worked with VBW
Conclusion
Product details
| Published | Dec 10 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Paperback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 320 |
| ISBN | 9781350568891 |
| Imprint | Methuen Drama |
| Dimensions | 10 x 7 inches |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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