„Ey, was is das denn für ’n Projekt, Mann?!“ – Fack ju Göhte im WERK7 theater als Experiment für das neue deutsche Musical

Abstract

„Why does everything have to be turned into a musical? “ In summer 2017, this question was very present in the German musical fanbase, when the production company Stage Entertainment announced a stage adaptation of the successful film Fack ju Göhte (2013). For this project a new theatre called WERK7 theater, which previously had been used by the company Pfanni as a potato warehouse, was opened in a district in Munich where Fack ju Göhte had its premiere in January 2018. Stage Entertainment’s idea was to establish a place where modern musical theatre in Germany could be staged in the future, and the company rented the theater for two years. Both Fack ju Göhte and Amélie (2019) were highly appreciated by the critics. But the number of spectators who came to the location was not satisfying, and so Stage Entertainment did not extend the rental contract for the theatre.

The musical Fack ju Göhte and the WERK7 theater were an experiment both from an artistic and an economic point of view. The aesthetic and dramaturgical concept was influenced by impulses of the Contemporary American Musical and contemporary German pop music. Moreover, the production represents an extension of Stage Entertainment’s repertoire concerning the location and the target audience.

With interviews as well as research literature regarding the Contemporary Musical this article investigates the parameters, the development process and the challenges of the production of Fack ju Göhte in Munich. It further looks at content and structure of the musical relating to the Contemporary Musical. The article also describes the development process of musicals and which conclusions might be drawn with regard to the future prospects of original German musicals.