The Playwrights Database
MICHAEL KUNZE
(1943 - )Nationality: German
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Michael Kunze found early international success as a songwriter and record producer. In the 1970's his recordings dominated the chArts in europe, some of which hit the top of the chArts in the US. at the same time, he authored television scripts and books on historical topics; one of them, Highroad to the Stake, became a law student's favourite in the US. He made his first appearance in the musical Theatre with adaptations of international shows for their German-language mountings. His first original musical, elisabeth, turned out to be a hit, totalling 1,278 Viennese performances, whilst going on to productions in Japan, Hungary, Germany, Holland and ScandinaviA. elisabeth was followed up by Dance of the Vampires, already a cult musical and box office phenomenon in europe before it reached Broadway in 2001, and by Mozart!, a contemporary tribute to the musical genius, playing in austria, Germany, Sweden and Japan. His latest shows are Rebecca, based on Daphne du Mauriers famous novel, and Marie antoinette, an epic Drama about the hapless Queen of revolutionary France. Both shows are currently box office hits in Vienna and Tokyo.
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below is a list of Michael Kunze's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Dance Of the Vampires Elisabeth Lenya Marie Antoinette Mozart! RebeccaDance Of the Vampires
Synopsis:
Dance of the Vampires is based on Roman Polanski's movie "the Fearless Vampire Killers". the story is a funny sendup of the vampire genre. a bashful young man, alfred, accompanies the somewhat wacky Professor abronsius on a mission to find and destroy vampires. alfred falls in love with Sarah, the teenage daughter of a Jewish innkeeper. Only when she is kidnapped by a vampire, he becomes as anxious as the Professor to find the mysterious vampire castle. there they meet with Draculaīs look-alike, Count von Krolock, the Countīs homosexual son, Herbert, and the hunchback, Koukol. at the yearly ball of the vampires, alfred and his professor try to destroy the creatures of the night and rescue their beautiful prey. the adventureīs happy ending is flawed, though, as alfredīs love for Sarah leads to a very unexpected turn of events.
Notes:
Music by Jim Steinman. For Broadway, the story was rewritten without the Author's consent. the producers were consequently punished by having A flop with the same show that has turned into A cult Almost everywhere else in the world.
1st Produced:
Raimund Theater, Vienna 1997
Organisations:
Vereinigte Buhnen Wien, Vienna
1st Published:
edition Butterfly, Hamburg, 1997 -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Musical Drama Musical
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageElisabeth
Synopsis:
elisabeth is a musical about the life and loves of the last austrian empress, a most romantic 19th century beauty. She could have ruled the greater part of europe but gave it all up to gain personal liberty. the show tells her biography full of conflict, adventure and tragic events as a love story betwen herself and a very attractive impersonation of Death. It is a Drama of liberation, love and the temptation of death as a lover, is set in a greatly interesting historical context,
Notes:
Music by Sylvester Levay
1st Produced:
Theater an der Wien, Vienna 1992
Organisations:
Vereinigte Buhnen Wien, Vienna
1st Published:
edition Butterfly, Hamburg, 1992 -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Musical Drama Musical
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageLenya
Synopsis:
On the evening of October 9, 1964, Lotte Lenya, the wife of the late composer Kurt Weill, prepares herself for a Carnegie Hall concert reminiscing about her life with a genius in troubled times.
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Bauhaus Theater, Dessau 2002
Organisations:
Kurt Weill Festival, Dessau, Germany
1st Published:
Gabriele Sessler Verlag, Munich, -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Show
Parts:
Male: - Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageMarie Antoinette
Synopsis:
Based on a Japanese novel by ShUSAku endo, the musical Drama sets the story of a poor beggar girl, Margrid arnaud, against the fate of Marie antoinette, Queen of France. In an early scene Margrid is ridiculed by the Queen and vows revenge. With the start of the French Revolution the Queen's star begins to sink, and the one of Margrid begins to rise. In the course of events Margrid becomes disillusioned about the goals of the revolution. She witnesses the injustice done to Marie antoinette and learns to see in her just the human being instead of the hated former symbol of a cruel power.
Notes:
Music by Sylvester Levay
1st Produced:
Imperial Theater, Tokyo 2006
Organisations:
Toho Co. Ltd. Tokyo
1st Published:
edition Butterfly, Hamburg, 2007 -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Musical Drama Musical
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageMozart!
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
Music by Sylvester Levay
1st Produced:
Theater an der Wien, Vienna 1999
Organisations:
Vereinigte Buhnen Wien, Vienna
1st Published:
edition Butterfly, Hamburg, 1999 -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Musical Drama Musical
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageRebecca
Synopsis:
Based on Daphne du Mauriers famous novel, the musical tells story of a shy girl turning into a self assured young woman through conflict and love. It takes the audience deep into the psyches of the never-named heroine (simply called "I"); her moody, mercurial husband, Maxim de Winter; the obsessive Mrs. Danvers; and even the late Rebecca herself. the unrelentingly dark tale is balanced by well-calibrated humor. "the immortal line Last night I dreamed of Manderley provides prologue and epilogue, appropriately faithful bookends for this dream of a show.?"(Variety Magazine).
Notes:
Music by Sylvester Levay
1st Produced:
Raimund Theater, Vienna 2006
Organisations:
Vereinigte Buhnen Wien, Vienna
1st Published:
edition Butterfly, Hamburg, 2006 -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Musical Drama Musical
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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